Loading... Please wait...New Products
Our Newsletter
Happy Days (1929) DVD
 DVD, £8.18 (https://www.zeusdvds.com/happy-days-1929-dvd/))
Product Description
Happy Days (1929)
Director:
Benjamin Stoloff
Writers:
Sidney Lanfield (story), Edwin J. Burke (dialogue)Stars:
Songs include:
We'll Build a Little World of Our Own
Music by James F. Hanley
Lyrics by James Brockman
Performed by Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell
Happy Days
Music by James F. Hanley
Lyrics by Joseph McCarthy
Performed by 'Whispering' Jack Smith
A Toast to the Girl I Love
Music by James F. Hanley
Lyrics by James Brockman
Dream on a Piece of Wedding Cake
Music by James F. Hanley
Lyrics by James Brockman
I'm on a Diet of Love
Music by Abel Baer
Lyrics by L. Wolfe Gilbert
Performed by Marjorie White
Minstrel Memories
Music by Abel Baer
Lyrics by L. Wolfe Gilbert
Performed by George MacFarlane
Mona
Written by Con Conrad, Sidney D. Mitchell and Archie Gottler
Performed by Frank Richardson
Snake Hips
Written by Con Conrad, Sidney D. Mitchell and Archie Gottler
Performed by Sharon Lynn and Ann Pennington
Crazy Feet
Written by Con Conrad, Sidney D. Mitchell and Archie Gottler
Vic and Eddie
Written by Harry Stoddard and Marcy Klauber
Performed by Victor McLaglen and Edmund Lowe
La Golondrina
Music by Narcisco Serradell
William Tell Overture
Music by Gioachino Rossini
Zampa Overture
Music by Louis Joseph Hérold
Minuet in G major, WoO 10, No. 2
Music by Ludwig van Beethoven
Danced by El Brendel
After a preview on September 17, 1929, Happy Days premiered at the Roxy Theater in New York City on February 13, 1930 with a Niagara Falls widescreen short on a Grandeur screen of 42x20 ft, compared to the standard 24x18 ft screen. It was also shown in Grandeur at the Carthay Circle Theatre in Los Angeles, from February 28, 1930. At a screening at the Roxy Theater, film critic Mordaunt Hall praised 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." Due to the Great Depression few movie theaters invested in widescreen equipment and the format was abandoned until 23 years later. Fox Film Corporation's heavy investment in Grandeur technology led to William Fox losing his business, which was eventually merged in 1935 with Twentieth Century Pictures to form 20th Century Fox. No widescreen print of Happy Days is known to survive.
Lots of energy here and Marjorie White (in her film debut) probably comes off best. She died in a car wreck in 1935. At only 4' 10" White was a dynamo of musical and comedy talent and had good supporting roles on Fox's JUST IMAGINE and SUNNYSIDE UP. "Snake Hips" is fantastic - Sharon Lynn sings it,(she sang the "Turn on the Heat" number in "Sunny Side Up") there is some great, innovative overhead photography and beautiful Ann Pennington dances up a storm. Although in her 30s, she still had "IT" in spades. Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell build a doll house to "We'll Build a Little World of Our Own". Janet's voice seemed to have improved since "Sunny Side Up" and she talked/sang the words which I found quite effective. Charles Farrell's voice was still the same - unfortunately and the song ended with Farrell and Gaynor, dressed as babies, fighting over a bottle. No wonder Janet was fed up with the movies she was being offered. "Crazy Feet" made the whole movie worthwhile. Adorable Dixie Lee burst out of a modernistic background, which featured chorus girls, in silhouette, in letters featuring the name of the song - at one point girls came down from the ceiling, suspended on swings, showing their "crazy feet". Dixie Lee was married to Bing Crosby and her guidance really helped him on the road to success. She has a wonderful "jazz oriented" voice and she even does a chorus of scat!!! Chorus girls pile out of giant shoes, Tom Patricola does an eccentric dance, Frank Richardson leads a chorus of clowns - did I mention the beautiful chorus girls!!! Marjorie White and Richard Keene sing and dance a cute novelty number "I'm on a Diet of Love" and soon end up duking it out on stage - "Whispering" Jack Smith, who, as a singer, had huge popularity in the twenties, comes on stage to patch things up and lead the finale in "Happy Days", sung in that whispering voice that was his trademark.
Product Reviews
-
Tremendously Exciting!
Posted by Richard Manigoe on Jul 6th 2021
After receiving the product, the dvd was very rewarding, the picture was crystal clear, audio was great, and now that I know what this Zeusdvds has to offer, I plan to buy more movies!
-
Fascinating Product
Posted by Richard Manigoe on Jun 26th 2021
The merchandise I received is outstanding, picture is crystal clear, and the sound is dynamic. Tremendous enjoyment was provided from this movie, and that is why I will continue to purchase products from Zeusdvds!
-
Fascinating time capsule and entertaining
Posted by Ben Martin on May 11th 2021
What's already been written I agree with. But i'll add my two cent. Somebody said that a wide screen version of this doesn't exist but this is the wide screen version isn't it? On My TV I could see the entire massive minstrel line up from end to end. Well done Zeus. Personally I'm fascinated by the line-up of stars coming and going. Sure we all know Victor McLaglan (several characters actually pronounce his name correctly, and not as McLaughlin) but only historians know who Tom Patricola and George MacFarlane were. MacFarlane, with his fine baritone, is the main emcee here. He would be struck by a car and killed only two year later. The marvelous Marjorie White is the actual star here, lining up the stars to appear in the show, and should have had a great career. It seemed to have petered out after her role in The Stoooges first Columbia short Woman Haters. And then, the next year, she was killed in a terrible car crash becasue of reckless driving by someone named Marlow Lovell, with her husband in the car behind watching. Her death went unnoticed, because a) she was all but forgotten, and b) her "costar" in Happy Days, Will Rogers, was killed in a plane crash that same week and drew a ton more attention. And on goes the list of stories. buy and watch this movie - thumb on the pause button - and google all the wonderful but sadly forgotten stars of this little gem. (Does anyone else out there get a big kick out of Walter Catlett. He cracks me up.) Thanks Zeus.
-
Utter Delight, Even if Some of This is Kinda Weird in Light of Today's Morés
Posted by Gerald Parker on Nov 9th 2019
This has become, so far I think, my favourite early sound movie musical revue. The aura of the 1920s still is much in evidence, even earlier music show values, and it is about as animated and full of hot dance music as anything from further along, into the 1930s.
The initial part of the film is what I would call the most lavish minstrel show imaginable. At least, I never have seen blackface minstrelsy on such a huge scale. That accounts for much of the "weirdness" noted in this review's header. The dancing there is wonderfully inventive and frenetic and that matter only intensifies as minstrelsy gives way to more usual vaudville, music hall antics, including (in the gloriously uninhibited "Crazy Feet" segment) some shimmying and hip-shaking that is truly spectacular.
The narrative link includes a young couple who quarrel with vigourously amusing intensity as they work out their relationship, often on the floor wrestling with each other, utterly lovable as well as funny!
The music is so full of pep and high spirits that I feel like starting up the film all over again as soon as I have finished watching it. In fact, I have done just that among my three viewings of this cinematic delight.
This is early sound film, so the quality is variable, but nothing at all to inhibit the pleasure of what one sees on the screen or in the sound. A delight!
Currency Converter
Choose a currency below to display product prices in the selected currency.
Add to Wish List
Related Products
-
Flight (1929) DVD £7.37
-
Thunderbolt (1929) DVD £8.18
-
-
The Shakedown (1929) DVD £8.18
-
On With The Show (1929) DVD £8.18
