Madam Satan (1930)
Drama | September 1930
Director:
Cecil B. DeMilleWriter:
Jeanie MacphersonProducer:
Cecil B. DeMilleCinematographer:
Harold RossonEditor:
Anne BauchensProduction Designers:
Cedric Gibbons, Mitchell LeisenProduction Company:
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corp.
The forthcoming Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (M-G-M) picture was announced in the 30 Oct 1929 Var, which stated that actor Roland Young had been cast in Cecil B. DeMille’s first musical production, Madam Satan. Over three months later, the 13 Feb 1930 FD reported that Harold Rosson would serve as cameraman, and his brother, Richard Rosson, was hired as assistant director, but Richard Rosson was not credited in reviews with Mitchell Leisen and Cullen Tate.
On 10 Mar 1930, FD announced that principal photography had begun that day, at the M-G-M Studios in Culver City, CA.
According to the 12 Mar 1930 Var, M-G-M planned to use the “Multicolor” coloring process in one or two sequences of Madam Satan.
Singer-dancer Evelyn Hayes, and dance duo Renoff and Renova, were cast in the picture, as reported in the 29 Mar 1930 Inside Facts of Stage and Screen. The latter would appear as “featured dancers in the ‘mechanical super-ballet’ consisting of 120 dancers, staged in the ballroom of a Zeppelin.”
The 12 Jul 1930 Exhibitors Herald-World indicated that DeMille’s production included a ten-and-one-half minute long musical score, nearly filling an eleven minute sound reel, which was reportedly “the longest unbroken musical score as yet placed in a talking picture.”
The 2 Aug 1930 Inside Facts of Stage and Screen announced that DeMille was currently finishing the editing.
According to the 17 Sep 1930 Var, Madam Satan screened in theaters in Chicago, IL, the week of 12 Sep 1930. The picture opened in New York City at Loew's State Theatre the week of ...
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The forthcoming Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (M-G-M) picture was announced in the 30 Oct 1929 Var, which stated that actor Roland Young had been cast in Cecil B. DeMille’s first musical production, Madam Satan. Over three months later, the 13 Feb 1930 FD reported that Harold Rosson would serve as cameraman, and his brother, Richard Rosson, was hired as assistant director, but Richard Rosson was not credited in reviews with Mitchell Leisen and Cullen Tate.
On 10 Mar 1930, FD announced that principal photography had begun that day, at the M-G-M Studios in Culver City, CA.
According to the 12 Mar 1930 Var, M-G-M planned to use the “Multicolor” coloring process in one or two sequences of Madam Satan.
Singer-dancer Evelyn Hayes, and dance duo Renoff and Renova, were cast in the picture, as reported in the 29 Mar 1930 Inside Facts of Stage and Screen. The latter would appear as “featured dancers in the ‘mechanical super-ballet’ consisting of 120 dancers, staged in the ballroom of a Zeppelin.”
The 12 Jul 1930 Exhibitors Herald-World indicated that DeMille’s production included a ten-and-one-half minute long musical score, nearly filling an eleven minute sound reel, which was reportedly “the longest unbroken musical score as yet placed in a talking picture.”
The 2 Aug 1930 Inside Facts of Stage and Screen announced that DeMille was currently finishing the editing.
According to the 17 Sep 1930 Var, Madam Satan screened in theaters in Chicago, IL, the week of 12 Sep 1930. The picture opened in New York City at Loew's State Theatre the week of 15 Sep 1930, as indicated in the 24 Sep 1930 Var, which reported box-office earnings of $9,300 from its first week in release. The Los Angeles premiere was held on 24 Sep 1930 at the Criterion Theatre, as stated in the 27 Sep 1930 Exhibitors Herald-World.
Reviews were mixed. The 5 Oct 1930 FD praised the characteristic “spectacular” DeMille settings and costumes, but noted that the picture, with its many “risqué” lines, was not suitable for family viewing. The 15 Oct 1930 Var review deemed the film a "super-special-balogny-gem" and "an expensive insult to audiences."
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Los Angeles opening: 24 September 1930
Wealthy socialite Angela Brooks finds she is losing the love of her husband, Bob, to a wild young showgirl named Trixie. Advised by the maid, she sets out to recapture her husband by taking on the personality of the mysterious "Madame Satan." At a costume party given aboard a giant dirigible, Angela entrances her husband by her modish vamping, amidst a spectacular electrical ballet in which characters simulate everything from sparkplugs to lightning bolts. After she has successfully ensnared him, the dirigible is struck by lightning, and the guests are forced to parachute from the ship. After Angela gives her parachute to the distraught Trixie, Bob, realizing his love for Angela, gives her his parachute and dives from the ship, suffering only minor injuries by landing in the Central Park reservoir. Husband and wife are blissfully ... + −
Wealthy socialite Angela Brooks finds she is losing the love of her husband, Bob, to a wild young showgirl named Trixie. Advised by the maid, she sets out to recapture her husband by taking on the personality of the mysterious "Madame Satan." At a costume party given aboard a giant dirigible, Angela entrances her husband by her modish vamping, amidst a spectacular electrical ballet in which characters simulate everything from sparkplugs to lightning bolts. After she has successfully ensnared him, the dirigible is struck by lightning, and the guests are forced to parachute from the ship. After Angela gives her parachute to the distraught Trixie, Bob, realizing his love for Angela, gives her his parachute and dives from the ship, suffering only minor injuries by landing in the Central Park reservoir. Husband and wife are blissfully reunited. + −
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