Warner Brothers was the only major Hollywood studio to make a really determined effort to spice up their "A" features with color. It's most unfortunate that many of these super-expensive excursions survive only in black-and-white. Admittedly in both Sally (1929) and The Show of Shows (1929), a small segment of color footage survives - just enough to whet our appetite and reveal just how much we're actually missing in these prints from the Warner Archive.
The Show of Shows is a curate's egg of a movie (good in parts), undermined by John Adolfi's static direction and over-indulgence in extreme, theatre-proscenium long shots, plus the total ineptitude of Frank Fay as the so-called "master of ceremonies". Nonetheless, "the show" has its moments. I really enjoyed "What Became of the Floradora Boys", "A Bicycle Built for Two" "Meet My Sister", "Chinese Fantasy" and "The Pirate".
Equally extravagant in its production values, Sally, starring the wonderful Marilyn Miller (her first of only three films), also presents Joe E. Brown and Ford Sterling in some delightful comedy turns, plus Alexander Gray as the romantic lead.
The Show of Shows is a curate's egg of a movie (good in parts), undermined by John Adolfi's static direction and over-indulgence in extreme, theatre-proscenium long shots, plus the total ineptitude of Frank Fay as the so-called "master of ceremonies". Nonetheless, "the show" has its moments. I really enjoyed "What Became of the Floradora Boys", "A Bicycle Built for Two" "Meet My Sister", "Chinese Fantasy" and "The Pirate".
Equally extravagant in its production values, Sally, starring the wonderful Marilyn Miller (her first of only three films), also presents Joe E. Brown and Ford Sterling in some delightful comedy turns, plus Alexander Gray as the romantic lead.