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My Man (1928 film)

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This article is about the film. For other uses, see My man (disambiguation).

My Man
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
Distributed byWarner Bros.
Release date
  • December 15, 1928 (1928-12-15) (U.S.)
[2]
Running time
99 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguagesSound (Part-Talkie)
English intertitles
Budget$192,000[3]
Box office$1,218,000[3]

My Man is a 1928 black and white sound part-talkie American comedy-drama musical film directed by Archie Mayo starring Fanny Brice and featuring Guinn "Big Boy" Williams. In addition to sequences with audible dialogue or talking sequences, the film features a synchronized musical score and sound effects along with English intertitles. According to the film review in Variety, 62 minutes of the total running time of 99 minutes featured dialogue.[4] The soundtrack was recorded using the Vitaphone sound-on-disc system.

This film 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.[5] Warner Bros. had completely stopped making silent movies by 1928 and had switched exclusively to sound pictures by the end of the year, producing synchronized, part-talkies or full all-talking pictures. In 1929, Warner Bros. would lead the way in making sound movies in color.[5]

Plot

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Fannie Brand (Fanny Brice), a spirited and talented girl from the tenements, works long hours in a factory to support herself and her little brother, Sammy (Billy Seay). Her big break seems within reach when Landau (Andrés De Segurola), a director working for Broadway producer Waldo (Richard Tucker), arranges a tryout for her. But the audition is disrupted by the arrival of a glamorous woman whom Landau calls “Waldo’s woman.” To Fannie’s shock, the woman is her long-absent sister Edna (Edna Murphy), who has been living away from home—and evidently not by respectable means. The emotional blow causes Fannie to falter, and Waldo writes her off as a one-number sensation. (Jealous sister thwarts Fannie’s first big break)

Heartbroken, Fannie meets Joe Halsey (Guinn "Big Boy" Williams), an unemployed but charming department store window decorator. She offers him shelter in her modest apartment, and as they grow closer, Fannie experiences love for the first time. After a mild spat and a reconciliation, Joe makes an offhand comment that Fannie takes as a proposal. For a time, she lives blissfully in the belief that marriage is on the horizon. (Tragi-comedy of a tenement girl’s rise to Broadway fame)

But Edna returns, boasting that she’s just ended her latest affair. She quickly catches Joe’s eye, and despite his feelings for Fannie, Joe is drawn to Edna’s beauty and sophistication. On what was to be Fannie’s wedding night, she catches Joe in Edna’s arms. (Fannie finds Joe in Edna’s arms—moments before she’s to marry him) Devastated but determined to hide her heartbreak, she joins the waiting guests and performs the song “My Man” with such raw emotion that Landau, impressed and moved, vows to take her back to Waldo. (Bride jilted on her wedding night finds strength in performance; Heartbreak becomes inspiration for showstopping rendition of “My Man”)

A year later, Fannie—now a Broadway sensation thanks to Landau’s guidance—has carved out a name for herself in the glittering world of show business. (From squalid slums to dazzling footlights; Sensational success in a second Broadway “break”) Joe, having discovered Edna’s shallowness, finally realizes the depth of Fannie’s love and character. But it is too late. Fannie, while still singing “My Man,” has moved on. She loses her lover but lives in memory of her “man.” Her dreams now center on her brother Sammy’s future, not on lost love.

Cast

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Reception

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

Songs

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All songs sung by Fanny Brice.

Premiere Vitaphone short subjects

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My Man premiered at the Warners' Theatre in Manhattan on December 21, 1928.[5]

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

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An incomplete version of this film reportedly survives.[5] In addition to this incomplete copy, the full synchronized soundtrack survives on Vitaphone discs, as well as the soundtrack for the theatrical trailer.

See also

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References

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  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 AFI Catalog of Feature Films
  3. ^ a b c Warner Bros financial information in The William Schaefer Ledger. See Appendix 1, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, (1995) 15:sup1, 1-31 p 7 DOI: 10.1080/01439689508604551
  4. ^ Variety 26 Dec 1928 p. 11 https://archive.org/details/variety93-1928-12/page/n186/mode/1up
  5. ^ a b c d Progressive Silent Film List: My Man at silentera.com
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