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Applause (1929 film)

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Applause
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRouben Mamoulian
Written byGarrett Fort
Based onApplause
by Beth Brown
Produced byMonta Bell
Walter Wanger (uncredited)
StarringHelen Morgan
Jack Cameron
Joan Peers
CinematographyGeorge J. Folsey
Edited byJohn Bassler
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release dates
  • October 7, 1929 (1929-10-07) (New York premiere)
  • January 4, 1930 (1930-01-04) (United States)
Running time
80 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Applause is a 1929 American backstage musical "talkie" directed by Rouben Mamoulian and starring Helen Morgan, Jack Cameron, and Joan Peers. It was shot at Paramount's Astoria Studios in Astoria, New York during the early years of sound films.[1]

Applause is adapted from the 1928 novel by Beth Brown, a former chorus girl, about an aging burlesque queen who sacrifices herself for her daughter so that the latter can escape her mother’s sordid fate.[2][3][4][5]

The film is notable as one of the earliest films of its time to break free from the restrictions of bulky sound technology equipment in order to shoot on location around Manhattan. In 2006, Applause was included in the annual selection of 25 motion pictures added to the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress, being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" and recommended for preservation.[6][7]

Production

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Broadway stage producer Rouben Mamoulian was engaged by Jesse Lasky and Walter Wanger of Paramount studios to direct a film based on the Beth Brown novel Applause (1928)[8] The picture was filmed in Astoria Studios in New York, rather than in Hollywood, California.[9]

Helen Morgan, a widely-acclaimed torch singer, had recently achieved fame playing the tragic honky-tonk girl Julie Laverne in the Broadway production of Show Boat (1926)[10][11] The 26-year-old Morgan was enlisted to play the aging and “ravaged” cabaret singer, Kitty Darling, a mother to a 17-year-old daughter, Kitty (played by Joan Peers). For her first film role, Morgan put on 25 pounds (11 kg) and donned wigs and “unflattering” outfits, concealing her actual attractiveness, and producing a haggard, bloated appearance.[12][13] Morgan, notorious for her drinking, abided by director Mamoulian's demand that she restrict her alcohol consumption during filming.[10][14]

Plot

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The first scene has a marching band playing Theodore Mentz's "A Hot Time in the Old Town".

The film tells of Kitty Darling (Helen Morgan), a burlesque star. Upon the recommendation of burlesque clown and suitor, Joe King (Jack Cameron), Kitty sends her young daughter to a convent to get her away from the sleazy burlesque environment she is involved.

Many years later, Kitty is not doing so well, and her best days are behind her. She is now an alcoholic who lives in the past. She lives with a burlesque comic named Hitch (Fuller Mellish Jr.). Hitch cheats on her and only cares about spending what little money she has. When he finds out that she has been paying for her daughter's convent education for over a decade, he pushes her to bring April home.

Her grown, but naive daughter April (Joan Peers) returns. Kitty is embarrassed by her condition and marries Hitch so that April will not be ashamed of her.

When April arrives, she is disgusted with her mother and her sad life. Hitch tries to force her into show business and repeatedly gropes her, at one point forcing a kiss on her.

April roams the city and meets a lonely young sailor named Tony (Henry Wadsworth). They fall in love, agree to marry, and plan for April to visit his home in Wisconsin. When April goes to tell her mother about their plans, she overhears Hitch belittling Kitty, calling her a "has-been."

April is upset and calls off her wedding. She decides to join the chorus line of a burlesque show. She says a reluctant goodbye to Tony at the subway. Meanwhile, Kitty takes an overdose of sleeping pills. The bottle clearly says "For insomnia one tablet only". She goes downstairs to the show and collapses on a couch.

Knowing that Kitty cannot perform in the show, the producer berates her, mistaking her reaction to the overdose for delirium tremens. April, not realizing what is happening, says she will take Kitty's place despite Kitty's objections. She tells Kitty she will take care of her now, like Kitty always did for April. As April goes on stage, Kitty passes away, her head hanging over the edge of the couch.

April is disgusted at herself and cannot complete the show. As she runs off the stage, Tony is there to greet her. He says he had a feeling she did not mean what she was saying. She hugs him close and says she wants to go far away. Not realizing Kitty is dead, she says they will need to take care of her mother too, and Tony agrees.

The final shot is a close-up of the Kitty Darling poster on the wall behind Tony and April.

