Song of the West (film)

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Song of the West (1930)

Directed by	Ray Enright
Written by	Harvey F. Thew based on the Broadway Operetta by Oscar Hammerstein II and Laurence Stallings
Starring	John Boles Vivienne Segal Joe E. Brown
Music by	Harry Akst Grant Clarke Oscar Hammerstein II and Vincent Youmans
Cinematography	Devereaux Jennings (Technicolor)
Editing by	George Marks
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date(s)	March 15, 1930
Running time	82 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
IMDb profile

Song of the West is a 1930 musical operetta film photographed entirely in Technicolor. It was based on the musical play Rainbow (from 1928) which was written by Oscar Hammerstein II and Laurence Stallings. It was the first all-color all-talking feature to be filmed entirely outdoors. The film starred John Boles, Joe E. Brown and Vivienne Segal.

1 Plot
2 Production
3 Songs
4 Preservation
5 Cast

[edit] Plot

The story takes place in 1849. John Boles plays the part of a young Amry scout who kills and officer in self-defense and escapes. He goes out West to California for the Gold Rush and opens a gambling hall in San Francisco. Eventually, he falls in love with the daughter (played by Vivienne Segal) of his former commander. Some members of the military eventually find him leading John Boles to make a hard decision. Joe E. Brown, who played the part of Boles' doomed sidekick, provided the comedy for the film.

[edit] Production

This was John Boles follow-up to his successful role in The Desert Song (1929). The film was finished in June of 1929. Following a number of dismal previews, however, Warner Bros. shortened the film by two reels, removing some of the musical content in the process. In spite of being delayed for almost a year before release, the film had a worldwide gross of $920,000 and the featured songs were quite popular, leading RCA Victor to hire John Boles, who was then at the height of his popularity, to record two songs from the movie.