Films Main Encyclopedia Entry Photos From Movie
Upstage
Production: Not Available;
Premiere: Not Available;
Released: November 7, 1926;
Production/Distribution Companies: Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures;
Runtime: 88 minutes;
Country: USA;
Language: English;
Color: Black and White;
Sound Mix: Silent;
Not available on VHS or DVD;
Cast: Norma Shearer as Dolly Haven; Oscar Shaw as Johnny Storm; Tenen Holtz as Sam Davis; Gwen Lee as Dixie Mason; Dorothy Phillips as Miss Weaver; J. Frank Glendon as Mr. Weston; Ward Crane as Wallace King; Charles Meakin as Stage manager;
Production Credits:
Produced by: Irving Thalberg; Monta Bell;
Directed by: Monta Bell;
Writer: Lorna Moon;
Editing: Frank Sullivan;
Reviews:
Mordaunt Hall in the New York Times, November 15, 1926:
Deft sketching of the colorful existence of vaudeville troupers behind the scenes redeems "Upstage," the new pictorial offering at the Capitol, from its unconvincing situations, the frailty of the story and also the artificial characterization of the central rôle. This intelligent attention to detail turns an otherwise banal offering into quite an engaging entertainment.
The unevenness of this photoplay is surprising, for it was directed by Monta Bell, who, in the unfurling of screen narratives, has matched his wits against the best producers. And, curiously enough, it is occasionally the skipping of necessary detail that causes an episode to be almost ridiculous. As Norma Shearer and Oscar Shaw render an excellent account of themselves, the falsity of some of the doings of the characters they impersonate falls upon Mr. Bell's shoulders.
In "Upstage" Dolly Haven is precipitated into stage life as no other young woman has ever been projected into a film career. The opening scene shows the Pennsylvania Station, and soon afterward Dolly, a college graduate, is perceived paying the rent for an ill-furnished room. Dolly looks like an intelligent person who would have sought to live at one of the institutions for young women which would not have cost her any more than she paid for the wretched chamber. Dolly strikes one first as a philosopher, then as a blind egoist and an ingrate, and she ends by being rather maudlin.
Dolly goes to a theatrical manager's office to apply for a stenographer's position, and through some slight misunderstanding she meets Johnny Storm, who even before hearing that she had won a Charleston contest signifies his willingness to engage her as his dancing partner. Dolly is not as nimble as Johnny thought she would be, but at the opening of the theatre, although she does nothing beyond looking attractive, one is informed that she "stops the show." Success goes to her head and she deserts Johnny, who is in love with her, for the saturnine Wallace King.
A knife-thrower and his wife are looking forward to having their child with them at Christmas. When the little girl is brought into the picture Mr. Bell decides to give the spectators their money's worth of suspense and he therefore delays in letting the child tumble from a balcony until one thinks that he will forego this tragic note. The youngster, however, finally falls, and then Mr. Bell, after showing the prostrate little figure behind the canvas scenery, turns to a ventriloquist's dummy, the face on which is decorated with an inane smile.
At that instant the child's mother is standing against a board and her husband is throwing knives around her. When the mother rushes off stage to go to her child, Dolly proves her right to be a "trouper" by taking the other woman's place.
Mr. Bell's glimpses of life in the wings are filmed with splendid sincerity. There is a flash of wild animals and then a dancer. In another sequence there is a woman packing a big snake. The ventriloquist amuses a baby with his big doll and the child evidently believes that the lay figure really can talk.
The troupers are shown in their dressing rooms, in the restaurant, and even at the railroad station. You sense the tediousness of the existence and the dislike these performers feel for some towns.
Mr. Shaw's portrayal of Johnny is genuinely clever. He makes the hero exceedingly sympathetic without indulging in any extravagant gestures or expressions. Miss Shearer's drawback is the wobbly character she is called upon to impersonate. One is informed that Dolly is a college graduate, and in another caption it is to be inferred that she is beautiful but not brainy. Tenen Holtz is active as the theatrical manager.
