Review of Sally

Sally (1929)
7/10
Marilyn Miller is a star. Film needs restoration
20 April 2021
Print and sound are horrible. Marilyn Miller is charismatic. Her horse-like dance number at a stable is awesome. Sunny was a Broadway hit, with a run of 517 shows, but they took out most of the musical numbers for the film, as movie musicals had become unpopular in the late 1920s.

This is the second of three films starring Miller, who was a huge star on Broadway in the 1920s as Ziegfeld Follies' lead actress. Miller only lived to be 37.

This film desperately needs to be restored. It could be a pretty good film. Although the story is pedestrian, some of the scenes are funny, although much of the humor is buried in poor sound quality. The film features early Vitaphone audio, which synchronized record albums with film. This can make restoration a particular challenge. The records were fragile and were only meant to be played a few times before they were replaced. If the discs are gone, what's left is whatever dub was made onto film long ago.
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