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Street Girl

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Street Girl
Magazine advertisement for Street Girl
Directed byWesley Ruggles
Written byJane Murfin
Based onW. Carey Wonderly's story
"The Viennese Charmer",
in Young's Magazine
Produced byA Wesley Ruggles Production
produced by
William LeBaron
Louis Sarecky (associate producer)
StarringBetty Compson
John Harron
Jack Oakie
CinematographyLeo Tover
Edited byAnn McKnight
William Hamilton
Music byMusical numbers by Oscar Levant and Sidney Clare
Production
companies
Distributed byRKO Distributing Corp'n.
Release dates
  • July 30, 1929 (1929-07-30) (Premiere-New York City)[1]
  • August 21, 1929 (1929-08-21) (US)[1]
Running time
87 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$211,000[2]
Box office$1,004,000[2]

Street Girl is a 1929 pre-Code musical film directed by Wesley Ruggles and starring Betty Compson, John Harron and Jack Oakie. It was adapted by Jane Murfin from "The Viennese Charmer", a short story by William Carey Wonderly. While it was the first film made by RKO Radio Pictures, its opening was delayed until after Syncopation, making it RKO's second release. It was very successful at the box office, accounting for almost half of RKO's profits for the entire year.[3]

Plot

The Four Seasons are a very good jazz quartet, but they perform in a New York City cafe for only $100 a week, forcing them to share a small, rundown apartment. The quartet consists of Joe Spring on clarinet, Pete Summer on accordion and guitar, Mike Fall on piano and trumpet, and an ever-pessimistic Happy Winter on violin.

On his way home one night, Mike drives off a man accosting a young blonde named Frederika Joyzelle. When she tells him she has not eaten in two days, he persuades her to share the group's dinner. She tells them that back in her homeland, she was a violinist. The highlight of her career given a command performance for her homeland's ruler, Prince Nicholaus of Aregon. Mike convinces his bandmates to allow "Freddie" to room with them for two weeks, after they discover she has no place to go. Freddie talks the band into asking for a raise to $200, but when they are turned down, they impulsively quit. Mike is further discouraged when they return to the apartment to find Freddie gone.

However, Freddie soon returns with great news. She has spent all day trying to convince Keppel, the owner of the well-known Little Aregon Cafe, to give the quartet a tryout. She finally succeeded, and at a salary of $300 a week. She gets a job there too, as a cigarette girl and part-time violinist. As time goes on, Mike falls in love with Freddie, but is unsure how she feels about him.

Prince Nicholaus of Aregon is in town, trying to arrange financing for his country. He and his entourage go to the cafe, much to Keppel's delight. When Freddie performs for him, he remembers her and kisses her on the forehead. The newspaper coverage of the kiss causes the cafe to skyrocket in popularity overnight. When a competitor of Keppel's asks the group to perform at his establishment, Keppel wins a bidding war by raising their wages to $3000 a week. This enables them to move into a much fancier apartment. However, the kiss also causes Mike to become jealous to the point of quitting the band.

The popularity of Keppel's cafe allows him to move into the larger "Club Joyzelle". With the help of Prince Nicholaus, Freddie and Mike are reunited in time for the grand opening. Even Happy, who is anything but, smiles as a result.

Cast

Reception

The film opened at New York City's Globe Theatre (now named the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre)[4] and earned over a million dollars for RKO.[5] It made $806,000 domestically and $198,000 overseas,[2] resulting in a profit of $800,000, almost half of RKO's total profit for the year of $1,670,000.[3]

Songs

  • "My Dream Memory" - Oscar Levant and Sidney Clare — Performed by Betty Compson on violin[6]
  • "Lovable and Sweet" - Oscar Levant and Sidney Clare — Performed by John Harron, Ned Sparks, Jack Oakie, and Guy Buccola[6]
  • "Broken Up Tune You're Doin' It" - Oscar Levant and Sidney Clare — Performed by Doris Eaton with Gus Arnheim band[6]

Remakes

Due to its initial success, Street Girl was remade by RKO twice. The first film, That Girl From Paris (1936), starred Lily Pons and Lucille Ball. The second, Four Jacks and a Jill (1942), starred Ray Bolger, Anne Shirley, and Desi Arnaz.[5][7] This was a rare coincidence in Hollywood where a husband and wife appeared in two different versions of the same film.

Notes

The March 1928 short story upon which the film is based originally appeared in Young's Magazine, and its title, "The Viennese Charmer", would indicate that Freddie's original homeland might have been Austria, but was fictionalized to Aregon for the film version.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b "Street Girl: Detail View". American Film Institute. Retrieved June 3, 2014.
  2. ^ a b c Richard Jewel, 'RKO Film Grosses: 1931-1951', Historical Journal of Film Radio and Television, Vol 14 No 1, 1994 p55
  3. ^ a b Jewell, Richard B.; Harbin, Vernon (1982). The RKO Story. New York: Arlington House. p. 20. ISBN 0-517-546566.
  4. ^ Crafton, Donald (1999). The Talkies: American Cinema's Transition to Sound, 1926-1931. University of California Press. pp. 160. ISBN 0-520-22128-1.
  5. ^ a b Bradley, Edwin M. (2004). The First Hollywood Musicals: A Critical Filmography of 171 Features, 1927 Through 1932. McFarland. p. 51. ISBN 0-7864-2029-4.
  6. ^ a b c "Street Girl: Technical Details". theiapolis.com. Retrieved April 2, 2014.
  7. ^ a b "Street Girl: Articles". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved April 2, 2014.
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