Abie's Irish Rose (1928 film)

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Abie's Irish Rose
Theatrical release poster for Abie's Irish Rose
Theatrical release poster
Directed byVictor Fleming
Written byJules Furthman
Julian Johnson, Herman Mankiewicz (titles)
Based onAbie's Irish Rose
by Anne Nichols
Produced byB. P. Schulberg
StarringCharles "Buddy" Rogers
Nancy Carroll
Jean Hersholt
J. Farrell MacDonald
CinematographyHarold Rosson
Edited byEda Warren
Music byJ. S. Zamecnik
Production
company
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release date
  • November 3, 1928 (1928-11-03)
Running time
12 reels (10,471 feet)
CountryUnited States
LanguagesSound (Part-Talkie)
English
Box office$1.5 million[1]

Abie's Irish Rose is a 1928 early sound (part-talkie) film directed by Victor Fleming and starring Charles "Buddy" Rogers, Nancy Carroll, Jean Hersholt, and J. Farrell MacDonald. 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 Western Electric sound-on-film system. The film based on the 1922 play Abie's Irish Rose by Anne Nichols.[2] The film was later remade in 1946. In the 1930s, author Nichols revealed that her deal with Paramount brought her $300,000 plus half the film's profits.[3]

Plot[edit]

A Jewish boy, Abie Levy, falls in love with and secretly marries Rosemary Murphy, an Irish Catholic girl, but lies to his family, saying that she's Jewish. The fathers of both bride and groom are at first religiously bigoted toward the other but with the birth of twin grandchildren, their antagonism fades.

Cast[edit]

Music[edit]

The film featured a theme song entitled "Rosemary" which was composed by J. S. Zamecnik and Anne Nichols. A song entitled "Little Irish Rose," also by the same composers, was also featured on the soundtrack.

Preservation status[edit]

Only reels 3–6 and 9–12 survive of this film in a silent incomplete copy. There may also be an incomplete copy of reel 8, unverified. All of the surviving reels of the film are held at The Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., and the Vitaphone soundtrack discs for the film still exist complete has been restored by the UCLA Film and Television Archive.[4] The film entered the public domain on January 1, 2024.[5]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Biggest Money Pictures". Variety. June 21, 1932. p. 1.
  2. ^ "Abie's Irish Rose". Film Affinity. filmaffinity.com. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
  3. ^ "Studios Pay Well for Broadway Hits." BoxOffice, 19 June 1937, 19.
  4. ^ Abie's Irish Rose at silentera.com database
  5. ^ https://web.law.duke.edu/cspd/publicdomainday/2024/

External links[edit]