Manhattan Parade (1931)

Directed by

Lloyd Bacon

Genre

musical film

Country

United States

Runtime

1h 15m

Rating

3.2 of 10 from 5 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A pre-Code musical comedy that makes fun of Al Jolson and his career slump. It was originally made as a full musical but the American release cut out all the songs because audiences were tired of musicals at the time.

lightheartedgoofysatiricallivelydatedcheerfulfast-paced

What happens

Manhattan Parade is a 1931 American pre-Code musical comedy film photographed entirely in Technicolor. It was originally intended to be released, in the United States, early in 1931, but was shelved due to public apathy towards musicals. Despite waiting a number of months, the public proved obstinate and Warner Bros. Pictures reluctantly released the film in December 1931 after removing all the music. Since there was no such reaction to musicals outside the United States, the film was released there as a full musical comedy in 1931. The film pokes fun at Al Jolson, who had suffered a downturn in his career due to the public aversion to musical pictures. He had been released from his contract to Warner Bros. late in 1930. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

• Caught Plastered (1931)
• The Big Shot (1931)
• Honeymoon Lane (1931)
• Indiscreet (1931)
• Ex-Bad Boy (1931)
• God's Gift to Women (1931)
• Mammy (1930)
• The Runaround (1931)