Free and Easy (1930)
73 mins | Musical comedy | 22 March 1930
Director:
Edward SedgwickWriters:
Richard Schayer, Paul DickeyCinematographer:
Leonard SmithEditors:
William Le Vanway, George ToddProduction Designer:
Cedric GibbonsProduction Company:
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corp.Free and Easy marked Buster Keaton's first talking picture. The film also was shot in a Spanish-language version, Estrellados (see entry), which also starred Keaton. For Le Metteur en scene, a version of Free and Easy released in France in January 1931, the English-language film was altered by removing the dialogue and replacing it with intertitles in French and English. According to the Variety review for the Paris opening, two English-language songs were included in the French release.
This film was released on television retitled as Easy Go. ...
Free and Easy marked Buster Keaton's first talking picture. The film also was shot in a Spanish-language version, Estrellados (see entry), which also starred Keaton. For Le Metteur en scene, a version of Free and Easy released in France in January 1931, the English-language film was altered by removing the dialogue and replacing it with intertitles in French and English. According to the Variety review for the Paris opening, two English-language songs were included in the French release.
This film was released on television retitled as Easy Go.
Le Metteur en Scène
Elmer Butts, the befuddled manager of Elvira, a Kansas beauty contest winner, is obliged to take her to Hollywood and get her a break in the movies. At a typical Grauman's Chinese premiere, they are confronted with screen celebrities. Later, Elmer crashes the studio gate, allowing a comic chase through sound stages where various players are working, including Lionel Barrymore, Karl Dane, and Dorothy Sebastian. Ultimately, he gets a job as an extra, causing various amusing complications. Elvira falls in love with Larry, a screen hero, while Elmer is awarded a studio contract and appears in the musical comedy finale, "Free and ...
Elmer Butts, the befuddled manager of Elvira, a Kansas beauty contest winner, is obliged to take her to Hollywood and get her a break in the movies. At a typical Grauman's Chinese premiere, they are confronted with screen celebrities. Later, Elmer crashes the studio gate, allowing a comic chase through sound stages where various players are working, including Lionel Barrymore, Karl Dane, and Dorothy Sebastian. Ultimately, he gets a job as an extra, causing various amusing complications. Elvira falls in love with Larry, a screen hero, while Elmer is awarded a studio contract and appears in the musical comedy finale, "Free and Easy."
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