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Happy Days(1929 film)

Happy Daysis a 1929 Americanpre-Codemusical filmdirected byBenjamin Stoloff,which was the firstfeature filmshown entirely inwidescreenanywhere in the world, filmed using theFox Grandeur70 mm process. French directorAbel Gance'sNapoléon(1927) had a final widescreen segment in what Gance calledPolyvision.Paramount releasedOld Ironsides(1927), with two sequences in a widescreen process called "Magnascope", while MGM releasedTrail of '98(1928) in a widescreen process called "Fanthom Screen".[1]

Happy Days
theatrical release poster
Directed byBenjamin Stoloff
Written bySidney Lanfield
Edwin J. Burke
Produced byWilliam Fox
StarringCharles E. Evans
Marjorie White
Richard Keene
Stuart Erwin
CinematographyLucien N. Andriot
John Schmitz
J.O. Taylor
Edited byClyde Carruth
Music byHarry Stoddard
Production
company
Distributed byFox Film Corporation
Release dates
  • September 17, 1929(1929-09-17)(preview)
  • February 13, 1930(1930-02-13)
Running time
80 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The film features an array of stars who were contracted to William Fox'sFox Film Corporationat that time, includingMarjorie White,Will Rogers,Charles Farrell,Janet Gaynor,George Jessel,El Brendel,Ann Pennington,Victor McLaglen,Dixie Lee,Edmund Lowe,and Frank Richardson. It also featured the first appearance ofBetty Grableon film, aged 12, as a chorus girl, and SirHarry Lauder's nephew, Harry Lauder II, a conductor for Fox, who was drafted into the chorus.

Plot

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Originally titledNew Orleans Frolic,the story centers around Margie (played byMarjorie White), a singer on ashowboatwho, when she hears that the showboat is in financial trouble, travels toNew York Cityin an effort to persuade all the boat's former stars to perform in a show to rescue it. She is successful and the stars all fly to New Orleans to surprise the showboat's owner, Colonel Billy Blacher, with a grand show, the proceeds of which will go to rescue the showboat.

Cast

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Release

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After a preview on September 17, 1929,Happy Dayspremiered at theRoxy Theaterin New York City on February 13, 1930 with aNiagara Fallswidescreen short on aGrandeurscreen of 42x20 ft, compared to the standard 24x18 ft screen. It was also shown in Grandeur at theCarthay Circle TheatreinLos Angeles,from February 28, 1930.

At a screening at the Roxy Theater, film criticMordaunt Hallpraised the cinematography, which was noted to be enhanced by the wider format. However, he regarded the film itself as "not one that gives as full a conception of the possibilities as future films of this type will probably do."[2]

Owing to theGreat Depression,few movie theaters invested in equipment for this format and it was soon abandoned.Fox Film Corporation's heavy investment in Grandeur technology led toWilliam Foxlosing his business, which was eventually merged in 1935 withTwentieth Century Picturesto form20th Century Fox.No widescreen print ofHappy Daysis known to have survived.

See also

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References

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  1. ^Coles, David (March 2001)."Magnified Grandeur".The 70mmNewsletter(63). Australia. Archived fromthe originalon October 8, 2021.RetrievedJune 27,2013.
  2. ^Mordaunt, Hall(February 14, 1930)."Grandeur's First Real Talker Shown:" Happy Days "William Fox's Film at the Roxy, Boasts Largest of Screens. Many Favorites in Cast Dialogue of Large Group Made Possible–Minstrel Show Imaginatively Staged".New York Times.New York.RetrievedJune 27,2013.
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