''Paramount on Parade'' is a 1930 all-star American

pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was an era in the Cinema of the United States, American film industry that occurred between the widespread adoption of sound in film in the late 1920s and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship gui ...

revue A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatre, theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketch comedy, sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural pre ...

released by

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

, directed by several directors including

Edmund Goulding Edmund Goulding (20 March 1891 – 24 December 1959) was a British screenwriter and film director. As an actor early in his career he was one of the 'Ghosts' in the 1922 silent film '' Three Live Ghosts'' alongside Norman Kerry and Cyril Chadwic ...

Dorothy Arzner Dorothy Emma Arzner (January 3, 1897 – October 1, 1979) was an American film director whose career in Hollywood spanned from the silent era of the 1920s into the early 1940s. With the exception of long-time silent film director Lois Weber, fro ...

Ernst Lubitsch Ernst Lubitsch (; ; January 29, 1892November 30, 1947) was a German-born American film director, producer, writer, and actor. His urbane comedies of manners gave him the reputation of being Hollywood's most elegant and sophisticated director; a ...

, Rowland V. Lee,

A. Edward Sutherland Albert Edward Sutherland (January 5, 1895 – December 31, 1973) was a British-born film director and actor. Born in London, he was from a theatrical family. His father, Al Sutherland, was a theatre manager and producer and his mother, Julie Rin ...

Lothar Mendes Lothar Mendes (19 May 1894 – 24 February 1974) was a German-born screenwriter and film director. His two best known films are ''Jew Süss (1934 film), Jew Süss'' (1934) and ''The Man Who Could Work Miracles'' (1936), both productions for Briti ...

Otto Brower Otto Brower (December 2, 1890 – January 25, 1946) was an American film director. He directed more than 40 films between 1928 and 1946. He was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and died in Hollywood, California, from a myocardial infarction, ...

, Edwin H. Knopf,

Frank Tuttle Frank Wright Tuttle (August 6, 1892 – January 6, 1963) was a Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film director and writer who directed films from 1922 (''The Cradle Buster'') to 1959 (''Island of Lost Women''). Biography Frank Tuttle was ...

, and

Victor Schertzinger Victor L. Schertzinger (April 8, 1888 – October 26, 1941) was an American composer, film director, film producer, and screenwriter. His films include ''Paramount on Parade'' (co-director, 1930 in film, 1930), ''Something to Sing About (1937 fi ...

—all supervised by the production supervisor, singer, actress, and songwriter

Elsie Janis Elsie Janis (born Elsie Bierbower, March 16, 1889 – February 26, 1956) was an American actress of stage and screen, singer, songwriter, screenwriter and radio announcer. Entertaining the troops during World War I immortalized her as " the sw ...

. Featured stars included

Jean Arthur Jean Arthur (born Gladys Georgianna Greene; October 17, 1900 – June 19, 1991) was an American film and theater actress whose career began in silent films in the early 1920s and lasted until the early 1950s. Arthur had feature roles in three F ...

, Richard Arlen,

Clara Bow Clara Gordon Bow (; July 29, 1905 – September 27, 1965) was an American actress who rose to stardom during the silent film era of the 1920s and successfully made the transition to "talkies" in 1929. Her appearance as a plucky shopgirl in the ...

Evelyn Brent Evelyn Brent (born Mary Elizabeth Riggs; October 20, 1895 – June 4, 1975) was an American film and stage actress. Early life Brent was born in Tampa, Florida and known as "Betty." When she was 10 years old, her mother Eleanor ( Warner) die ...

, Charles "Buddy" Rogers, Jack Oakie,

Helen Kane Helen Kane (born Helen Clare Schroeder, August 4, 1904 – September 26, 1966) was an American singer and actress. Her signature song was " I Wanna Be Loved by You" (1928), featured in the 1928 stage musical ''Good Boy''. The song was written for ...

Maurice Chevalier Maurice Auguste Chevalier (; 12 September 1888 – 1 January 1972) was a French singer, actor, and entertainer. He is best known for his signature songs, including " Livin' In The Sunlight", " Valentine", " Louise", " Mimi", and " Thank Heaven f ...

, Nancy Carroll,

George Bancroft George Bancroft (October 3, 1800 – January 17, 1891) was an American historian, statesman and Democratic Party (United States), Democratic politician who was prominent in promoting secondary education both in his home state of Massachusetts ...

Kay Francis Kay Francis (born Katharine Edwina Gibbs; January 13, 1905 – August 26, 1968) was an American stage and film actress. After a brief period on Broadway in the late 1920s, she moved to film and achieved her greatest success between 1930 an ...

