Street Girl

Had this film been made a few years later, I might have scored it a 6. This is because for 1929 (an early talkie) it's a pretty good little film. And, like so many films from 1929, it's a musical.

The film begins with an excellent jazz combo performing. The four guys in it all have last names like the seasons. Mike Fall is sort of the leader. After the show, he comes upon a masher bothering a young lady, Frederika (Betty Compson). Then he learns she's hungry and homeless and he takes her home to stay with his bandmates. This good deed is soon rewarded, as Frederika turns out to have musical talents of her own and she becomes part of the band. And, more importantly, she turns out to know the prince of the fictional country from which she came. His coming to their concert at a local restaurant suddenly makes them famous and, for once, very well paid. However, as Mike and Frederika fall in love, you see that Mike is a very stupid and insecure jerk-- and he's jealous of the attention the prince has paid to her. In fact, this jealousy threatens to ruin the band.

The film works best because the music is very enjoyable--even almost a century later. Additionally, Ms. Compson's odd accent works better than her accents in other films (such as a French one) because the country is fictional and you don't know what to compare it to! Overall, a fun little film. And, if you watch, look for a young Jack Oakie and Ned Sparks in the band.

STREET GIRL (RKO Radio, 1929), directed by Wesley Ruggles, is not a pre-production code movie about prostitution, but actually a breezy early talkie musical about a jazz quartet meeting Frederica Joyzelle, alias "Freddie," a Hungarian violinist (Betty Compson) who has no place to stay. She is given room and board by the leader of the quartet (John Harron), and must share the apartment with three other fellows. Because of their acts of kindness, Freddie puts the quartet to work and success by becoming their manager.

This long forgotten musical of 1929, from the magazine story, "The Viennese Charmer," that formerly played on American Movie Classics prior to 1993, and sporadically on Turner Classic Movies, surprisingly holds up through much of its 88 minutes, especially with Compson's violin solo of "My Dream Melody" (by Oscar Levant), reprized several times throughout the story. Other songs include: "Loveable and Sweet," "King of Othello" and "Broken Up Tune." Aside from John Harron playing Fall, there's Ned Sparks as Winter, Jack Oakie as Spring and Guy Buccola as Summer. With these names, it's easy to see why the band called themselves THE FOUR SEASONS. Ned Sparks is a great grumpy character who at one point forces himself to smile; while Jack Oakie, young and slightly thin, is still an attention grabber with his "comedy relief," especially when Compson, after being offered room and board in an apartment occupied by four men, looking around where she's able to sleep for the night. Oakie, already lying in his bed, with a sneer smile on his face, moves over the sheets and pats on the vacant portion of his bed. Also in support are Joseph Cawthorn as Mr. Keppler, Ivan Lebedeff as Prince Nicholas, and Gus Arnheim and his Cocoanut Grove Ambassadors.

STREET GIRL must have been a success because it was was remade twice by RKO: THAT GIRL IN Paris (1936) with Lily Pons, Gene Raymond and Jack Oakie (again); and as FOUR JACKS AND A JILL (1941) with Ray Bolger, Anne Shirley and Desi Arnaz (in the role originated by Lebedeff). The 1929 original is highly regarded to those who simply enjoy watching hard to find movies such as this. (***)

This bit of fun shows that silent film director Wesley Ruggles was one of the handful of directors who had no problem whatsoever adapting to sound. For 1929 this is remarkably well made - it's hardly one of the greats but considering its age, it's more enjoyable than you'd expect.

This, the first official RKO Radio Picture, stared their silent superstar Betty Compson who despite making nine pictures that year, unlike director Ruggles never quite made a successful transition to talkies. This particular role however is perfect for her because she's doing a made-up foreign accent. That's a marvellous get out of jail card for an actress who can't deliver her lines with any conviction using her own voice. Pretending not to be able to speak English properly makes her sound sweet and naïve.

