General Crack

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General Crack

Directed by	Alan Crosland
Produced by	Ned Marin
Written by	J. Grubb Alexander Walter Anthony based on the novel by George R. Preedy
Starring	John Barrymore Philippe De Lacy Lowell Sherman Marian Nixon Armida
Music by	Rex Dunn
Cinematography	Tony Gaudio (Technicolor)
Editing by	Harold McLernon
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release dates	January 25, 1930
Running time	97 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

General Crack (1930) is an all-talking historical costume drama film with Technicolor sequences which was produced by Warner Bros. in 1929 and released early in 1930. The film was directed by Alan Crosland and stars John Barrymore in his first full-length all-talking feature. This would prove to be Crosland and Barrymore's last historical epic together.^[1]

Synopsis

The film takes place in the 18th century Austria and revolves around Prince Christian, commonly known as General Crack (John Barrymore). His father had been a respectable member of the nobility but his mother was a gypsy. General Crack, as a soldier of fortune, spent his adult life selling his services to the highest bidder. He espouses the doubtful cause of Leopold II of Austria (Lowell Sherman) after demanding the sister of the emperor in marriage as well as half of gold of the Empire. Before he has finished his work, however, he meets a gypsy dancer (Armida) and weds her. Complications arise when he takes his gypsy wife to the Austrian court and falls desperately in love with the emperor's sister (Marian Nixon). The court sequence was originally in Technicolor and proved to be Barrymore's last appearance in color.^[2]

Cast

John Barrymore — Duke of Kurland / Prince Christian
Philippe De Lacy — Young Christian
Lowell Sherman — Leopold II
Marian Nixon — Archduchess Maria Luisa
Armida — Fidelia

Preservation

The sound version of the film is lost. The silent version of this film (with Czech intertitles) survives but it does not have any of the original color sequences.^[3]^[4] Although the complete soundtrack for the sound version survives on Vitaphone disks, the silent version was either a B negative or an alternate take with intertitles. So while this is a valid version, it does not match up with the Vitaphone soundtrack at all.

References

↑ General Crack at the silentera database
↑ He had previously appeared in The Show of Shows 1929 in color.
↑ John Barrymore General Crack 1929
↑ Copies are located in the Czech archive and the Modern Museum of Art: http://books.google.com.pe/books?id=QrbDle3nJscC&pg=PA28&dq=%22general+crack%22+%22technicolor%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Il06Ucy_DoTE0AHK2IHACw&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=%22general%20crack%22%20%22technicolor%22&f=false

External links

General Crack at the Internet Movie Database
General Crack ; allrovi / synopsis
General Crack at Virtual History

v t e Films directed by Alan Crosland

1920s	The Flapper (1920) Everybody's Sweetheart (1920) The Face in the Fog (1922) Enemies of Women (1923) Under the Red Robe (1923) Three Weeks (1924) Miami (1924) Sinners in Heaven (1924) Contraband (1925) Bobbed Hair (1925) Compromise (1925) Don Juan (1926) When a Man Loves (1927) The Beloved Rogue (1927) Old San Francisco (1927) The Jazz Singer (1927) Glorious Betsy (1928) On with the Show (1929)

1930s	General Crack (1930) The Furies (1930) Song of the Flame (1930) Big Boy (1930) Children of Dreams (1931) Week Ends Only (1932) Hello, Sister! (1933) The Personality Kid (1934) The Case of the Howling Dog (1934) The Great Impersonation (1935)

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