Melody of Love is a 1928 American sound romantic drama film produced and distributed by Universal Pictures, directed by Arch Heath, which starred Walter Pidgeon and Mildred Harris, each their first sound film.[1]
| Melody of Love | |
|---|---|
_-_1.jpg) Colony Theatre in New York City showing the film | |
| Directed by | Arch Heath |
| Screenplay by | Robert Arch (& titles) |
| Story by | Arch Heath Robert Arch |
| Starring | Walter Pidgeon Mildred Harris |
| Cinematography | Walter Scott |
| Edited by | Bernard W. Burton Robert Carlisle |
| Music by | Bert Fiske |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 83 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Languages | Sound (All-Talking) English |
Historically significant as Universal's first 100% all-talkie,[2] the production suffered from having a tight shooting schedule. Carl Laemmle was only able to rent the Fox Movietone sound-on-film recording system for one week, having to be filmed at night while the Fox Studio was closed down for the evenings.
Plot
editWhen World War I breaks out, Jack Clark (Walter Pidgeon), a Tin Pan Alley songwriter in love with chorus girl Flo Thompson (Jane Winton), enlists in the Army with his pal Lefty (Tom Dugan) and is sent to France, where they spend their time plunking out tunes while enemy shells whiz past their head. There, Jack meets Madelon (Mildred Harris), a little French singer who falls madly in love with him. Eventually, a stray bullet hits Jack during combat and loses the use of his right arm, rendering him unable to wield a pencil to write music or play a piano. He is sent home back to the United States, and upon his return, he is jilted by his former sweetheart Flo and when she senses that Jack is not going to be much of a gravy train, she sends him packing and Jack becomes a derelict. Madelon, in the meantime, crosses the ocean and finds work singing in a cabaret; Jack finds her by chance and, in his excitement at seeing her once again, recovers the use of the arm. As he sits down at the piano to play for Madelon, Jack knows that he has at last found the woman of his dreams, and Jack writes a hit song dedicated to her.
Cast
edit- Walter Pidgeon as Jack Clark
- Mildred Harris as Madelon
- Jane Winton as Flo Thompson
- Tommy Dugan as Lefty
- Jack Richardson as Music publisher
- Victor Potel as The Gawk
- Flynn O'Malley as The Sergeant
Music
editThe film featured a theme song entitled "My Sweetheart" which was composed by Gus Kahn, Larry Conley, and Gene Rodemich.
Preservation
editNo full copies of Melody of Love are known to exist in any film archives,[3] so it is considered to be a lost film,[4] although an incomplete print may exist.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Progressive Silent Film List: Melody of Love at silentera.com
- ^ The AFI Catalog of Feature Films: Melody of Love
- ^ The Library of Congress / FIAF American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog: Melody of Love
- ^ Melody of Love at Lost Film Files: Universal Pictures – 1928 Archived May 20, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
External links
edit
- Melody of Love at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
- Melody of Love at IMDb
- Melody of Love at the TCM Movie Database
- Synopsis at AllMovie