''Glorifying the American Girl'' is a 1929 American

pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the 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 censorship guidelines, popularly known ...

musical comedy film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serve merely as breaks ...

produced by Florenz Ziegfeld that highlights

Ziegfeld Follies The ''Ziegfeld Follies'' was a series of elaborate theatrical revue productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 to 1931, with renewals in 1934 and 1936. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as ''The Ziegfeld Follies of the Ai ...

performers. The last third of the film, which was filmed in early

Technicolor Technicolor is a series of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes, the first version dating back to 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black and white films ...

, is basically a Follies production, with appearances by

Rudy Vallee Rudy or Rudi is a masculine given name, sometimes short for Rudolf, Rudolph, Rawad, Rudra, Ruairidh, or variations thereof, a nickname and a surname which may refer to: People Given name or nickname *Rudolf Rudy Andeweg (born 1952), Dutch poli ...

, Helen Morgan, and Eddie Cantor.

Rex Beach Rex Ellingwood Beach (September 1, 1877 – December 7, 1949) was an American novelist, playwright, and Olympic water polo player. Early life Rex Beach was born in Atwood, Michigan, but moved to Tampa, Florida, with his family where his father ...

was paid $35,000 for the original story. The script for the film was written by

J.P. McEvoy Joseph Patrick McEvoy (December 21, 1894 – August 8, 1958), also sometimes credited as John P. McEvoy or Joseph P. McEvoy, was an American writer whose stories were published during the 1920s and 1930s in popular magazines such as ''Liber ...

and

Millard Webb Millard Webb (December 6, 1893 – April 21, 1935) was an American screenwriter and director who directed 20 films between 1920 and 1933. His best-known film is the 1926 silent John Barrymore adventure '' The Sea Beast'', a version of '' Moby Di ...

and directed by John W. Harkrider and

. The songs were written by

Irving Berlin Irving Berlin (born Israel Beilin; yi, ישראל ביילין; May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989) was a Russian-American composer, songwriter and lyricist. His music forms a large part of the Great American Songbook. Born in Imperial Russ ...

Walter Donaldson Walter Donaldson (February 15, 1893 – July 15, 1947) was an American prolific popular songwriter and publishing company founder, composing many hit songs of the 1910s to 1940s, that have become standards and form part of the Great American Song ...

Rudolf Friml Charles Rudolf Friml"Mrs. Rudolf Friml to Receive Divorce"
...

, James E. Hanley, Larry Spier and Dave Stamper. The film is in the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable. Because those rights have expired, ...

, and many prints exhibited on television are in black-and-white only, and do not include pre- Code material, such as nudity.

Plot

The plot involves a young woman ( Mary Eaton) who wants to be in the Follies, but in the meantime is making ends meet by working at a

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic app ...

's sheet music department, where she sings the latest hits. She is accompanied on

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

by her childhood boyfriend (Edward Crandall), who is in love with her, despite her single-minded interest in her career. When a

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

performer (Dan Healy) asks her to join him as his new partner, she sees it as an opportunity to make her dream come true. Upon arriving in New York City, our heroine finds out that her new partner is only interested in sleeping with her and makes this a condition of making her a star. Soon, however, she is discovered by a representative of Ziegfeld.

Cast

* Mary Eaton as Gloria Hughes *Dan Healy as Danny Miller *Kaye Renard as Mooney *Edward Crandall as Buddy Moore * Gloria Shea as Barbara (billed as Olive Shea) * Sarah Edwards as Mrs. Hughes *Lou Hearn as tailor shop customer

Cameo appearances

Noah Beery Noah Nicholas Beery (January 17, 1882 – April 1, 1946) was an American actor who appeared in films from 1913 until his death in 1946. He was the older brother of Academy Award-winning actor Wallace Beery as well as the father of prominen ...

* Norman Brokenshire *

Billie Burke Mary William Ethelbert Appleton Burke (August 7, 1884 – May 14, 1970) was an American actress who was famous on Broadway and radio, and in silent and sound films. She is best known to modern audiences as Glinda the Good Witch of the North ...