Cast

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Song titles

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Source:[15][1]

  • “What Wouldn’t I Do For That Man”
  • “Give Your Little Baby Lots of Lovin’”
  • “Pretty Baby”
  • “Waiting For the Robert E. Lee”
  • “The Turkey Trot”
  • “I’ve Got a Feelin’ I’m Fallin’”
  • “Yaaka Hula Hickey Dula”

Critical reception

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Applause enjoyed overwhelming critical acclaim, largely for its “technical and innovations and artistry.” The moving-going public did not agree, and the film was “a box-office failure.”[16][17]

Critic Mordaunt Hall, writing for The New York Times, liked the acting but was troubled by some of Rouben Mamoulian's direction. He wrote "The opening chapters are none too interesting and subsequently one anticipates pretty much what's going to happen...however, Mr. Mamoulian commits the unpardonable sin of being far too extravagant. He becomes tedious in his scenes of the convent and there is nothing but viciousness in his stage passages."[18]

Photoplay described the film as "a curious one", but recommended for the performances by Morgan and Joan Peers. The anonymous reviewer thought the two leads, "and some nice camera work, help save a confusing job".[19]

Retrospective appraisal

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Rather than merely satisfying the public’s clamor for “talkies” dominated by dialogue, Mamoulian revisited the cinematic elements of the silent era in Applause. Film historian Spergel observed that “Applause owes a great deal to the techniques of silent filmmaking…the film depends on imagery and montage rather than dialogue for its greatest impact.”[20][21]

The Library of Congress states:

Many have compared Mamoulian's debut to that of Orson Welles' Citizen Kane because of his flamboyant use of cinematic innovation to test technical boundaries. The tear-jerking plot boasts top performances from Morgan as the fading burlesque queen, Fuller Mellish Jr. as her slimy paramour and Joan Peers as her cultured daughter. However, the film is remembered today chiefly for Mamoulian's audacious style. While most films of the era were static and stage-bound, Mamoulian's camera reinvigorated the melodramatic plot by prowling relentlessly through sordid backstage life.[6]

Premiere and boxoffice reception

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The film opened strongly on October 7, 1929, at New York City's Criterion Theatre, which was celebrating its 35th anniversary. Also featured was a short film in which Charles K. Harris sang his classic song "After the Ball".

A combination of mixed reviews, misleading advertising (the publicity focused on glamour shots of Helen Morgan, not what she looked like in the film), downbeat subject matter, and the Stock Market Crash caused the movie to fade significantly as soon as it left the Criterion.

Revival, restoration, and home video release

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See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ a b Milne, 1969 p. 161: Filmography
  2. ^ Milne, 1969 p. 17
  3. ^ Jensen, 2024 p. 53, p. 59: On Kitty’s escape.
  4. ^ Danks, 2007: “This is probably a key reason why Mamoulian was actually so well-suited to the studio system of the 1930s and early ’40s, as despite his often striking use of locations, including actual New York stations and subways in Applause…”
  5. ^ Milne, 1969 p. 17, p. 24-25: “Mamoulian’ chief motivation, of course, was to unchain the camera” and “breaking the sound barrier…”
  6. ^ a b "Librarian of Congress Adds Home Movie, Silent Films and Hollywood Classics to Film Preservation List". Loc.gov. December 27, 2006. Retrieved June 7, 2012.
  7. ^ "Complete National Film Registry Listing". Library of Congress. Retrieved September 16, 2020.
  8. ^ Heden-Guest, 2016: “Paramount soon came calling, trusting Mamoulian with an important and, for the studio, very risky early talkie that resulted in the brilliant Applause…”
  9. ^ Milne, 1969 p. 17, p. 162: Filmography
  10. ^ a b Jensen, 2024 p. 54
  11. ^ Milne, 1969 p. 27-28: Torch singer.
  12. ^ Jensen, 2024 p. 54: “unflattering”
  13. ^ Milne, 1969: p. 28: “ravaged”
  14. ^ Applause at IMDb.
  15. ^ Spergel, 1993 p. 277: Filmography
  16. ^ Spergel, 1993 p. 111
  17. ^ Milne, 1969 p. 29: “...a critical rather than a box-office success.”
  18. ^ Hall, Mordaunt[permanent dead link‍]. The New York Times, film review, October 8, 1929.
  19. ^ Kreuger, Miles ed. The Movie Musical from Vitaphone to 42nd Street as Reported in a Great Fan Magazine (New York: Dover Publications) p 127. ISBN 0-486-23154-2
  20. ^ Spergel, 1993 115, p. 152
  21. ^ Callahan, 2007: “Mamoulian takes a hoary mother/daughter story and, with some inspired help from the tear-soaked, blowsy Helen Morgan, he fashions one of the few musicals to really capture a sense of chaos and suicidal despair.”
  22. ^ CLIVE BARNES (March 31, 1970). "Theater: Lauren Bacall in 'Applause'" (PDF). New York Times. p. 3. Retrieved June 7, 2012 – via ProQuest.
  23. ^ Feature films preserved by UCLA (1977–2012)

References

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