Broadway

I just came home from maybe the premier of the restored version with 2-color finale. The screening is part of a terrific series at the Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan going through a dozen or more Universal recently restored films. Last night's King of Jazz was one of the greatest movie going experiences I ever had. Ol' Man Law of Averages caught up tonight. This movie is cringe-worthy terrible, and if you want to see it for crane shots be my guest. For Historians and obsessives only. A hackneyed gangster/nightclub story. Acting that was so wooden you wanted to leap into the screen and help out. One standout character. Leading lady apparently recuperating from a recent lobotomy. There was some potential in the nightclub acts but thanks to a blurry shoot and that damn crane (again), the dancers look like mice.

The Film Forum in NYC screened the sound version of this film on July 24,2012. The Technicolor last reel of course is lost but the rest of the film was complete and ran about 108 minutes. Will not give away the plot but is worth viewing just to see the innovative use of a giant camera crane to film the Night-Club scenes. Really amazing for a film made in 1929. I must say that the acting is really not that great for a film listed as a Universal "Super Production" in the opening credits.Glenn Tryon is passable playing the role of the comedian but you have to wonder how much better the film would have been if Lee Tracy, who played the same role in the Broadway Musical that the film was based on had appeared in the film also.