Dynamite

Even though he was one of the founders of Paramount Pictures and a president of his personal film studio, director Cecil B. DeMille found employment in 1929 for the first time outside his direct control in his movie career. His DeMille Pictures Corporation closed up shop when MGM offered him a three-picture deal, introducing him to the new world of talkies.

DeMille's first sound talking movie under Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was December 1929's "Dynamite." The director looked towards perfection in his selection of articulate talented actors. Mitchell Leisen, DeMille's assistant as well as his set designer for this movie, screen tested dozens of potential candidates. The list was a who's who in future stars: Dean Jagger, Randolph Scott, Carole Lombard. Two of the three top roles were filled by stage actors appearing in their first movie. The other was a veteran of silent movies.

Actress Kay Johnson earned the lead as socialite Cynthia Crothers, a woman who is passionately in love with married Roger Towne (Conrad Nagel). Cynthia is about to inherit a large inheritance from her late rich grandfather, but has to marry within a month to get it. Since Roger's pending divorce won't come in time, accused murderer Hagon Derk (Charles Bickford), on death row, wants to donate his body to whomever is willing to pay him $10,000 to help his poor sister. Cynthia, seeing his ad, goes to propose a marriage for the money. He accepts. They get married. Minutes before his execution, the real murderer confesses, freeing Derk. That's when things get really interesting for the coal miner Derk, Cynthia and Roger.

DeMille was ready to make movies with the microphone. As his publicist stated, "Cecil DeMille will rehearse the cast of Dynamite until it is letter perfect. This is the first time he has directed dialogue rehearsals since he left Broadway sixteen years ago." The director himself publicly stated he wasn't intimated by the new process: "Dynamite" was my first contribution of any value to sound pictures, retaining the silent techniques, and combining those techniques with sound. I brought those two together, and that perhaps is what 'Dynamite' did for the world." The movie was helped by the strong performances of the three main actors. Kay Johnson attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City and appeared in several Broadway plays before getting the call-up from DeMille to appear as Cynthia. During the production, she came down with appendicitis and had to be operated on. Her movie career slowed down in the late 1930s after a robust series of film roles until she and her actor/director husband, John Cromwell, adopted a child and had one of their own, James. Fans of the TV show 'All in the Family' will recognize her son James as Archie's friend Stretch Cunningham. When Johnson divorced John in 1946, she remained in Waterford, CT., where she died at 71.

Charles Bickford, as Hagan Derk, was also a stage actor, playing alongside James Cagney in his first Broadway role in 1925's 'Outside Looking In.' His forceful film presence resembles his real personality as a strong outspoken character. At nine he was charged with attempted murder for shooting a trolly driver after his bus ran over his dog. When filming 'Dynamite," Bickford got in a physical fist fight with one of the assistant directors over his portrayal of Derk, and was always at odds with MGM studio head Louis Mayer. As a freelancer in the mid-1930s, he was mauled by a lion filming 1935's "East of Java," resulting in extensive neck scars. He never quite achieved top-tier star status, but became a popular character actor, earning three Academy Award nominations.

Busy actor Conrad Nagel was already in his 11th talkie. He was one of the few silent film stars to easily make the transition to the movie sound stage, working into the late 1950's after his film debut in 1918.

"Dynamite" was the first DeMille picture to earn an Academy Awards nomination. Leisen, the man who screen tested all the main actors in "Dynamite," was nominated for Best Art Direction.

I can't believe this was made in 1929! It would seem much later. 'Dynamite' was directed by Cecil B. DeMillle and featured Conrad Nagel, Kay Johnson, Charles Bickford, Julia Faye, and Joel McCrea.. Apparently it was DeMille's first talking picture!

I got lucky because they broadcast this on TCM the same week the classic movie channel premiered their recent biography 'Cecil B. DeMille: American Epic (2004)', another TCM film worth watching. It is devoid of the usual colossal cast and the behemoth type epic drama associated with most DeMille movies but am I ever glad I stayed up late for this one...the sets and costuming were pure eye candy! And while it is more simplistic than movies we think of as DeMille classics there are some remarkable scenes in this film including a glass walled bathtub with bath salts as big as the coal chunks mined out of the heroines'temporary' husband's work place. I'll not quickly forget the women's 'aero wheels' event during the sporting day at the country club. Could this have even been the inspiration to the wacky Busby Berkeley extravaganzas that didn't appear for at least another four years after 'Dynamite'? The costumes in this movie are museum worthy. There's also tremendous amount of Deco decor which is discriminating and sublime as a period piece.

The plot premise is rather sappy...spoiled rich kid falls for poor coal miner who teaches her a lesson in reality...where haven't we all heard that story before... but it's easy to forgive some minor flaws with this picture because visually it's too damn delicious to forget. The acting was decent and at times even humorous, especially amongst the love triangle. This relationship was obliging liberated given the era. And oh...the parties!