, Richard "Skeets" Gallagher,

Gary Cooper Gary Cooper (born Frank James Cooper; May 7, 1901May 13, 1961) was an American actor known for his strong, silent screen persona and understated acting style. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice and had a further three nominations, ...

Fay Wray Vina Fay Wray (September 15, 1907 – August 8, 2004) was a Canadian-American actress best known for starring as Ann Darrow in the 1933 film ''King Kong''. Through an acting career that spanned nearly six decades, Wray attained international r ...

Lillian Roth Lillian Roth (December 13, 1910 – May 12, 1980) was an American singer and actress. Her life story was told in the 1955 film ''I'll Cry Tomorrow'', in which she was portrayed by Susan Hayward, who was nominated for the Academy Award for Best ...

and other Paramount stars. The screenplay was written by

Joseph L. Mankiewicz Joseph Leo Mankiewicz (; February 11, 1909 – February 5, 1993) was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. A four-time Academy Award winner, he is best known for his witty and literate dialogue and his preference for voice-over ...

, produced by

Adolph Zukor Adolph Zukor (; ; January 7, 1873 – June 10, 1976) was a Hungarian-American film producer best known as one of the three founders of Paramount Pictures.Obituary ''Variety Obituaries, Variety'' (June 16, 1976), p. 76. He produced one of Ameri ...

and Jesse L. Lasky, with cinematography by Victor Milner and Harry Fischbeck.

Production

''Paramount on Parade'', released on April 22, 1930, was Paramount's answer to all-star revues like '' Hollywood Revue of 1929'' from

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

, '' The Show of Shows'' from

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

, and '' King of Jazz'' from

Universal Studios Universal Studios may refer to: * Universal Studios, Inc., an American media and entertainment conglomerate ** Universal Pictures, an American film studio ** Universal Studios Lot, a film and television studio complex * Various theme parks operat ...

. The film had 20 individual segments—several of them in two-color

Technicolor Technicolor is a family of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes. The first version, Process 1, was introduced in 1916, and improved versions followed over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black-and ...

— directed by 11 directors, and almost every star on the Paramount roster except

Claudette Colbert Claudette Colbert (koʊlˈbɛər/ kohl-BAIR, born Émilie "Lily" Claudette Chauchoin (ʃoʃwɛ̃/ show-shwan); September 13, 1903 – July 30, 1996) was an American actress. Colbert began her career in Broadway theater, Broadway productions dur ...

and the

Marx Brothers The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act known for their anarchic humor, rapid-fire wordplay, and visual gags. They achieved success in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in 14 motion pictures. The core group consisted of brothers Chi ...

. (Colbert became a star in May 1930 with the release of '' The Big Pond'', also with Chevalier and also released in a French-language version.)

Cecil B. DeMille Cecil Blount DeMille (; August 12, 1881January 21, 1959) was an American filmmaker and actor. Between 1914 and 1958, he made 70 features, both silent and sound films. He is acknowledged as a founding father of American cinema and the most co ...

was also not involved in the revue as he had moved to

in 1928 and would not return until 1932 to direct '' The Sign of the Cross''. Green, Stanley (1999) Hollywood Musicals Year by Year (2nd ed.), pub. Hal Leonard Corporation page 12

International versions

Paramount also produced a

Spanish-language Spanish () or Castilian () is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin spoken on the Iberian Peninsula of Europe. Today, it is a world language, gl ...

version titled ''Galas de la Paramount'' starring Barry Norton, Ramon Pereda and Rosita Moreno; a

French-language French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. Like all other Romance languages, it descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire. French evolved from Northern Old Gallo-Romance, a descendant of the Latin spoken in ...

version, ''Paramount en parade'', directed by Charles de Rochefort; and a

Romanian-language Romanian (obsolete spelling: Roumanian; , or , ) is the official and main language of Romania and Moldova. Romanian is part of the Eastern Romance languages, Eastern Romance sub-branch of Romance languages, a linguistic group that evolved fr ...

version ''Parada Paramount'' (Chevalier and Martini also starred in the French version, and Romanian actress

Pola Illéry Paula Iliescu Gibson (18 December 1909 – 19 October 1993) known professionally as Pola Illery, was a Romanian-American actress and singer, best known for her appearances in early Cinema of France, French film, and of the latter after emigrating ...

starred in the Romanian version). There was also a Dutch version, ''Paramount op Parade'' with Theo Frenkel, and a Scandinavian version starring Ernst Rolf and his wife,

Tutta Rolf Tutta Rolf (born Solveig Jenny Berntzen; 7 October 1907 – 26 October 1994) was a Norwegian-Swedish film and theatre actress and singer. She was born in Oslo. She appeared in 14 films between 1932 and 1939. She was married three times, first to ...

