''Top Speed'' 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 ...

musical comedy film released 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 ...

, a subsidiary of

Warner Brothers 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. Di ...

. It was based on a 1929 stage musical of the same name by

Harry Ruby Harry Rubenstein (January 27, 1895 – February 23, 1974), known professionally as Harry Ruby, was an American actor, pianist, composer, songwriter and screenwriter, who was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970.Guy Bolton Guy Reginald Bolton (23 November 1884 – 4 September 1979) was an Anglo-American playwright and writer of musical comedies. Born in England and educated in France and the US, he trained as an architect but turned to writing. Bolton preferred w ...

and

Bert Kalmar Bert Kalmar (February 10, 1884 – September 18, 1947) was an American songwriter, who was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970. He was also a screenwriter. Biography Kalmar, a native of New York City, left school at an early age ...

. The film stars

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 ...

, Bernice Claire, Jack Whiting, Laura Lee, and

Frank McHugh Francis Curry McHugh (May 23, 1898 – September 11, 1981) was an American stage, radio, film and television actor. Early years Born in Homestead, Pennsylvania, of Irish descent, McHugh came from a theatrical family. His parents, Edward A ...

Synopsis

Elmer Peters and Gerald Brooks, bond clerks on a weekend vacation, are on the run from a local sheriff after Elmer attempts to fish in a "no fishing" area. The two men arrive at an expensive hotel where they rescue Virginia Rollins and Babs Green, who have just been involved in a car accident. Gerald falls in love with Virginia, and Elmer falls for Babs, and the two fugitives decide to remain at the hotel for the rest of the weekend. Elmer begins boasting to hotel guests and personnel; soon, everyone believes that he and Gerald are millionaires, and that Gerald is an expert boat racer. Virginia's father owns a speedboat that he plans to enter in a big race. After he fires his pilot, whom he caught taking a bribe, Virginia convinces her father to let Gerald pilot the boat. A competitor, Spencer Colgate, discovers that Gerald is a fraud and threatens to expose him unless he accepts $30,000 to throw the race. Gerald, unable to refuse such a princely sum, agrees. Virginia and her father learn during the race that Gerald took the payoff; but Gerald chooses love and honor over riches, and drives the boat to victory. After he wins, Gerald comes clean, and all is forgiven.

Cast

as Elmer Peters * Bernice Claire as Virginia Rollins * Jack Whiting as Gerald Brooks *

as Tad Jordan *Laura Lee as Babs Green *

Edmund Breese Edmund Breese (June 18, 1871 – April 6, 1936) was an American stage and film actor of the silent era. Biography Breese was born in Brooklyn, New York. His parents were Renshaw Breese and Josephine Busby. The Opera House in Eureka Spring ...

as Spencer Colgate *

Wade Boteler Wade Boteler (October 3, 1888 – May 7, 1943) was an American film actor and writer. He appeared in more than 430 films between 1919 and 1943. Biography He was born in Santa Ana, California, and died in Hollywood, California, from a heart ...

as The Sheriff *Rita Flynn as Daisy *

Billy Bletcher William Bletcher (September 24, 1894 – January 5, 1979) was an American actor. He was known for voice roles for various classic animated characters, most notably Pete in Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse short films and the Big Bad Wolf in Disney ...

as Ipps *

George 'Gabby' Hayes George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd President ...

as Western Union Clerk * Al Hill as Briggs * Edwin Maxwell as J.W. Rollins *

Cyril Ring Cyril Ring (December 5, 1892July 17, 1967) was an American film actor. He began his career in silent films in 1921. By the time of his final performance in 1951, he had appeared in over 350 films, nearly all of them in small and/or uncredited bit ...

as Vincent Colgate

Production

The film was completed as a full musical. However, due to increasing disfavor towards that genre from the public (beginning in late 1930), Warners chose to make many cuts to the film and much of the original music is missing or severely truncated. The Warner re-cut survives in the Library of Congress collection.''Catalog of Holdings The American Film Institute Collection and The United Artists Collection at The Library of Congress'', (<-book title) p.186 c.1978 by The American Film Institute

Preservation

*The film survives only in the cut version which was released in late 1930 by Warner Brothers, with most of the musical numbers removed. Due to the backlash against musicals, Warner Bros. chose to cut most of the musical sequences before releasing the film. *The film was released as a full musical outside of the United States, where a backlash against musicals never occurred. It is unknown whether a print of this longer version still exists. *The complete soundtrack to the International Sound Version (which includes all of the original songs) survives at the

UCLA Film and Television Archive The UCLA Film & Television Archive is a visual arts organization focused on the preservation, study, and appreciation of film and television, based at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Also a nonprofit exhibition venue, the arch ...

Vitaphone Vitaphone was a sound film system used for feature films and nearly 1,000 short subjects made by Warner Bros. and its sister studio First National from 1926 to 1931. Vitaphone was the last major analog sound-on-disc system and the only one t ...

disks.

Music

* "If You Were a Traveling Salesman and I Were a Chambermaid" (Performed by Joe E. Brown and Laura Lee) * "Knock Knees" (Performed by Joe E. Brown, Laura Lee and chorus) * "Looking for the Lovelight in the Dark" (Performed by Bernice Claire, Jack Whiting and chorus) * "As Long as I Have You and You Have Me" (Cut from film; originally performed by Bernice Claire and Jack Whiting) * "Goodness Gracious" (Cut before release in the United States) * "I'll Know and She'll Know" (Cut before release in the United States) * "Keep Your Undershirt On" (Cut before release in the United States) * "What Would I Care?" (Cut before release in the United States) * "Sweeter Than You" (Cut before release in the United States) * "Reaching For the Moon" (Cut before release in the United States)

References

External links

* * {{Mervyn LeRoy 1930 films 1930 musical comedy films 1930s English-language films Boat racing films American musical comedy films Films directed by Mervyn LeRoy American black-and-white films Films based on musicals 1930s American films