I also appreciate the lushness of a truly dynamic black and white movie from someone who understood how color translates when it desaturates. If I saw this movie when it premiered I would have marked it an 8 1/2 on a scale of 10.

... are clearly illustrated here in a tale that includes a fascinating look at the idle rich at the end of the roaring 20's who are so bored that they'll try anything for a thrill, owe their income to forefathers long dead, and basically play all night and sleep all day. But that's just the set-up for the real story.

Ordinarily I'm not that huge a fan of DeMille, but I found his first foray into sound, "Dynamite", a very good and innovative film. The actors don't speechify endlessly, the camera moves, and the story moves with it. Unlike many films from 1929 it's worth a repeat viewing for the entertainment value, not just the novelty of seeing an industry in transition.

That doesn't mean that there isn't plenty of an industry in transition on exhibit, but rather than inane musical numbers, De Mille uses sound appropriately and also employs largely unknown actors from the stage to keep the emphasis on the plot and in particular, the relationships. From the hammering of the builders of Hagan Dirk's gallows and the singing of "How Am I to Know" by a fellow death row prisoner played by Russ Columbo during the wedding scene, to the strange aero wheel race at the country club, to the playing of a particular song on the radio introducing a romantic moment, this film was an innovative technological marvel when it was first released. However, technological marvels fade with time, and what you do remember are relationships that hit home and are memorable. Many have already stated the outrageous premise of the plot. What is not outrageous and rings true after almost 85 years is how you don't get to pick who you love - it just happens and it can often be most inconvenient, and how heroes can be found in the strangest places and in people you would not think would be up to the task.

I'd recommend this one highly and not just to early talkie enthusiasts.

DeMille works wonders with his first "talkie," avoiding the complications most directors encountered during this transition period. The cinematography, sound and set design are excellent, and the acting toned down the over-dramatization that most early "sound" films wallowed in. Just view DeMille's "King of Kings," directed two years earlier, to witness the advancements being made in film at the time. From the elaborate Deco rooms, to a shanty neighborhood and mine shaft, DeMille puts on quite a show. My only complaint would be the opening courtroom scene, which definitely does NOT set the scene for the rest of the movie. I wonder if those "aero wheels" were indeed a trend in Europe at the time; obviously, the sport didn't catch on.

Utterly insane story but so phenomenally well made, even though it's from 1929, it's brilliantly entertaining. This experience completely changed my opinion of De Mille - ok, it seems he was a genius after all!

Maybe because of his pompous and pretentious vats of nauseating drivel such as SIGN OF THE CROSS, I instinctively avoid the self-professed great man's movies. But his excellent FOUR FRIGHTENED PEOPLE and MADAM SATAN tempted me to give this ago. So glad I did - it's fantastic, honestly it's a million times better than I was expecting.

There's exceptions of course but I'd normally expect a 1929 talkie to be terrible. Early talkies are generally static and stagey with theatrical actors taking it in turns to enunciate their lines very, very slowly huddled around a hidden microphone. This displays absolutely none of those tell-tale traits. You'll not believe it's De Millie's first talkie! It's so dynamic and as far removed from a studio bound film as you can imagine. Clearly hours and hours of preparation went into this to get it just perfect. Like much more modern films, the camera doesn't simply point at whichever character is speaking. You get cut-always to bystanders showing and hearing their reactions. It's a proper film, not a filmed stage play.

These are people from the 1920s, real people from 1929 so don't expect them to be like us (which is part of the appeal of watching old pictures) but nevertheless the acting in this is natural with characters speaking normally and as in Mamoulian's APPLAUSE, sound is employed virtually another character. An example of that is the portentous beating of the hammer making 'Derk's' scaffold as he's waiting on death row which ominously returns in the dramatic climax.

This is not typical 1929 acting. You're drawn into believing that you're not watching actors but somehow glimpsing into the lives of real people. I've never really rated Charles Bickford before but under a skilful director he's a revelation. A pretty odd sort of guy but one who captivates your attention.

Being as I am, Mr Shallow, my inclination is to watch films with sexy ladies like Joan Blondell or Alice White so I wouldn't normally go out of my way to watch Kay Johnson but like with Charles Bickford she's thoroughly outstanding here. She's a sort of less sexy version of Norma Shearer but in my opinion a more modern and naturalistic actress - dare I say a better actress? I've already enjoyed her performance in MADAM SATAN but now that I've unexpectedly become a fan, I'm going to search out the rest of her work.

A great director, excellent acting and exceptionally high MGM production values make the maddest, silliest story into something quite amazing. Sorry Cecil for doubting you for all these years!

Being made in 1929 we even get the extended roaring of Leo the lion at the start.