''Pretty Ladies'' is a 1925 American silent comedy drama film starring ZaSu Pitts and released by

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

. The film is a fictional recreation of the famed Ziegfeld Follies. Directed by

Monta Bell Louis Monta Bell (February 5, 1891 – February 4, 1958) was an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. Biography Monta Bell first appeared in theatrical venues with Washington D.C. Summer stock theatre, stock companies and then ...

, the film was written by Alice D. G. Miller and featured intertitles by Joseph Farnham. ''Pretty Ladies'' originally featured musical color sequences, some in two-color

Technicolor Technicolor is a family of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes. The first version, Process 1, was introduced in 1916, and improved versions followed over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black-and ...

. However, the color sequences are now considered lost.

Plot

As described in a film magazine reviews, Maggie, a homely but lovable musical comedy star yearns for love, a home, and children. She marries Al Cassidy, a happy-go-lucky fellow. Her happiness is complete at the birth of a baby. Her husband leaves on business and gets into trouble with another woman. A friend of Maggie’s informs her of this. When her husband begins to confess, she seals his lips, declaring everything untrue and foolish.

Cast

Production

The film was set in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

shot at MGM Studios in

Culver City, California Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. It is mostly surrounded by Los Angeles, but also shares a border with the unincorporated area of Ladera Heights, Californi ...

. The film's sets were designed by the

art director Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supe ...

s James Basevi and Cedric Gibbons. ''Pretty Ladies'' marked the first credited appearance of "Lucille Le Sueur", soon to be known as

Joan Crawford Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay LeSueur; March 23, 190? was an American actress. She started her career as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting on Broadway theatre, Broadway. Crawford was signed to a motion-picture cont ...

. According to Lawrence J. Quirk, author of ''The Films of Joan Crawford'', this film was the only time Crawford was credited by her real name (Crawford is also billed as LeSueur in the 1925 promotional film ''MGM Studio Tour''). It was also one of the first screen appearances of Myrna Loy (then still performing under her real last name Williams), who signed a seven-year contract with Warner Bros. in 1925 and then finally signed with MGM where she became a star in 1934 with the release of '' The Thin Man''.

References

External links

*
Stills and lobby cards
at www.gettyimages.com
Stills
at normashearer.com

at silenthollywood.com * (53 minute version) 1925 films 1925 comedy-drama films 1920s American films 1920s color films 1920s English-language films American black-and-white films American silent feature films Early color films Films set in New York City Films shot in Los Angeles Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Silent American comedy-drama films Silent films in color Surviving American silent films English-language comedy-drama films {{silent-comedy-drama-film-stub

Plot

Cast

Production

See also

References

External links