Musical | Comedy | Pre-Code | USA | B&W/Colour (2-Strip Technicolor) | 118min
Cast: Conrad Nagel, Jack Benny, Joan Crawford, Marion Davies, John Gilbert, Norma Shearer, Charles King, Bessie Love, Cliff Edwards, Anita Page, Marie Dressler, Polly Moran, William Haines, Buster Keaton, Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, George K. Arthur, Karl Dane, Gwen Lee, Lionel Barrymore, Gus Edwards, Albertina Rasch Dancers
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A 1929 pre-Code musical comedy film released by MGM. It was the studio's second feature-length musical, and one of their earliest sound films. It features nearly all of MGM's stars in a two-hour revue that includes three segments in 2-strip Technicolor. The Emcee's are Conrad Nagel and Jack Benny.
Billed as an "All-Star Musical Extravaganza", the film includes performances by once and future stars, including Joan Crawford singing and dancing on stage. Other segments feature Gus Edwards, John Gilbert, Norma Shearer, Lionel Barrymore, Buster Keaton, Marie Dressler, Bessie Love, Marion Davies, Anita Page, and the comedy team of Karl Dane and George K. Arthur. Highlights of the film are a comedy routine starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy as inept magicians, and a variety of musical performances. One of these is the debut of "Singin' in the Rain", performed initially by Cliff Edwards as "Ukulele Ike,'" and later performed at the end of the film by the entire cast. This latter all-star colour sequence was a last-minute addition to the film, shot late at night on June 10, 1929, just ten days before the premiere at Grauman's Chinese Theatre. The only major M-G-M stars missing from the revue are Greta Garbo, Ramon Novarro, and Lon Chaney, although Chaney is referred to by name in one of the songs performed and Garbo is spoken of during one of the introductory dialogues.
One sequence was cut from the film: three songs by The Brox Sisters, which was recycled into a short subject, 'Gems of MGM'.