1929 looked such a happy place - there are so few decently made talkies around from the pre-Depression era that this gives you a rare opportunity to savour the authentic flavour of the roaring twenties jazz age in a sound film. But this IS NOT just a historical artefact, it still works as a piece of entertainment. The reason it still entertains is not because of the story (that's pretty inane although you've got to admit it's quite amusing), it's the production quality and direction.

Although it fizzled out before its contemporaries, RKO was one of the biggest film factories in the world so they had massive budgets to play with. What really stands out here however is Wesley Ruggles directorial skill. The close-ups, the framing, the very fluid camerawork and the imaginative imagery is not something you see in many 1929 productions. You forget that you're watching someone's first go at making a talkie.

This 1929 original musical was a big hit (grossing more than $1M) for Betty Compson. She plays a "street girl," a homeless immigrant alone in a big American city. One rainy night she is saved from a lecher by a young man (John Harron) and invited upstairs for hot coffee. Harron is a musician and shares an apartment with three other musicians. They play for a local club.

Compson asks them to play for her and they do a swingy version of "Lovable and Sweet" (which was written by Oscar Levant and Sidney Clare). She tells them it's a nice tune but they need a violin. They produce a violin and she plays a soft and beautiful version of "My Dream Memory" (the talented Compson was also a concert violinist). It's a terrific moment.

She takes charge of the guys and gets them a gig for big bucks at a swanky restaurant where they become local stars. A dethroned prince from her home country drops by and almost steals her away but she has fallen for Harron. The film ends with a rousing dance number, "Broken Up Tune" as played by the group.

Despite the iffy accent, Compson is once again just wonderful. She has just the right touch of "old world" gentleness about her as she runs around managing the group) in a very aggressive American manner). Harron is also very good. He was the younger brother of DW Griffith star, Robert Harron, who died at age 27 from a mysterious gunshot accident in 1920. Kinetic Jack Oakie sings and dances (and fakes some clarinet playing). Acerbic Ned Sparks plays a few instruments as well and grouches at people. Guy Buccola is the fourth band member. Joseph Cawthorn (an expert at accents) is the club owner. Ivan Lebedeff is the prince. Among the big-band musicians is Russ Columbo, a major singing star of the 30s. Eddie Kane and June Clyde have small roles.

What this film is not, is a frenzied backstage musical, which was the rage for a time after the success of THE Broadway MELODY. After an initial craze, the public quickly tired of backstage musicals and all-star revues. STREET GIRL went in another direction, tying together a love story with music.

This film is worth watching for the great music and unjustly forgotten Betty Compson.

Street Girl (1929)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

After finding herself homeless and hungry, Frederika (Betty Compson) is giving a place to stay by Mike Fall (John Harron), a band member who lives with his three other players. Frederika believes that the group could demand much more money because of their playing skills and soon she's working as their manager and the five start to rise in popularity but when a Prince starts to woo Frederika, this doesn't sit well with Mike.

STREET GIRL was the first film ever produced by RKO, although it turned out to be the second that they'd actually release. For the most part this is a pretty good early talkie that manages to follow a pretty basic formula but thankfully the cast is so good that it makes up for the family story, which even by 1929 standards was pretty predictable. Of course, the majority of the credit has to go to Compson who easily steals the picture of the lovable blonde.

Compson has the misfortune of having to speak with a silly accent that goes in and out throughout the picture but outside of this she's certainly a delight to watch. She manages to be incredibly lovable from the first moment we meet her and you just can't help but fall in love with her just like the four roommates do. Another good performance comes from Harron who manages to pull off that jealousy role quite well and we also get Jack Oakie in a supporting part. Ned Sparks is quite funny as "Happy," the person constantly thinking someone is cheating him.

The story itself is quite predictable but the technical side of things are actually quite good for 1929. A lot of times these early talkies pretty much have the camera sitting still but that's not the case here as there's a little style on display here. There are some musical numbers throughout and all of them are quite good and it's worth noting that the violin playing is done by Compson herself. STREET GIRL certainly has its flaws but fans of the actress will certainly enjoy her work here and fans of early talkies should be impressed on a technical level.