My Man (1928 film)

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This article is about the film. For other uses, see My man (disambiguation).
My Man
My Man lobby card 3.jpg
Lobby card
Directed byArchie Mayo
Written byRobert Lord (scenario)
Joseph Jackson (dialogue & titles)
James A. Starr (titles)
Story byMark Canfield (Darryl F. Zanuck)
Produced byEdward Small[1]
StarringFanny Brice
CinematographyFrank Kesson
Edited byOwen Marks
Production
company
Warner Bros.
Distributed byWarner Bros.
Release date
December 15, 1928 (U.S.)[2]
Running time
99 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguagesEnglish (intertitles and talking sequences)
Budget$192,000[3]
Box office$1,218,000[3]

My Man is a 1928 black and white part-talkie American comedy-drama musical film directed by Archie Mayo starring Fanny Brice and featuring Guinn "Big Boy" Williams. It was Brice's feature film debut at the age of 37. She was a star in the Ziegfeld Follies before she started acting in motion pictures. At the time Warner Bros. made this film there were still some silent movies in production and being released. My Man used intertitles but included talking sequences, synchronized music, and sound effects using a Vitaphone sound-on-disc system.[4] It was not be until 1929 that talking movies would completely take over, but Warner Bros. had completely stopped making silent movies and switched to sound pictures by the end of that year, either part talking or full talking. Warner Bros. also started making movies in color as well as sound movies.[5]

Plot[]

Fannie Brand (Fanny Brice), an industrious girl who supports her brother and sister by working in a theatrical costume house, falls in love with Joe Halsey (Guinn "Big Boy" Williams), a young fellow who earns a precarious living demonstrating an elastic exerciser in a drugstore window. Fannie and Joe set a date to be married, but the wedding is called off when Fannie finds Joe making love[clarification needed] to her unprincipled sister, Edna (Edna Murphy). Fannie auditions for Landau (Andrés De Segurola), a theatrical producer, and goes on the Broadway stage. Fannie is a great success, and she and Joe soon find their way back into each other's arms.

Cast[]

  • Fanny Brice as Fannie Brand (credited as Fannie Brice)
  • Guinn "Big Boy" Williams as Joe Halsey
  • Edna Murphy as Edna Brand
  • Andrés De Segurola as Landau
  • Richard Tucker as Waldo
  • Billy Seay as Sammy
  • Arthur Hoyt as Thorne
  • Ann Brody as Mrs. Schultz
  • Clarissa Selwynne as Forelady

Reception[]

According to Warner Bros. records, the film earned $1,099,000 in the U.S. and $119,000 elsewhere.[3]

Songs[]

  • "I'd Rather Be Blue Over You" – Fred Fisher and Billy Rose
  • "My Man" – music by Maurice Yvain, lyrics by Channing Pollock
  • "Second Hand Rose" – music by James F. Hanley, lyrics by Grant Clarke
  • "If You Want the Rainbow, You Must Have the Rain" – music by Oscar Levant, lyrics by Mort Dixon and Billy Rose
  • "I'm an Indian" – music by Leo Edwards, lyrics by Blanche Merrill
  • "I Was a Floradora Baby" – music by Harry Carroll, lyrics by Ballard MacDonald

All songs sung by Fanny Brice.

Premiere Vitaphone short subjects[]

My Man premiered at the Warners' Theatre in Manhattan on December 21, 1928.

Title Year
Val Harris and Ann Howe in "The Wild Westerner" 1928
Irene Franklin, the American Comedienne, with Jerry Jarnagin (piano) 1928
Ann Codee and Frank Orth in "Zwei and Furtzich" 1928

Film preservation[]

An incomplete version of this film reportedly survives.[4] In addition to this incomplete copy, the full synchronized soundtrack (except the final reel) survives on Vitaphone discs, as well as the soundtrack for the theatrical trailer.

See also[]

  • List of lost films
  • List of early Warner Bros. talking features

References[]

  1. ^ Staff (March 11, 1928) Actor Life Reads Like Alger Tale: Deno, Featured Dancer at Hillstreet, Italian Immigrant Years Ago" Los Angeles Times p.C28
  2. ^ My Man at the American Film Institute Catalog
  3. ^ a b c Warner Bros financial information in The William Shaefer Ledger. See Appendix 1, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, (1995) 15:sup1, 1-31 p 7 DOI: 10.1080/01439689508604551
  4. ^ a b Progressive Silent Film List: My Man at silentera.com
  5. ^ "My Man" silentera.com

External links[]


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