SALLY (1929) Marilyn Miller, Alexander Gray & Joe E. Brown | Musical | Technicolor | Retro Movie

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Sally is a 1929 American sound (All-Talking) Pre-Code film. It is the fourth all-sound, all-color feature film made, and it was photographed in the Technicolor process. It was the sixth feature film to contain color that had been released by Warner Bros.; the first five were The Desert Song (1929), On with the Show! (1929), Gold Diggers of Broadway (1929), Paris (1929) and The Show of Shows (1929). (Song of the West was completed by June 1929, but had its release delayed until March 1930). Although exhibited in a few theaters in December 1929, Sally entered general release on January 12, 1930.

The film was based on the Broadway stage hit Sally, produced by Florenz Ziegfeld and retains three of the stage production's Jerome Kern songs ("Look for the Silver Lining", "Sally" and "Wild Rose"). The film's other music was written by Al Dubin and Joe Burke.

Marilyn Miller, who had played the leading part in the Broadway production, was hired by Warner Bros. for an extravagant sum (reportedly $1,000 per hour for a total of $100,000) to star in the film.

The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Art Direction by Jack Okey in 1930.

Synopsis:

Sally is an orphan who had been abandoned as a baby. While living in an orphanage, she discovered the joy of dancing. In an attempt to save enough money to become a dancer, Sally began working odd jobs. While she is working as a waitress, a man named Blair comes to see her regularly, and they fall in love. However, Sally does not know that Blair has been forced by his family into an engagement with a socialite named Marcia.

Theatrical agent Otis Hemingway Hooper offers Sally a chance to audition for a job, but she loses her current job and the audition opportunity when she accidentally drops food into Hooper's lap. Sally takes a job at the Elm Tree Inn, managed by Pops Stendorff. Blair visits and immediately takes an interest in Sally. He convinces Stendorff to have Sally dance for his customers. Hooper recognizes Sally's talent during her performance at the inn and becomes her agent, convincing Sally to impersonate a famous Russian dancer named Noskerova and perform at a party hosted by Mrs. Ten Brock. When Pops Stendorff discovers that Sally is missing, he crashes the party, intending to take her back to the inn for a performance. Sally is revealed to be an impostor and Mrs. Ten Brock insists that she leave immediately. However, before leaving, Sally hears Mrs. Ten Brock announce of the engagement of Blair and Marcia.

Sally is devastated but later learns that she has been discovered by Florenz Ziegfeld, a guest at the party. Sally's manager presents her with a contract to star in Ziegfeld's next follies show on Broadway. After a successful opening night, Sally is visited in her dressing room by Pop Stendorff with flowers and a card from Blair, who has ended his engagement with Marcia. She soon discovers that Blair is also there, and he requests her forgiveness. Later, Sally and Blair emerge from a church after being married. Photographers rush them, urging them to kiss.

Cast & Crew:

Marilyn Miller as Sally/Noskerova
Alexander Gray as Blair Farrell
Joe E. Brown as Grand Duke Constantine
T. Roy Barnes as Otis Hemingway Hooper
Pert Kelton as Rosie, Otis' girlfriend
Ford Sterling as 'Pops' Stendorff
Maude Turner Gordon as Mrs. Ten Brock
E. J. Ratcliffe as John Farquar
Jack Duffy as The Old Roue
Nora Lane as Marcia

Director: John Francis Dillon
Writers: Waldemar Young, A.P. Younger
Based on: Sally (1920 musical) by Guy Bolton and P.G. Wodehouse
Cinematography: Dev Jennings, Charles Edgar Schoenbaum (Technicolor)
Editing: LeRoy Stone
Music: Jerome Kern, Leonid S. Leonardi, Irving Berlin, Al Dubin, Joe Burke
Color Process: Technicolor (Two-Strip)
Production Company: First National Pictures
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Release Date: December 23, 1929
Running Time: 103 minutes
Country: United States
Language: English
Budget: $647,000
Box Office: $2,198,000