''Sit Tight'' is a 1931 American

Pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the Cinema of the United States, American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorshi ...

musical comedy film, directed by

Lloyd Bacon Lloyd Francis Bacon (December 4, 1889 – November 15, 1955) was an American screen, stage and vaudeville actor and film director. As a director he made films in virtually all genres, including westerns, musicals, comedies, gangster films, an ...

, written by

Rex Taylor Rex Taylor (November 1, 1889 – December 27, 1968) was an American screenwriter. He wrote for more than 80 films between 1916 and 1966. He was born in Iowa and died in San Pedro, California. He married the actress Irma Taylor (née Whepley ...

, edited by James Gibbon, and produced and distributed by

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

It was originally intended as a full musical, but due to the backlash against musicals, all the songs were cut from the film except for one – sung by

Winnie Lightner Winnie Lightner (born Winifred Josephine Reeves; September 17, 1899 – March 5, 1971) was an American stage and motion picture actress. Perhaps best known as the man-hungry Mabel in ''Gold Diggers of Broadway'' (1929), Lightner was often typ ...

– in all release prints in the United States.

Plot

Winnie is the head of a health clinic and has Jojo (played by

Joe E. Brown Joseph Evans Brown (July 28, 1891 – July 6, 1973) was an American actor and comedian, remembered for his friendly screen persona, comic timing, and enormous elastic-mouth smile. He was one of the most popular American comedians in the 19 ...

) as one of her employees. Jojo is a wrestler forced to enter the ring and face down a musclebound masked opponent Olaf (played by

Frank Hagney Frank Sidney Hagney (20 March 1884 – 25 June 1973) was an Australian actor. He is known for his work on ''It's a Wonderful Life'' (1946), ''Ride Him, Cowboy'' (1932) and '' The Sea Beast'' (1926). Early and career Born in Sydney, New Sou ...

). Making matters worse, the masked marauder is convinced his wife has been fooling around with JoJo. JoJo is knocked out early in the proceedings, whereupon he dreams he is a sultan surrounded by harem girls. A romantic subplot involves Tom (played by Paul Gregory) and Sally (played by

Claudia Dell Claudia Dell (born Claudia Dell Smith; January 10, 1910 – September 5, 1977) was an American showgirl and actress of the stage and movies. Early years Dell was born in San Antonio, Texas on January 10, 1910. She attended school in San ...

). Tom works for Sally's father. Sally asks her father to give Tom a promotion so she can spend more time with him. When Tom refuses to be promoted without earning the position, she threatens to have him fired and he quits his job. Tom attempts to begin a new career as a championship wrestler and is trained by Winnie and Jojo. When Sally learns about this, she attempts to stop him and asks for his forgiveness. She pleads with him to not fight but he has already pledged to do so.

Pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the Cinema of the United States, American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorshi ...
sequences

In one sequence,

refuses to strip (for wrestling) when asked to by another man and makes comments about "not knowing him well enough", implying that the man wants to sleep with him.

Cast

as Winnie *

as Jojo *Paul Gregory as Tom *

as Sally *

Hobart Bosworth Hobart Van Zandt Bosworth (August 11, 1867 – December 30, 1943) was an American film actor, director, writer, and producer. Early life Bosworth was born on August 11, 1867, in Marietta, Ohio. His father was a sea captain in the Civil Wa ...

as Dunlap *

as Olaf *

Snitz Edwards Snitz Edwards (born Edward Neumann, 1 January 1868 – 1 May 1937) was a stage and character actor of the early years of the silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialog ...

as Charley

Songs

Only a print with the majority of the musical numbers cut seems to have survived. The trailer, which also survives, contains an instrumental of another song which was written for the film and originally sung by Winnie Lightner. The only surviving song on extant prints of the film is: "Face It With A Smile" Sung by Lightner.

Production

One of the sets used in '' Kismet'' (1930), along with some lavish costumes, were used in the dream sequence in this film. Gregory and Dell were musical stars who were given contracts by Warner Bros. for their musical talent. They originally sang a number of songs in this film but these numbers were cut in the prints released in the United States.

Box Office

According to Warner Bros records the film earned $632,000 domestically and $142,000 foreign.

Preservation status

Only the cut print released in the United States seems to have survived. The complete film was released intact in countries outside the United States where a backlash against musicals never occurred. Newspapers outside the United States noted that

sang several lively songs throughout the picture. It is unknown whether a copy of this full version still exists. A black and white copy is held by the Library of Congress.''Catalog of Holdings The American Film Institute Collection and The United Artists Collection at The Library of Congress'', (<-book title), p.167 c.1978 by The American Film Institute

References

External links

* * {{Lloyd Bacon 1931 films Warner Bros. films 1930s English-language films Films directed by Lloyd Bacon American black-and-white films American musical comedy films 1931 musical comedy films 1930s American films