BRIGHT LIGHTS (1930)

[drednm]

This backstage musical and murder mystery was originally filmed in 2-strip Technicolor but only a B&W version exists.

Dorothy Mackaill stars as a stage star on the night of her final performance. She's leaving show biz and marrying into a wealthy family. As the tributes pour in about the great star, we are shown via flashbacks her true past. It's an interesting narrative structure and keeps the plots moving.

Despite her cleaned-up image, Mackaill is shown to have started out in a dive in South Africa, doing a sleazy hula number and cavorting with several men. Frank Fay plays her devoted (and ignored) pal, and Noah Beery is a lecherous suitor. When the men get into a fight, Mackaill hurls a lit oil lamp at Beery and burns his face. Of course Beery shows up on Mackaill's final night and gets involved in murder.

Mackaill gets to sing and dance to outrageous numbers like "Cannibal Love" and "Song of the Congo." She also gets to dress in a tuxedo and sing and dance to "I'm Just a Man About Town." Frank Fay sings several songs as well, and the spirited Inez Courtney sings a terrific "Hey, Hey, He's Not So Dumb."

Also along for the ride are James Murray as Courtney's suitor, Frank McHugh as a drunken reporter, Tom Dugan and Daphne Pollard as the comic relief, Edward Nugent as a chorus boy, and Jean Laverty as a chorus girl.

Mackaill had been a Ziegfeld showgirl before hitting movies in 1920. She was a big star by the mid-20s and made 65 films, easily making the transition to talkies. But when Warners bought out First National in 1928, Mackaill was on of several stars (Colleen Moore, Alice White, Betty Compson) whose contracts were not renewed. She freelanced for a while and finally quit films in 1937.

Note: this film is also known as ADVENTURES IN AFRICA

[dr.giraud]

They kept Noah Beery quite busy in Burbank in 1930, didn't they?

The "Man About Town" number is pretty good. And Frank McHugh is great as an obnoxious drunk reporter.

But that early number Fay sings, with the lines "bulls and bears have lots of fun" on Wall Street, "the street of gold" must have gone over like a lead balloon in 1930.

[drednm]

well Frank Fay (Mr. Barbara Stanwyck) himself goes over like a lead balloon in heavy makeup. I've not liked him in anything I've seen so far. His starring role in God's Gift to Women must have been a HUGE inside joke.

McHugh plays Hamilton Fish and is quite good. I also recently saw the 1930 Kiss Me Again with Bernice Claire as star, but McHugh totally steals that show with "A Make Believe Ladies Man."

Dorothy Mackaill should certainly have had a better talkie career. And Inez Courtney is always good in these early musicals.

[FrankFay]

Well, Frank Fay isn't to everyone's taste- he really was a personality more than an actor and no matter how badly his films flopped he continued popular on radio and in nightclubs. Have you seen him in LOVE NEST? (VHS copies are common because Marilyn Monroe is in it) He plays a rather courtly con-man who goes after older women and one of his conquests is played by Leatrice Joy.

[drednm]

Another strike against Frank Fay is that he was born (he claimed) in 1897 but always looked about ten years older in his early films.

Fay's ultimate "revenge" is that he continued to thrive onstage after his failure in Hollywood and was the original star of the smash-hit play Harvey.

[dr.giraud]

Well, Frank Fay isn't to everyone's taste- he really was a personality more than an actor and no matter how badly his films flopped he continued popular on radio and in nightclubs. Have you seen him in LOVE NEST? (VHS copies are common because Marilyn Monroe is in it) He plays a rather courtly con-man who goes after older women and one of his conquests is played by Leatrice Joy.

I think LOVE NEST is on DVD now, too. I'd like to see UNDER A TEXAS MOON.