* Eddie Cantor *

Desha Delteil Desha Delteil (March 18, 1899 – July 17, 1980) was a Slovenia-born dancer and artists' model. Biography She was born Desha Eva Podgoršek in Ljubljana, Austria-Hungary (present-day Ljubljana, Slovenia), emigrated to the US with her sister ...

Charles B. Dillingham Charles Bancroft Dillingham (May 30, 1868 – August 30, 1934) was an American theatre manager and producer of over 200 Broadway theatre, Broadway shows. Biography Charles Bancroft Dillingham was born on May 30, 1868 in Hartford, Connecticut to ...

Texas Guinan Mary Louise Cecilia "Texas" Guinan (January 12, 1884 – November 5, 1933) was an American actress, producer and entrepreneur. Born in Texas to Irish immigrant parents, Guinan decided at an early age to become an entertainer. After becoming a st ...

* Otto Kahn *

Nancy Kelly Nancy Kelly (March 25, 1921 – January 2, 1995) was an American actress in film, theater and television. A child actress and model, she was a repertory cast member of CBS Radio's ''The March of Time'' and appeared in several films in the late 1 ...

Ring Lardner Ringgold Wilmer Lardner (March 6, 1885 – September 25, 1933) was an American sports columnist and short story writer best known for his satirical writings on sports, marriage, and the theatre. His contemporaries Ernest Hemingway, Virginia Wo ...

Bull Montana Lewis Montagna (born Luigi Montagna; May 16, 1887 – January 24, 1950), better known as Bull Montana, was an Italian-American professional wrestler, boxer and actor. Biography Born in Voghera, Italy, into a poor country family — and at a ti ...

* Helen Morgan * Tony Sansone *

Louis Sorin Louis Sorin (September 23, 1893 – December 14, 1961) was an American actor. Biography Louis Sorin was born in New York City. He appeared in 15 films between 1929 and 1961. He also acted on stage, including appearing on Broadway in more than ...

Jimmy Walker James John Walker (June 19, 1881November 18, 1946), known colloquially as Beau James, was mayor of New York City from 1926 to 1932. A flamboyant politician, he was a liberal Democrat and part of the powerful Tammany Hall machine. He was forced t ...

Johnny Weissmuller Johnny Weissmuller (born Johann Peter Weißmüller; June 2, 1904 – January 20, 1984) was an American Olympic swimmer, water polo player and actor. He was known for having one of the best competitive swimming records of the 20th century. H ...

Joseph Urban Joseph Urban (May 26, 1872 – July 10, 1933) was an Austrian-American architect, illustrator, and scenic designer. Life and career Joseph Urban was born on May 26, 1872, in Vienna. He received his first architectural commission at age 19 wh ...

* Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. * Adolph Zukor

Production

*This Pre-Code movie is notable for being the first talkie to use the word " damn" (that credit usually goes to either '' Pygmalion'' or ''

Gone with the Wind Gone with the Wind most often refers to: * ''Gone with the Wind'' (novel), a 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell * ''Gone with the Wind'' (film), the 1939 adaptation of the novel Gone with the Wind may also refer to: Music * ''Gone with the Wind'' ...

''). The word is used twice by Sarah Edwards as well as multiple times in the skit involving Eddie Cantor, Louis Sorin and Lew Hearn. (The word was also used twice in the film '' Coquette'', released in April of the same year.) *The revue sequence contains virtual nudity and revealing costumes. *Both Paramount and EMKA failed to renew the copyright and the film is now in the

. EMKA's successor,

Universal Studios Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...

, continues to hold the original film elements; though technically the EMKA library is part of NBC Universal Television, successor to Universal Television and MCA Television (EMKA was a subsidiary of MCA).

Preservation

The black-and-white prints currently shown on television, with a cut-down running time of 87 minutes, were made in the 1950s and have a number of sequences cut due to their Pre-Code content, i.e. nudity, etc. The film was restored, to the length of 96 minutes, with the original

sequences, by 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 ar ...

