The Girl in the Show

The Girl in the Show
Love as Hattie Hartley, in costume as Eva
Directed by	Edgar Selwyn
Screenplay by	Edgar Selwyn Joseph Farnham
Based on	Eva the Fifth (1928 play) by Kenyon Nicholson John Golden[1]
Starring	Bessie Love Raymond Hackett Edward Nugent Mary Doran Jed Prouty
Cinematography	Arthur Reed
Edited by	Harry Reynolds
Production company	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date	August 31, 1929 (1929-08-31) (U.S.)[2][3]
Running time	82 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

The Girl in the Show is a 1929 American comedy film directed by Edgar Selwyn and written by Edgar Selwyn and Joseph Farnham. The film stars Bessie Love, Raymond Hackett, Edward Nugent, Mary Doran, and Jed Prouty. The film was produced and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.[2][3]

Plot

A traveling Tom show is stranded in Kansas when their manager steals what meager funds they have. Hattie Hartley (Bessie Love), who plays Eva in the production, decides to marry the local undertaker, so that he will fund the troupe and pay for her younger sister's schooling. On the day of the wedding, the troupe is booked for a performance at the last minute. Hattie refuses to get married so that she can play the role of Eva, an act which reunites her with her true love, a member of their troupe.[4]

Cast

• Bessie Love as Hattie Hartley
• Raymond Hackett as Mal Thorne
• Edward Nugent as Dave Amazon
• Mary Doran as Connie Bard
• Jed Prouty as Newton Wampler
• Ford Sterling as Ed Bondell
• Nanci Price as Oriole
• Lucy Beaumont as Lorna Montrose
• Richard Carlyle as Leon Montrose
• Alice Moe as Grace Steeple
• Frank Nelson as Tracy Boone
• Jack McDonald as Ernest Beaumont
• Ethel Wales as Mrs. Truxton
• John F. Morrissey as Jeff Morgan
• John T. Prince as Mr. Oliver - Minister

Reception

The film received negative reviews, with one reviewer claiming that people were yelling at the screen in the theater.[5]

See also

• List of early sound feature films (1926–1929)
• Racism in early American film

References

1. Nicholson, Kenyon; Golden, John (1928). Eva the Fifth: the odyssey of a Tom show, in three acts. New York City: S. French, Inc. OCLC 558211.
2. "The Girl in the Show (1929) – Overview". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved November 10, 2014.
3. "The Girl in the Show". AFI. Retrieved November 10, 2014.
4. Munden, Kenneth W., ed. (1971). The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States: Feature Films 1921–1930. New York: R.R. Bowker Company. p. 292. OCLC 664500075.
5. "Girl in the Show". Variety. New York. October 9, 1929. Retrieved January 6, 2015. Even the Brooklynites who saw this thing on this day could be heard calling the picture names right in the theatre.

External links

• The Girl in the Show is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive
• The Girl in the Show at IMDb
• The Girl in the Show at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films