Night Parade (1929)

User Rating:

5.7/10   

Director:

Malcolm St. Clair

Writers:

George Abbott (play)
Hyatt Daab (play)

Release Date:

27 October 1929 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Bobby Martin, a young middleweight champion boxer, is an honest and decent fighter. However, on the eve of his biggest fight...

Plot Keywords:

Father Son Relationship | Gambler | Deception | Racketeer | Temptress

Cast

Aileen Pringle	...	Paula Vernoff
Hugh Trevor	...	Bobby Martin
Dorothy Gulliver	...	Doris O'Connell
Robert Ellis	...	Mr. John W. Zelli
Ann Pennington	...	Dancer Ann Pennington
Lloyd Ingraham	...	Tom Murray
Lee Shumway	...	Sid Durham
Heinie Conklin	...	Heinie the Bartender
Charles Sullivan	...	Huffy
Nate D. Slott	...	Phil (as Nate Slott)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Bill Elliott	...	Party Guest (as Gordon Elliott)

Also Known As:

Sporting Life (UK)

Runtime:

71 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Photophone System)

Certification:

USA:Approved

Company:

RKO Radio Pictures

Of interest to those who study early sound films

This one is primarily interesting to those who like to study the early American sound films. Others may find themselves nodding off.

Since I am a follower of this period of film I stayed with it. As a very early example of sound film (1929)it has a lot in common with other films shot at the time: dreadful script, wooden acting, and no background music. The rule for speaking at the time must have been "speak slowly and with great emphasis". The result is an unnatural, stiff and sometimes hilarious delivery.

Most of the films shot around this time were shot with multiple cameras covering a variety of angles, but all running at the same time so that the scene could be played without stopping. Interestingly, this seems to have been one of the early attempts at using one camera shooting an angle at a time and then using editing to make the scene move. This is course the technique that would become standard in later years. So I give the producers credit for taking the time to assemble the film in a more cinematic and less theatrical style.

One side note. This film was shot using the RCA Photophone sound process, where the sound is recorded on a separate strip of film optically. During the editing process they apparently had not yet developed a way to make the splices on the sound-track noiseless. So every time a cut is made you can hear a little pop on the sound. This would be corrected fairly quickly, but this one may have been made to satisfy the public's insatiable appetite for sound films and rushed to market.

Slow, creaky, and of it's time, but interesting to me anyway.