Preservation status

The film, including some of its Technicolor sequences, has been restored by the

UCLA Film and Television Archive The UCLA Film & Television Archive is a visual arts organization focused on the film preservation, preservation, film studies, study, and appreciation of film and television, based at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). As a nonpro ...

. The original title sequence and chorus girl number immediately following it, however, are still lost. The sound for two of the Technicolor sequences ("Gallows Song" and "Dream Girl") are also missing. According to Robert Gitt, film archivist now retired from UCLA, in a lecture at Pacific Film Archive at

UC Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkele ...

, the film was also released with

sound-on-disc Sound-on-disc is a class of sound film processes using a phonograph or other disc to record or play back sound in sync with a motion picture. Early sound-on-disc systems used a mechanical interlock with the movie projector, while more recent sys ...

for those theaters not equipped for

sound-on-film Sound-on-film is a class of sound film processes where the sound accompanying a picture is recorded on photographic film, usually, but not always, the same strip of film carrying the picture. Sound-on-film processes can either record an Analog s ...

. The archive had a report of the soundtrack for this film still existing on disc until the

1994 Northridge earthquake The 1994 Northridge earthquake affected Greater Los Angeles, California, on January 17, 1994, at 04:30:55 PST. The epicenter of the moment 6.7 () blind thrust earthquake was beneath the San Fernando Valley. Lasting approximately 8 seconds ...

destroyed a set of discs that a collector was planning to donate. In August 2010, CapitolFest in Rome, New York showed a 102-minute version restored by UCLA Film and Television Archive. Some sequences are still missing the sound, for some sequences only the soundtrack exists.

List of sequences

* "Title Sequence" during Credits with

and

(lost footage; only sound survives) * "Showgirls on Parade" with Mitzi Mayfair (lost Technicolor footage; only sound survives) * "We're the Masters of Ceremony" Jack Oakie, Richard "Skeets" Gallagher, and

Leon Errol Leon Errol (born Leonce Errol Sims, July 3, 1881 – October 12, 1951) was an Australian-American comedian and actor in the United States, popular in the first half of the 20th century for his appearances in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in film ...

introduce themselves as MC's of the film * "Love Time" Charles "Buddy" Rogers and

* "Murder Will Out"

William Powell William Horatio Powell (July 29, 1892 – March 5, 1984) was an American actor, known primarily for his film career. Under contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, he was paired with Myrna Loy in 14 films, including the ''The Thin Man (film), Thin M ...

Clive Brook Clifford Hardman "Clive" Brook (1 June 1887 – 17 November 1974) was an English stage and film actor. After making his first screen appearance in 1920, Brook emerged as a leading British actor in the early 1920s. After moving to the Unit ...

Warner Oland Warner Oland (born Johan Verner Ölund; October 3, 1879 – August 6, 1938) was a Swedish-American actor. His career included time on Broadway and numerous film appearances. He is most remembered for playing several Chinese and Chinese-American ...

Eugene Pallette Eugene William Pallette (July 8, 1889 – September 3, 1954) was an American actor who worked in both the silent and sound eras, performing in more than 240 productions between 1913 and 1946. After an early career as a slender leading man, ...

, and Oakie * "Origin of the Apache"

and

do a parody of an

Apache dance Apache (), or La Danse Apache, Bowery Waltz, Apache Turn, Apache Dance and Tough Dance is a highly dramatic dance associated in popular culture with Parisian street culture at the beginning of the 20th century. The name of the dance is pronounc ...

* "Song of the Gondolier" Nino Martini sings "Come Back to Sorrento" (Technicolor; survives complete) * "In a Hospital" Leon Errol,

Phillips Holmes Phillips Raymond Holmes (July 22, 1907 – August 12, 1942) was an American actor. For his contributions to the film industry, he was posthumously given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960. Early life, education and career Born in ...

, and David Newell * "In a Girl's Gym" Jack Oakie, and

Zelma O'Neal Zelma O'Neal (May 29, 1903 – November 3, 1989) was an American actress, singer, and dancer in the 1920s and 1930s. She appeared on Broadway and in early sound films, including the Paramount Pictures films '' Paramount on Parade'' and '' ...

* "The Toreador"

and Harry Green (as Isadore the Toreador) parody ''

Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the O ...

'' (Technicolor; survives complete) * "The Montmartre Girl"

Ruth Chatterton Ruth Chatterton (December 24, 1892 – November 24, 1961) was an American stage, film, and television actress, aviator and novelist. She was at her most popular in the early to mid-1930s, and in the same era gained prominence as an aviator, ...

