''Sweet Mama'' is a 1930 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 ...

talkie A sound film is a motion picture A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, percep ...

comedy drama film Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

with songs, which was directed by Edward F. Cline and produced and distributed by

First National Pictures First National Pictures was an American motion picture production and distribution company. It was founded in 1917 as First National Exhibitors' Circuit, Inc., an association of independent theatre owners in the United States, and became the count ...

. The film stars

Alice White Alice White (born Alva White; August 25, 1904Katz, Ephraim (1979). ''The Film Encyclopedia: The Most Comprehensive Encyclopedia of World Cinema in a Single Volume''. Perigee Books. , pg. 1228. – February 19, 1983) was an American film ac ...

David Manners David Joseph Manners (born Rauff de Ryther Duan Acklom; April 30, 1900 – December 23, 1998) was a Canadian-American actor who plays John Harker in Tod Browning's 1931 horror classic '' Dracula'', which stars Bela Lugosi in the title role.Pac ...

Kenneth Thomson Kenneth Roy Thomson, 2nd Baron Thomson of Fleet (September 1, 1923 – June 12, 2006), known in Canada as Ken Thomson, was a Canadian/British businessman and art collector. At the time of his death, he was listed by ''Forbes'' as the richest per ...

and Rita Flynn. Planned as a full-scale musical, and released as such for a short time in the summer of 1930, most of the songs were cut from general release prints by the autumn of 1930 due to the public's aversion for musicals.

Plot

When the film begins we find Alice White stranded several hundred miles away from New York with a burlesque troupe. She receives a telegraph that her boyfriend, played by David Manners, is in jail. White boards a train headed for New York without a ticket because she has no money. When the conductor discovers she has no ticket she is almost thrown off the train. A detective, played by Robert Elliott, befriends White and offers to let White borrow the money she needs for a ticket. When she arrives in New York she finds that Manners has been bailed out by a friend and is working for Kenneth Thomson, playing as a gangster who runs a nightclub. White is disappointed to find that her boyfriend is working for criminals. She gets some money from Manners to pay back Elliott for the money he gave her for a train ticket. Elliott notices that she is paying with bills that have been reported stolen. White confesses everything she knows to the detective about her boyfriend and his new employer. Elliott asks White to get a job at the nightclub so that she can get evidence against the gangsters and in return he promises to clear her boyfriend of any wrongdoing. White easily gets a job singing and dancing at the club. Eventually she hears plans about a bank robbery and reports everything to Elliott. When the gangster attempt to rob the bank they realize that the police are watching and waiting and conclude that someone has informed the police ahead of time. Thompson suspects that White has informed the police. In order to save her, Manners implicates himself and the gangsters get ready to stage an accidental suicide for him. They plan to throw Manners out of the window of Thompson's penthouse apartment. White informs the police and arrives in the nick of time to save Manners. Thompson, realizing now that the police have ample evidence against him, attempts to escape and is shot by the police. Manners and White are happily reunited and the film ends.

Cast

as Goldie *

as Jimmy *

as Joe Palmer *Rita Flynn as Lulu *

Lee Moran Lee Moran (June 23, 1888 – April 24, 1961) was an American actor, film director, and screenwriter. Moran was active in vaudeville before he began performing in films at Nestor Studios in 1909. He transcended the silent film era of mot ...

as Al Hadrick *

Richard Cramer Richard Earl Cramer (July 3, 1889 – August 9, 1960) was an American actor in films from the late 1920s to the early 1950s. Burly, menacing and gravel-voiced, Cramer specialized in villainous roles in many low-budget westerns, but is today ...

as Elmer * Robert Elliott as Mack *

Lew Harvey Lew Harvey (October 6, 1887 – December 19, 1953) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 140 films between 1918 and 1950. He was born in Wisconsin, educated in Portland, Oregon, and died in Los Angeles, California. Selected f ...

as Gangster *

Lee Shumway Lee Shumway (March 4, 1884 – January 4, 1959), born Leonard Charles Shumway, was an American actor. He appeared in more than 400 films between 1909 and 1953. He was born in Salt Lake City, Utah and died in Los Angeles, California. Select ...

as Gangster

Songs

*"Giving It This and That" ''Sung by Alice White'' (written by Archie Gottler and George W. Meyer)

Release

Due to the public's backlash against musicals late in 1930, most of the musical numbers were cut from the film to make it more marketable, which accounts for the very short running time of the film, 54 minutes. The film was advertised as a gangster picture, a genre which had become very popular with the public. The complete film, with all the music intact, was released intact in countries outside the United States where a backlash against musicals never occurred.

Preservation status

The status of the full 77-minute version of the film is unknown, but a 54-minute version of the film, with most of the musical numbers edited out, does exist.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sweet Mama 1930 films First National Pictures films Films directed by Edward F. Cline American black-and-white films American comedy-drama films 1930 comedy-drama films 1930s English-language films 1930s American films