The Swell Head
{{short description|1928 film}}
{{About|the 1928 short film|the 1927 feature film|The Swell-Head|the 1930 feature film|The Swellhead}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{Infobox film
| name = The Swell Head
| image =
| alt =
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| native_name =
| director = Bryan Foy
| producer =
| writer =
| story =
| based_on =
| starring = Eddie Foy Jr.
Bessie Love
| narrator =
| music =
| cinematography =
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| studio = Warner Vitaphone
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| released = {{Film date|1928|03||U.S.|ref1=}}
| runtime = 18 minutes; 2 reels
| country = United States
| language = English
| budget =
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}}
The Swell Head (also known as The Swelled Head and Eddie Foy, Jr., with Bessie Love in The Swelled Head){{cite web|url=https://cinema.library.ucla.edu/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=168131|website=UCLA Library Film & Television Archive|title=Eddie Foy, Jr., with Bessie Love in The swell head / the Vitaphone Corp ; Hugh Herbert ; Murray Roth ; director, Brian Foy?}}{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/Motionpict19121939librrich0010|page=[https://archive.org/details/Motionpict19121939librrich0010/page/n227 214]|title=Catalog of Copyright Entries, Cumulative Series: Motion Pictures 1912–1939|date=1951|publisher=Copyright Office, The Library of Congress}} is a 1928 American romantic musical{{harvnb|Love|1977|p=111}} short starring Eddie Foy Jr. and Bessie Love, directed by Foy's brother Bryan. Variety mused that "this may be the first backstage sound short."
The film is preserved at the UCLA Film and Television Archive.
Plot
A young man (Foy) and woman (Love) perform a vaudeville act multiple times a day. The young man's ego makes their collaboration difficult. When he is made aware of this, he changes his ways, and the pair fall in love.{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/details/variety92-1928-08|magazine=Variety|date=August 1, 1928|title=Film Reviews: Talking Shorts|page=[https://archive.org/details/variety92-1928-08/page/n11 12]}}{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/details/filmdaily4546newy|magazine=The Film Daily|date=August 5, 1928|title=Short Subject Reviews|page=[https://archive.org/details/filmdaily4546newy/page/7 7]}}
Cast
- Eddie Foy Jr.
- Bessie Love
- Eugene Pallette
- Claude Sanders
- James T. Mack{{harvnb|Love|1977|p=153}}
Soundtrack
- "Cielito Lindo"
- "The Skaters' Waltz"
- "Turkey in the Straw"
- "Espanito"
- "Spring Song"{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=REaeCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA190|title=Vitaphone Films: A Catalogue of the Features and Shorts|first=Roy|last=Liebman|publisher=McFarland|date=May 20, 2015|isbn= 978-1-4766-0936-2}}{{cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M7vwCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA435|chapter=Warner Bros. / Vitaphone|page=435|title=The First Hollywood Sound Shorts, 1926–1931|first=Edwin M. |last=Bradley|publisher=McFarland|date=June 14, 2015|isbn= 978-1-4766-0684-2}}
Production
Release and reception
Though it was a short film, because it was a sound film, it headlined at some theaters.{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/details/motionnew38moti|magazine=Motion Picture News|date=September 8, 1928|page=[https://archive.org/details/motionnew38moti/page/n791 798]|title=Key City Reports}} The film had its New York premiere at the Strand Theatre.
Foy and Love received high praise for their performances, and the film left open the possibility for sequel shorts.
References
;Citations
{{Reflist|30em}}
;Works cited
- {{cite book |last=Love |first=Bessie |year=1977 |title=From Hollywood with Love: An Autobiography of Bessie Love |location=London |publisher=Elm Tree Books |oclc=734075937 }}
External links
- {{IMDb title|6428020|The Swell Head}}
- [https://www.historyforsale.com/the-swell-head-movie-cast-autographed-signed-photograph-co-signed-by-bessie-love-eddie-foy-jr/dc322130 Photo of Eddie Foy Jr. and Bessie Love]
{{Bryan Foy}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Swell Head, The}}
Category:1920s romantic musical films
Category:American black-and-white films
Category:American romantic musical films
Category:Films about musical theatre
Category:Films directed by Bryan Foy
Category:Vitaphone short films
Category:1920s English-language films