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. The soundtrack was recorded using the Vitaphone sound-on-disc system.

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]

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.[4] 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.[4]

Plot

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Fannie Brand (Fanny Brice), an industrious girl who supports her brother and sister by working in a theatrical costume house, falls in love with Joe Halsey (Guinn "Big Boy" Williams), a young fellow who earns a precarious living demonstrating an elastic exerciser in a drugstore window. Fannie and Joe set a date to be married, but the wedding is called off when Fannie finds Joe making love[clarification needed] to her unprincipled sister, Edna (Edna Murphy). Fannie auditions for Landau (Andrés De Segurola), a theatrical producer, and goes on the Broadway stage. Fannie is a great success, and she and Joe soon find their way back into each other's arms.

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.[4]

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.[4] 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. ^ a b c d Progressive Silent Film List: My Man at silentera.com
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