''Hold Everything'' 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 ...

film. It was the first musical comedy film to be released that was photographed entirely in early two-color Technicolor. It was adapted from the DeSylva-Brown-Henderson

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

of the same name that had served as a vehicle for

Bert Lahr Irving Lahrheim (August 13, 1895 – December 4, 1967), known professionally as Bert Lahr, was an American actor. He was best known for his role as the Cowardly Lion, as well as his counterpart Kansas farmworker "Zeke", in the MGM adaptation of ...

and starred

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 ...

and

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 the comedy duo. The romantic subplot was played by

Georges Carpentier Georges Carpentier (; 12 January 1894 – 28 October 1975) was a French boxer, actor and World War I pilot. He fought mainly as a light heavyweight and heavyweight in a career lasting from 1908 to 1926. Nicknamed the "Orchid Man", he stood and hi ...

and

Sally O'Neil Sally O'Neil (born Virginia Louise Concepta Noonan; October 23, 1908 – June 18, 1968) was an American film actress of the 1920s. She appeared in more than 40 films, often with her name above the title. Early years O'Neil was one of eleven child ...

. Only three songs from the stage show remained: "

You're the Cream in My Coffee "You're the Cream in My Coffee" is a popular song published in 1928. Popular recordings were by Annette Hanshaw, Ben Selvin (vocal by Jack Palmer), Ted Weems (vocal by Parker Gibbs) and Ruth Etting. The music was written by Ray Henderson, with ...

", "To Know You Is To Love You", and "Don't Hold Everything". New songs were written for the film by

Al Dubin Alexander Dubin (June 10, 1891 – February 11, 1945) was an American lyricist. He is best known for his collaborations with the composer Harry Warren. Life Al Dubin came from a Russian Jewish family that emigrated to the United States from Swi ...

and Joe Burke, including one that became a hit in 1930: "When The Little Red Roses Get The Blues For You". The songs in the film were played by

Abe Lyman Abe Lyman (August 4, 1897 – October 23, 1957) was a popular bandleader from the 1920s to the 1940s. He made recordings, appeared in films and provided the music for numerous radio shows, including ''Your Hit Parade''. His name at birth was Abra ...

and his orchestra.

Plot

Brown plays Gink Schiner, a third-rate fighter who is at the same training camp as Georges La Verne (played by Georges Carpentier), a contender for the heavyweight championship. Although he needs to be concentrating all of his energies on the upcoming bout, Georges keeps getting distracted: Norine Lloyd, a society dame, has a distinct interest in him, but the interest is strictly one-sided. Georges prefers Sue, an old buddy and confidante. Gink has woman trouble of his own, as his flirtations do not sit at all well with Toots (played by Winnie Lightner), his erstwhile girlfriend. More trouble arrives when Larkin, manager of current heavyweight champ Bob Morgan, appears at the camp with the goal of fixing the fight. He is sent packing, after which he attempts to slip a Mickey Finn to the challenger—a plan which goes awry when Gink switches the drinks. Meanwhile, Gink, who is fighting in a preliminary in advance of the big fight, actually wins. Things don't look so bright for Georges, who initially gets the worst of it in his encounter with Morgan, but who eventually comes out on top.

Cast

as Gink Schiner *

as Toots Breen *

as Sue Burke *

as Georges La Verne *

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 Springs ...

as Pop O'Keefe *

Bert Roach Egbert "Bert" Roach (August 21, 1891 – February 16, 1971) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 320 films between 1914 and 1951. He was born in Washington, D.C., and died in Los Angeles, California, age 79. Selected filmogra ...

as Nosey Bartlett *

Dorothy Revier Dorothy Revier (born Doris Valerga; April 18, 1904 – November 19, 1993) was an American actress. Early years Born as Doris Valerga in San Francisco on April 18, 1904, Revier was one of five siblings of the famous Valerga performing fami ...

as Norine Lloyd * Jack Curtis as Murph Levy *Tony Stabenau as Bob Morgan *

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 Dan Larkin *

as Orchestra Leader

Release

In 1930, this was the first film shown at the newly opened Warner Bros. Hollywood Theatre, a luxurious

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

movie palace specifically designed to showcase its then-revolutionary

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 th ...

sound films A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades passed befor ...

. The theatre later became a legitimate

venue Venue is the location at which an event takes place. It may refer to: Locations * Venue (law), the place a case is heard * Financial trading venue, a place or system where financial transactions can occur * Music venue, place used for a concer ...

, the

Mark Hellinger Theatre The Mark Hellinger Theatre (formerly the 51st Street Theatre and the Hollywood Theatre) is a church building at 237 West 51st Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, which formerly served as a cinema and a Broadway thea ...

, and is now the home of the

Times Square Church Times Square Church is an interdenominational congregation located at the Mark Hellinger Theatre on 237 West 51st Street in the Theater District of Manhattan in New York City. Times Square Church was founded by Pastor David Wilkerson in 1987 and ...

Box office

According to Warner Bros records the film earned $1,018,000 domestically and $315,000 foreign.

Preservation status

The sound discs survive, but the visuals are lost. The

George Eastman Museum The George Eastman Museum, also referred to as ''George Eastman House, International Museum of Photography and Film'', the world's oldest museum dedicated to photography and one of the world's oldest film archives, opened to the public in 1949 in ...

2015 book ''The Dawn of Technicolor, 1915-1935'' mistakenly reported that the Library of Congress possesses a black and white print, but that is not true. No Color print is known to exist as of 2021 .''The Dawn of Technicolor, 1915–1935'', c.2015

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hold Everything 1930 films 1930s color films 1930s sports comedy films American boxing films Warner Bros. films 1930s English-language films Films directed by Roy Del Ruth 1930s rediscovered films American musical comedy films 1930 musical comedy films Early color films Films with screenplays by Robert Lord (screenwriter) American sports comedy films Rediscovered American films 1930s American films