''The Life of the Party'' is a 1930 American

Pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship guidelines, popularly known ...

musical comedy Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement ...

filmed entirely in

Technicolor Technicolor is a series of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes, the first version dating back to 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black and white films ...

. The musical numbers of this film were cut out before general release in the United States because the public had grown tired of musicals by late 1930. Only one song was left in the picture. The complete film was released intact in countries outside the United States where a backlash against musicals never occurred.

Plot

Flo and Dot work in a Broadway music shop. Flo sings while Dot plays the piano. Their boss complains to them that they are not selling as much sheet music as they should, and asks them to change their technique. Flo sings a song for a customer, after which, one of Dot's admirers, Monsieur LeMaire (

Charles Judels Charles Judels (August 17, 1882 - February 14, 1969) was a Dutch-born American actor. Early years Judels was born on August 17, 1882, in Amsterdam as a third generation in a family of actors. His grandfather owned several theatres throughout t ...

), an eccentric Frenchman who owns a modiste shop, enters the shop. He begins annoying the boss by chatting with Dot and asking her out. When the boss tells him to come back after they finish working, LeMaire flies into a rage and throws sheet music all over the store. The boss immediately fires Dot and Flo. The scene moves to the apartment where the two women live. Dot is reading the newspaper and finds out her boyfriend has eloped with a rich elderly widow. She is so angry that she accepts Flo's idea that they become gold-diggers. Flo suggests that their first victim be LeMaire and the next day they begin to work for him. LeMaire soon asks Dot and Flo to a private party. Flo tells him they would love to attend but they have no suitable clothes. LeMaire tells them that they can borrow clothes from his modiste shop. Dot and Flo agree to attend the party and then pack off all the clothes they can carry with them. They head off to the train station with their luggage of expensive clothes and decide to go to Havana to make some real money. Once Flo and Dot arrive in Havana they find that a millionaire, "A.J. Smith", who invented a famous soft drink, is staying at the hotel. They assume that a mean spirited and snobby acting man is the millionaire but the true millionaire is a young, pleasant and down-to-earth man. Dot falls in love with Smith, much to Flo's chagrin. Smith, unbeknownst to Flo and Dot, is actually a gigolo looking for a rich woman to pay his meal ticket. Just as Dot is to marry the gigolo, LeMaire arrives and exposes the two gold-diggers. Smith, who has fallen in love with Dot, writes a check to LeMaire to cover the amount he lost, and he ends up winning Dot as his future wife. A subplot involves Flo and Colonel Joy ( Charles Butterworth), who raises horses. Colonel Joy is attracted to Flo and can't stop talking to her, although she does her best to avoid him. After some time, Flo is convinced by the colonel that his horse can't lose in the upcoming horse-race. She takes a chance and bets all her money, only to lose everything. Eventually they grow fond of each other and Colonel Joy proposes to Flo at the end of the film.

Cast

Winnie Lightner Charles Butterworth The Life of the Party 1930

* Winnie Lightner as Flo *

Irene Delroy Josephine Lucille Sanders (July 21, 1900 – June 14, 1985), known by her stage name Irene Delroy, was an American stage actress. Early years Born Josephine Lucille Sanders, Delroy was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Roy Sanders of Bloomington, I ...

as Dorothy "Dot" Stottsbury * Jack Whiting as the real Jerry "A.J." Smith * Charles Butterworth as Colonel Joy *

as Monsieur LeMaire * John Davidson as the fake Jerry "A.J." Smith *

Arthur Hoyt Arthur Hoyt (March 19, 1874 – January 4, 1953) was an American film character actor who appeared in more than 275 films in his 34-year film career, about a third of them silent films. Career Born in Georgetown, Colorado, in 1874, Hoyt mad ...

as Jerry's secretary

Songs

* "Poison Ivy" * "Can It Be Possible?"(Cut from United States release print) * "One Robin Doesn't Make A Spring" (Cut from United States release print) * "Somehow" (Cut from United States release print)

Production

The music heard of the credits at the beginning of the film was added in the 1950s. These credits are also not original but have been redrawn, removing all indication that the film was photographed in Technicolor. The original music survives on

Vitaphone Vitaphone was a sound film system used for feature films and nearly 1,000 short subjects made by Warner Bros. and its sister studio First National from 1926 to 1931. Vitaphone was the last major analog sound-on-disc system and the only one ...

disks. The rest of the film, beginning with the first title card ("New York was originally purchased from the Indians..."), has the original sound.

Box office

According to Warner Bros records the film earned $685,000 domestically and $212,000 foreign.

Preservation

The film survives only in a black and white copy (of the United States release print) made in the 1958 from

Associated Artists Productions Associated Artists Productions, Inc. (a.a.p.) later known as United Artists Associated was an American distributor of theatrical feature films and subjects for television. Associated Artists Productions was the copyright owner of the ''Popey ...

. Only a black and white copy of the cut print released in the United States (without most of the musical numbers) seems to have survived.''Catalog of Holdings The American Film Institute Collection and The United Artists Collection at The Library of Congress'', (<-book title) p.103 (c.1978) by The American Film Institute The complete film was released intact in countries outside the United States where a backlash against musicals never occurred. It is unknown whether a copy of this full version still exists.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Life Of The Party, The 1930s color films Lost American films Warner Bros. films 1930s English-language films Films directed by Roy Del Ruth Films set in New York City American musical comedy films 1930 musical comedy films 1930 romantic comedy films American romantic comedy films Early color films 1930 lost films 1930s American films