.Feature films preserved by UCLA (1977-2012)
/ref>

Miscellany

*The movie contains brief shots of

, Otto Kahn,

, and

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

of New York City

as themselves, taken from newsreels and other productions. *There is an uncredited, non-speaking scene with

wearing nothing but a fig leaf. *The greater part of the final half of the film is a revue given over to a re-creation of a Follies production, replete with musical solos by

and Helen Morgan and a comedy sketch with Eddie Cantor and

as a pair of Jewish tailors. *Glorifying The American Girl was released on dvd and blu ray by Kino Lorber on December 3, 2019. This version is taken from the UCLA restoration and includes the complete film including the Technicolor sequences. *

Soundtrack

The film begins with a medley of hits from Ziegfeld productions, including "Tulip Time", " A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody", "Sally, Won't You Come Back?", and "No Foolin'." The band at the picnic plays "

Bye Bye Blackbird "Bye Bye Blackbird" is a song published in 1926 by Jerome H. Remick and written by composer Ray Henderson and lyricist Mort Dixon. It is considered a popular standard and was first recorded by Sam Lanin's Dance Orchestra in March 1926. Song ...

" and " Side by Side." * "No Foolin'" :Music by

Rudolf Friml Charles Rudolf Friml"Mrs. Rudolf Friml to Receive Divorce"
...

and James F. Hanley :Lyrics by Gene Buck and

Irving Caesar Irving Caesar (born Isidor Keiser, July 4, 1895 – December 18, 1996) was an American lyricist and theater composer who wrote lyrics for numerous song standards, including " Swanee", "Sometimes I'm Happy", " Crazy Rhythm", and " Tea for T ...

:Sung by Mary Eaton * "Baby Face" :Music by Harry Akst :Lyrics by

Benny Davis Benny Davis (August 21, 1895 - December 20, 1979) was a vaudeville performer and writer of popular songs. Biography Davis started performing in vaudeville in his teens. He began writing songs when working as an accompanist for Blossom Seeley. In ...

:Sung by Mary Eaton * "I'll Be There" :Music by Larry Spier, J. Fred Coots, and Lou Davis :Sung by Mary Eaton and played on the piano several times by Edward Crandall * "Spooning with the One You Love" :Performed by Dan Healy and Kaye Renard * " Blue Skies" :Music by

:Played by a band while the acrobats are performing * "Sam, the Old Accordion Man" :Music by

:Danced to by Dan Healy and Mary Eaton at the picnic and later onstage * "Hot Feet" :Music by

Jimmy McHugh James Francis McHugh (July 10, 1894 – May 23, 1969) was an American composer. One of the most prolific songwriters from the 1920s to the 1950s, he is credited with over 500 songs. His songs were recorded by many artists, including Chet Baker, Ju ...

:Danced to by Dan Healy and Mary Eaton * "I'm Just a Vagabond Lover" :Music by

Rudy Vallée Hubert Prior Vallée (July 28, 1901 – July 3, 1986), known professionally as Rudy Vallée, was an American singer, musician, actor, and radio host. He was one of the first modern pop stars of the teen idol type. Early life Hubert Prior Vall ...

and Leon Zimmerman :Performed by Rudy Vallée and His Connecticut Yankees * "What Wouldn't I Do for That Man?" :Music by

Jay Gorney Jay Gorney (December 12, 1896– June 14, 1990) was an American theater and film song writer. Life and career Gorney was born Abraham Jacob Gornetzsky on December 12, 1896, in Białystok, Russia (now part of Poland), the son of Frieda (Perlst ...

:Lyrics by E.Y. Harburg :Performed by Helen Morgan * "There Must Be Somebody Waiting For Me" :Music by

:Performed by Mary Eaton and chorus in the finale. Played by pianist while Eaton dances en pointe. Played during opening credits.

References

External links

* * * * (censored version) * {{Ziegfeld Follies 1929 films 1929 musical comedy films 1920s color films American musical comedy films 1920s English-language films Paramount Pictures films Films directed by Millard Webb Ziegfeld Follies American black-and-white films 1920s American films