, Stu Erwin,

Fredric March Fredric March (born Ernest Frederick McIntyre Bickel; August 31, 1897 – April 14, 1975) was an American actor, regarded as one of Hollywood's most celebrated stars of the 1930s and 1940s.Obituary '' Variety'', April 16, 1975, page 95. As ...

, Stanley Smith, Jack Pennick * "Park in Paris"

* "Mitzi Herself" Mitzi Green * "The Schoolroom"

, Mitzi Green. Kane sings "What Did Cleopatra Say?" to her class * "The Gallows Song" Skeets Gallagher and Dennis King (Technicolor footage survives; sound missing, current prints use King's commercial vocal recording of the song.) * "Dance Mad" Nancy Carroll and

Abe Lyman Abe Lyman (born Abraham Simon; August 4, 1897 – October 23, 1957) was a 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''. Biography Bo ...

's Band * "Dream Girl" Richard Arlen,

, Mary Brian, James Hall,

, and

sing "Let Us Drink To The Girl Of My Dreams" (Technicolor footage survives; sound missing) * "The Redhead"

, and 42 Navy men sing "True to the Navy" * "Impulses"

, Kay Francis, and

Cecil Cunningham Edna Cecil Cunningham (August 2, 1888 – April 17, 1959) was an American film and stage actress, singer, and comedienne. Early years A native of St. Louis, Missouri, Cunningham was one of at least six children born to Sarah Hunter and Patric ...

* "Rainbow Revels" finale Chevalier and girls' chorus (including

Iris Adrian Iris Adrian Hostetter (May 29, 1912 – September 17, 1994) was an American stage and film actress. Life and career Adrian was an only child, born in Los Angeles, California, to Florence (née Van Every) and Adrian Earl Hostetter, who wed in 1 ...

and Virginia Bruce) sing "Sweeping the Clouds Away" (in Technicolor; survives only in black-and-white)

Foreign-language versions

A large number of foreign-language versions were shot including: * ''Galas de Paramount'' (Spanish) premiered in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

in early August, 1930, in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

August 28, 1930 and in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

September 7, 1930; with Ramón Pereda, Barry Norton, Rosita Moreno as hosts to sequences from the original version and new sequences featuring Juan Pulido, Ernesto Vilches,

Albertina Rasch Albertina Rasch (January 19, 1891 – October 2, 1967) was an Austrian-American dancer, company director, and choreographer. Early life Rasch was born in 1891 (although she would later shave five years off her age), in Vienna (in what was then ...

as well as Nino Martini and Mitzi Green in both new and original-version segments. * ''Paramount en parade'' (French) with

, Nino Martini,

Jeanette MacDonald Jeanette Anna MacDonald (June 18, 1903 – January 14, 1965) was an American soprano and actress best remembered for her musical films of the 1930s with Maurice Chevalier (''The Love Parade'', ''Love Me Tonight'', ''The Merry Widow (1934 film) ...

, Saint-Granier,

Marguerite Moreno Marguerite Moreno (born Lucie Marie Marguerite Monceau; 15 September 1871, Paris - 14 July 1948, Touzac, Lot) was a French stage and film actress. On 12 September 1900, in England, she married the writer Marcel Schwob, whom she had met in 18 ...

, Louis-Jacques Boucot, Fanny Clair, and Charles de Rochefort (Rochefort also directed) * ''Parada Paramount'' (Romanian) with

; directed by Rochefort * ''Paramount op Parade'' (Dutch) with Theo Frenkel Jr., Mien Duymaer van Twist, and Louis Davids; directed by Job Weening At Paramount's Hollywood studio, Ernst Rolf and his Norwegian wife,

, filmed introductions and sequences for the Scandinavian version. Japanese comedian Suisei Matsui introduced the film in Japan. Mira Zimińska and Mariusz Maszynski appeared in the Polish version, and Dina Gralla and Eugen Rex appeared in the German version. Paramount filmed most of the above versions, along with Czech, Hungarian, Serbian, and Italian versions, at their Joinville Studios in Paris.

References

External links

''Paramount on Parade'' at Fredric March Filmography

''Paramount en Parade'' (French language version) at IMDB
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Paramount on Parade 1930 films 1930 musical films 1930s color films American musical films 1930s English-language films Film revues Films directed by A. Edward Sutherland Films directed by Dorothy Arzner Films directed by Edmund Goulding Films directed by Edwin H. Knopf Films directed by Ernst Lubitsch Films directed by Frank Tuttle Films directed by Otto Brower Films directed by Rowland V. Lee Films directed by Victor Heerman Films directed by Victor Schertzinger Films produced by B. P. Schulberg American multilingual films Paramount Pictures films Films with screenplays by Joseph L. Mankiewicz American black-and-white films 1930 multilingual films Early color films 1930s American films English-language musical films