Manhattan Parade

Manhattan Parade
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Directed by	Lloyd Bacon
Written by	Houston Branch Robert Lord based on the play by Samuel Shipman
Starring	Winnie Lightner Charles Butterworth Joe Smith Charles Dale
Music by	Harold Arlen Harry Ruby
Cinematography	Devereaux Jennings (Technicolor)
Edited by	William Holmes
Production company	Warner Bros.
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release dates	December 24, 1931 (1931-12-24)
Running time	78 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Manhattan Parade is a 1931 American Pre-Code musical comedy film photographed entirely in Technicolor. It was originally intended to be released, in the United States, early in 1931, but was shelved due to public apathy towards musicals. Despite waiting a number of months, the public proved obstinate and the Warner Bros. reluctantly released the film in December 1931 after removing all the music. Since there was no such reactions to musicals outside the United States, the film was released there as a full musical comedy in 1931.

The film pokes fun at Al Jolson, who had suffered a downturn in his career due to the public aversion to musical pictures. He had been released from his contract to Warner Bros. late in 1930.

Cast

• Winnie Lightner as Doris Roberts
• Charles Butterworth as Herbert T. Herbert
• Joe Smith as Lou Delman of the Avon Comedy Four (as Smith)
• Charles Dale as Jake Delman of the Avon Comedy Four (as Dale)
• Dickie Moore as Junior Roberts
• Bobby Watson as Paisley
• Frank Conroy as Bill Brighton
• Walter Miller as John Roberts
• Mae Madison as Woman in charge of fitting
• Polly Walters as Telephone girl
• Luis Alberni as Vassily Vassiloff
• Greta Granstedt as Charlotte Evans

Cast notes

• This was the first of two films which the comedy team of Smith and Dale starred in for Warner Bros., the second being The Heart of New York. The team failed to be the success which Warner Bros. had hoped for and their contract was not renewed.

Production

The film was the first Warner Bros. film to be filmed in the improved Technicolor process which removed grain and improved both the color and clarity of the film. This improved process had first been used on The Runaround (1931) and resulted in an attempt at a color revival by the studios late in 1931. Variety praised the color work in this film, stating that "the coloring is easy on the eye and never harsh or confusing as the early color pictures were."

Pre-Code Sequences

• Bobby Watson plays the part of a gay fashion designer named Paisley.
• In one sequence, Paisley protests that "I can cheapen myself and prostitute my art for just so long" when his boss Doris Roberts (Winnie Lightner) insists that he follow a customer's directions.
• Herbert (Charles Butterworth) says to Paisley: "What were we talking about, Madam?"
• John Roberts (Walter Miller), who is married to Doris, has an affair with a seventeen-year-old named Charlotte Evans (Greta Granstedt).
• Doris orders a large quantity of tin pie pans over the phone, explaining to the seller "We use them for brassieres..........what do we use the brassieres for?????.......to bake pies in!!!"

Music

Three songs were written for the film by Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler:

• "I Love a Parade" (Production Number sung by Chorus)
• "Temporarily Blue" (Sung by Winnie Lightner)
• "I'm Happy When You're Jealous" (Sung by Winnie Lightner). It was later recorded by Isham Jones and his Orchestra for Brunswick Records (Record Number 6204).

Preservation

Only a black and white copy of the cut print released in 1931 in the United States seems to have survived. The complete film was released intact in countries outside the United States where a backlash against musicals never occurred. It is unknown whether a copy of this full version still exists.

See also

• List of early color feature films

External links

• Manhattan Parade (1931) at IMDb
• Manhattan Parade (1931) at AllMovie
• Manhattan Parade (1931) at the TCM Movie Database