Fanny Foley Herself

Infobox Film
name = Fanny Foley Herself (1931)

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director = Melville W. Brown
producer = John E. Burch
writer = Bernard Schubert
Carey Wilson
based on the story by
Juliet Wilbur Tompkins
narrator =
starring = Edna May Oliver
Helen Chandler
Hobart Bosworth
John Darrow
Rochelle Hudson
Robert Emmett O'Connor
Florence Roberts
Harry Stubbs
music = Max Steiner
cinematography = Ray Rennahan "(Technicolor)"
editing =
distributor = RKO Radio Pictures
released = October 10, 1931
runtime = 73 minutes
country = USA
language = English
budget =
gross =
preceded_by =
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website =
amg_id =
imdb_id = 0021850

"Fanny Foley Herself" (1931) is an All-Talking comedy drama that was photographed entirely in Technicolor. The film was the second feature to be filmed a new Technicolor process which removed grain and resulted in a much improved color. It was released under the title "Top of the Bill" in Britain.

ynopsis

Edna May Oliver plays a widowed woman with two daughters (Helen Chandler, Rochelle Hudson) who attempts to revive her career as a vaudeville performer. The wealthy father-in-law, who believes that a vaudeville performer is not fit to bring up children properly, forces her to choose between her daughters or her career. He convinces her to give them up. In the end, all is forgiven and the old father-in-law asks Fanny to sing one of her songs.

Trivia

*The color work was universally praised by reviewers for its pleasing and soft colors.
*As a result of the quality of the color work in "The Runaround" (1931), Radio Pictures decided to produce three more pictures in the new Technicolor process. [Los Angeles Times; September 13, 1931; Page B13.] The first of these, "Fanny Foley Herself" (1931), was the only one to be completed and released in Technicolor. The titles of the two other features were "Marcheta" and "Bird of Paradise". "Marcheta" seems to have been abandoned, while "Bird of Paradise" was changed into a black and white production starring Dolores Del Rio.
*This was Edna May Oliver's first appearance in color. She would only appear in color once more, in the 1939 film "Drums Along the Mohawk". She did not appear in the Technicolor sequences of "The American Venus" (1926).
*This was the only appearance of Helen Chandler in a color film. She did not appear in the color sequences of "Radio Parade of 1935" (1934). She may have appeared in the color sequences of the silent film "The Joy Girl" (1927). This film, rumored to exist at the Museum of Modern Art, is unavailable for inspection.

Preservation

The film is now believed to be a lost film. No elements, either of the film or the soundtrack, are known to exist.

References