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I acquired a 'gray market' copy of Pretty Ladies at Columbus Cinevent. The credits announce Norma Shearer taking a turn as Frances White (who I guess was a stage performer of the time) and contemporary reviews mention impersonators doing Eddie Cantor and Will Rogers. None of these appear in the copy I bought. Mine runs about 53 min., and Variety says it was released in 6 reels. (The film is a back-stage story starring Zasu Pitts, and is famously the first film of Joan Crawford, who is seen in a featured role, and Myrna Loy, who is somewhere in the chorus line but not visible to me.)
So, does anyone know more about this? Specifically:
Is this a collector's copy of a Kodascope print?
Is there a complete print somewhere with Norma, et al., present?
Does Turner own it?
If you have seen the film in a complete print, please let us know where/how you saw it.
(For the curious, it's a fairly interesting film, with some oddball dance numbers with Zasu in an insect costume -- I think she's a housefly, and later in blackface. There is also some dramatically bad rear screen projection in the bus sequence -- curious because MGM usually nailed those basic technical issues.)

A picture I've long longed to see, but certainly NOT for Zazu's impersonation of a fly, or, frankly, anything else; considering the embarrassment of beauty & talent in the cast, making Zazu the "star" seems quite depraved. I'd have been crushed to acquire this only to find Norma--for me, the main attraction--MIA. How about Ann Pennington, my other chief reason for interest in this picture?

Don't knock the Zasu. She was my great grandmother.
Not really.

MGM did not participate in the Kodascope program. A six reel feature running 53 min. sounds feasible. There still could be up to 5-6 minutes missing though.

Mine is just under 54 minutes.... SilentEra.com says print exists minus a Technicolor sequence, so that may account for a reel. IMDb (yes I know) says film was originally 74 minutes.

If THIS is missing, I don't care about the rest:

Looks like some of you guys are only watching certain films for the..... Pretty Ladies

If I remember right you can see in the MGM STUDIO TOUR short the filming of a production number for PRETTY LADIES missing from the current prints. Unfortunately the scene with the all-star cameos was done in colour and is now lost. I'm still on board with the film until the very ending. For those who haven't seen it, all I can say is how did the studio think any movie with a conclusion like that was in any way finished ? Zasu is a bit oddly cast, to say the least, especially with Joan Crawford, Myrna Loy and Carole Lombard (apparently) on hand right there. Even if they were not yet past the bit player stage, it still looks hopelessly bizarre in retrospect that they cast Zasu as the lead "showgirl." If only they'd cast Thelma Todd as her partner maybe we could have had something....

The Blackbird wrote:If I remember right you can see in the MGM STUDIO TOUR short the filming of a production number for PRETTY LADIES missing from the current prints....

Have to look that up, if I can remember on what DVD I recorded it. (My favorite part is Norma with her big stack of fan mail.)

The film's length, according to the AFI Catalogue, was 5,828 feet, which would translate to 64-70 minutes if run between 22 and 24 fps. Only 597 feet were in Technicolor (6-7 minutes at the above speeds), so we'd need to have a look at the cutting continuity to see if anything else is missing. The Dawn of Technicolor will undoubtedly have further details on the content of the Technicolor scene(s) and any extant specimens.

Frances White was a star in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1916, Hitchy-Koo (1917 edition) and the Ziegfeld Midnight Frolic in 1919. She made a number of film appearances around the same time and was also in at least one Metro Movietone Revue that's on the Broadway Melody DVD as a bonus. Two of her four issued Victor recordings can be heard online:
http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/m ... in_the_zoo
http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/m ... -Go-zin-to

-HA

Frances White is also in an episode (#5) of the Beatrice Fairfax serial in 1916 with Harry Fox and Grace Darling.

And here's a brief bit and YT clip

https://travsd.wordpress.com/2012/01/01 ... ces-white/" target="_blank

entredeuxguerres wrote:

And this voluptuous beauty was supposed to be impersonating waifish Francis White...whom some, perhaps many, viewing the picture would have seen on stage in vaudeville? As bizarre as casting Zazu as a showgirl.

On the other hand, if Francis performed in the Midnight Frolic, as well as attracting the prurient attention of Frank Fay, perhaps she had more going for her than is evident in this YT clip.

I don't think Frank Fay was a catch, at least judging from what I've seen of him. But he did land some goodies so who knows???

Harold Aherne wrote:The film's length, according to the AFI Catalogue, was 5,828 feet, which would translate to 70-74 minutes if run between 22 and 24 fps.

Not to quibble, but dividing 5,828 feet by 90 feet per minute (24 fps) gives us a little over 64 minutes.

Martin

martinola wrote:Not to quibble, but dividing 5,828 feet by 90 feet per minute (24 fps) gives us a little over 64 minutes.

Martin

You're right--I never was much of a math person! That running time provides a better fit for the missing Technicolor.

-HA

entredeuxguerres wrote:

entredeuxguerres wrote:

And this voluptuous beauty was supposed to be impersonating waifish Francis White...whom some, perhaps many, viewing the picture would have seen on stage in vaudeville? As bizarre as casting Zazu as a showgirl.

On the other hand, if Francis performed in the Midnight Frolic, as well as attracting the prurient attention of Frank Fay, perhaps she had more going for her than is evident in this YT clip.

As Ms. White was famous for playing children (pre-dating Brice's baby Snooks) perhaps Thalburg thought he could put Norma's bow-legs to good advantage in a kid act.