The Show of Shows (1929)
Variety | 28 December 1929
Director:
John G. AdolfiCinematographer:
Barney McGillProduction Company:
Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.Following the introduction of emcee Frank Fay, a dramatic prologue presents an execution in a medieval setting. The "Military March" number features Monte Blue and a horde of chorus girls in a dancing routine. Winnie Lightner then sings "Singin' in the Bath-Tub" with a male chorus attired as bathing girls, and performs a comedy takeoff with Bull Montana. Georges Carpentier appears as a boulevardier in a number featuring "If I Could Learn to Love," supported by Alice White and Patsy Miller. Irene Bordini appears with various composers, each seated at a piano, and sings their successes. In the Florodora Number, the girls sing, then are replaced by the Florodora Boys, demonstrating their occupations in a dance routine. Beatrice Lillie, in a comedy sketch, does "Your Mother and Mine." In the "Motion Picture Pirates" number, Ted Lewis appears with an array of leading screen ladies and heavies along with his band on a picturesque pirate ship. Myrna Loy and Nick Lucas appear in an Oriental routine featuring "Li-Po-Li," and an all-star number features eight sets of starlets, each attired in costumes of various countries in "Meet My Sister," with Richard Barthelmess as emcee. A rhythmic ballet number features 75 dancing girls in black and white costumes, highlighted by Louise Fazenda; then Lupino Lane appears in a tramp ballet. John Barrymore, along with Anthony Bushell and E. J. Radcliffe, acts out a scene from Richard III . In the "Bicycle Built for Two" number, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., heads a prominent group of stars in a satire of 1900; the Execution Number, laid in the badlands of Mexico, features Monte Blue and some of the screen's leading ... + −
Following the introduction of emcee Frank Fay, a dramatic prologue presents an execution in a medieval setting. The "Military March" number features Monte Blue and a horde of chorus girls in a dancing routine. Winnie Lightner then sings "Singin' in the Bath-Tub" with a male chorus attired as bathing girls, and performs a comedy takeoff with Bull Montana. Georges Carpentier appears as a boulevardier in a number featuring "If I Could Learn to Love," supported by Alice White and Patsy Miller. Irene Bordini appears with various composers, each seated at a piano, and sings their successes. In the Florodora Number, the girls sing, then are replaced by the Florodora Boys, demonstrating their occupations in a dance routine. Beatrice Lillie, in a comedy sketch, does "Your Mother and Mine." In the "Motion Picture Pirates" number, Ted Lewis appears with an array of leading screen ladies and heavies along with his band on a picturesque pirate ship. Myrna Loy and Nick Lucas appear in an Oriental routine featuring "Li-Po-Li," and an all-star number features eight sets of starlets, each attired in costumes of various countries in "Meet My Sister," with Richard Barthelmess as emcee. A rhythmic ballet number features 75 dancing girls in black and white costumes, highlighted by Louise Fazenda; then Lupino Lane appears in a tramp ballet. John Barrymore, along with Anthony Bushell and E. J. Radcliffe, acts out a scene from Richard III . In the "Bicycle Built for Two" number, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., heads a prominent group of stars in a satire of 1900; the Execution Number, laid in the badlands of Mexico, features Monte Blue and some of the screen's leading heavies, headed by Noah Beery. The "Lady Luck" finale stars Betty Compson and Alexander Gray along with 15 individual acts, climaxed by a screen image of each of the film's stars singing "Lady Luck." + −
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