Chu-Chin-Chow (1925 film)

Chu-Chin-Chow is a 1925 British-German silent adventure film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Betty Blythe, Herbert Langley and Randle Ayrton.

It was produced and directed in 1923 in Germany by Wilcox with financial assistance from the German UFA company. Wilcox may have had Erich Pommer also as a financier on the production. It is based on the extraordinarily successful stage musical Chu Chin Chow by Oscar Asche, with music by Frederic Norton, that ran in London from 1916 to 1921.^[1]

The film starred American actress Betty Blythe fresh from her scantily clad triumph in 1921's The Queen of Sheba at Fox. Sources state this film had early experimental synchronised sound but this process could only be viewed at the special theaters outfitted for the sound equipment.^[2] This film was released in the United States by MGM two years after its production with a drastically reduced footage count by almost half.

A sound film Chu Chin Chow, with the score intact, was made by the Gainsborough Studios in 1934, with George Robey playing the part of Ali Baba, Fritz Kortner as Abu Hassan, Anna May Wong as Zahrat Al-Kulub and Laurence Hanray as Kasim.^[3]

Cast

• Betty Blythe – Zahrat
• Herbert Langley – Abou Hassan
• Randle Ayrton – Kasim Baba
• Eva Moore – Alcolma
• Judd Green – Ali Baba
• Olaf Hytten – Mukhill
• Jeff Barlow – Mustafa
• Jameson Thomas – Omar
• Dora Levis – Mahbubah
• Dacia – Dancer

References

External links

• Chu-Chin-Chow at the Internet Movie Database
• Chu-Chin-Chow at AllMovie