The Duke Steps Out is a 1929 American synchronized sound comedy-drama film directed by James Cruze and starring William Haines and Joan Crawford. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized musical score with sound effects using both the sound-on-disc and sound-on-film process. The film is lost, but the Vitaphone sound discs track of music and sound effects survive in the UCLA Film and Television Archive.[2][3]
| The Duke Steps Out | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical poster | |
| Directed by | James Cruze |
| Written by | Raymond L. Schrock Dale Van Every Joseph Farnham (titles) |
| Story by | Lucian Cary |
| Produced by | James Cruze |
| Starring | William Haines Joan Crawford Karl Dane Tenen Holtz |
| Cinematography | Ira H. Morgan |
| Edited by | George Hively |
| Music by | William Axt (uncredited) |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
Release date |
|
Running time | 62 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Languages | Sound (Synchronized) (English Intertitles) |
| Budget | $218,000[1] |
| Box office | $920,000[1] |
Plot edit
Duke (Haines) a pampered millionaire's son, who longs to be a boxer, takes an interest in Susie (Crawford), a college coed, after he defends her from being bullied. Duke's interest in Susie leads him to enroll in the same school as Susie. After a misunderstanding between Duke and Susie, they realize they are meant to be together and are reunited.
Cast edit
- William Haines as Duke
- Joan Crawford as Susie
- Karl Dane as Barney, Duke's Chauffeur
- Tenen Holtz as Jake, Duke's Manager
- Edward Nugent as Tommy Wells
- Jack Roper as Poison Kerrigan
- Delmer Daves as Bossy Edwards
- Luke Cosgrave as Professor Widdicomb
- Herbert Prior as Mr. Corbin
- Gwen Lee (uncredited)
- Harold Lockwood (uncredited)
- Gertrude Messinger (uncredited)
- Marie Messinger (uncredited)
Music edit
The film featured a theme song entitled "Just You" which was composed by William Axt, David Mendoza and Raymond Klages.
Box office edit
According to MGM records the film earned $714,000 in the US and Canada and $206,000 elsewhere, resulting in a profit of $343,000.[1]
See also edit
References edit
- ^ a b c The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
- ^ Arne Andersen's Lost Film Files; Metro/MGM
- ^ The Duke Steps Out at silentera.com
External links edit
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