Melody Lane (1929 film)

Melody Lane
Directed byRobert F. Hill
Written byJ.G. Hawks
Robert F. Hill
Tom Reed
Based onThe Understander
by Jo Swerling
StarringEddie Leonard
Josephine Dunn
Rose Coe
CinematographyJoseph Brotherton
Edited byDaniel Mandell
Distributed byUniversal Pictures
Release date
  • July 21, 1929 (1929-07-21)
Running time
76 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$30,000

Melody Lane is a 1929 black and white American musical film directed by Robert F. Hill. It is an adaption to the play The Understander written by Jo Swerling.[1][2]

Cast

Soundtrack

Written by Eddie Leonard
Performed by Eddie Leonard
  • "THE SONG OF THE ISLANDS"
Written by Charles E. King
  • "Here I Am"
Words and Music by Eddie Leonard, Grace Stern, and Jack Stern
Copyright 1929 by Irving Berlin Inc.
  • "There's Sugar-Cane Around My Door"
Words and Music by Eddie Leonard, Grace Stern, and Jack Stern
Copyright 1929 by Irving Berlin Inc.
  • "The Bogey-Man Is Here"
Words and Music by Eddie Leonard, Grace Stern, and Jack Stern
Copyright 1929 by Irving Berlin Inc.
  • "Beautiful"
Words and Music by Eddie Leonard, Grace Stern, and Jack Stern
Copyright 1929 by Irving Berlin Inc.

Production

Eddie Leonard's character when onstage is in blackface. The use of white actors in blackface for black character roles in Hollywood films did not begin to decline until the late 1930s, and is now considered highly offensive, disrespectful, and racist.[3]

Preservation

The film is now incomplete, with a 16mm copy of the last reel of the sound version, an incomplete print of the silent version (5 of the 6 reels) is also in the Library of Congress. An incomplete soundtrack (reels 1, 3, 5, 6, 7 and 8 of 8) also survives in the hands of a private collector.

See also

References

  1. ^ The AFI Catalog of Feature Films: Melody Lane
  2. ^ Progressive Silent Film List: Melody Lane at silentera.com
  3. ^ Clark, Alexis. "How the History of Blackface Is Rooted in Racism". A&E Television Networks, LLC. 2019.
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