Acting
Skin Deep is a 1929 American talking drama film directed by Ray Enright and starring Monte Blue. It was produced and distributed by the Warner Brothers. It was also released in the U.S. in a silent version for theaters not equipped yet with sound. The film is a remake of a 1922 Associated First National silent film of the same name directed by Lambert Hillyer and starring Milton Sills. All copies of this film are now lost. However, the Vitaphone soundtrack, of music and effects, survive.
Now hear this. The studio that gave the cinema its voice offered 1929 audiences a chance to see and hear multiple silent-screen favorites for the first time in a gaudy, grandiose music-comedy-novelty revue that also included Talkie stars, Broadway luminaries and of course, Rin-Tin-Tin. Frank Fay hosts a jamboree that, among its 70+ stars, features bicyclers, boxing champ Georges Carpentier, chorines in terpsichore kickery, sister acts, Myrna Loy in two-strip Technicolor as an exotic Far East beauty, John Barrymore in a Shakespearean soliloquy (adding an on-screen voice to his legendary profile for the first time) and Winnie Lightner famously warbling the joys of Singing in the Bathtub. Watch, rinse, repeat!
A gold-digging woman wins a big settlement against an older married man, which threatens to destroy the man's family. His son, discovering that the woman is part of a ring of blackmailers and that she is planning to flee the country, takes along his hulking chauffeur and follows her onto an ocean liner. There the two pretend to be a pair of wealthy playboys so that the woman will make a play for him and try to blackmail him, too, so he can then expose her and prove his father's innocence. Complications ensue.
In post-World War I Vienna, a confidence trickster falls in love with a struggling waitress.
The star pitcher on the Pittsburgh ball team gets into trouble with a gold-digging groupie and his catcher helps him get back into the game.
The aging father of a farm lad thinks the boy is after dad's fiancée, so he banishes the lad. The young man heads to California where he drives a cab. Through a fare, he meets a lovely lassie. His work takes him to the beach, where he sees dad's fiancée with another man. The lad and his lassie follow the woman and try to prevent her from marrying yet another rich man. Will our farm boy and his sweetie stop injustice from happening again?
As a favor to her old chorus pal Mrs. Dexter, Broadway dancer Phyllis Sherwood agrees to play a joke on a client of Mrs. Dexter's lawyer husband. The client, a roving rogue named Clyde Thompson, has a habit of romancing married women and has already made up his mind to make Mrs. Dexter -- whom he's never met -- his next conquest. Phyllis poses as Mrs. D. to throw Clyde off the track, leading to an unending supply of humorous complications.
Alice, an employee who is chosen by her coworkers to represent them at a banquet honoring her boss's new partner. Tasked with giving a speech and presenting a "loving cup" as a token of esteem, Alice becomes overwhelmed by her high-society surroundings. Her nervousness leads to a series of comedic blunders and a "terrible fall" during her act, though the situation is eventually salvaged.
Footage from the premiere of Charlie Chaplin's 1928 film 'The Circus'.
Jerry Marsden, the son of a wealthy man, finds himself in a series of comedic misunderstandings. To prove a point or escape a social obligation, Jerry decides to take the place of his butler, who has been sentenced to a short stay in jail. While incarcerated, Jerry finds the experience surprisingly pleasant, as he receives special treatment and even manages to flirt with the jailer's daughter, Ruth Morrisey (Alice Day). Chaos ensues when his true identity is threatened and he must navigate the complexities of high society while technically being a "prisoner."
A cowboy turned gold miner fights a gang that buys miner's claims and then murders them.
Country girl Alice responds to an advertisement for a "movie school" that promises to transform her into a shining star in record time. Upon arriving at the school, Alice is immediately taken advantage of by the operators, who take her "bank roll". The school staff immediately begins a screen test to see how she "registers" in front of a camera, ordering her to perform various poses and emotional expressions to prove her potential.
An ape is suspected of committing a series of murders.
“Handy girl” at a local bakery Molly is sent to deliver a cake to a wealthy customer's home. Upon arriving, Molly learns that the household is hosting a party but has exactly thirteen guests—an unlucky number. To break the bad luck, Jack, the son of the house insists that his mother invite Molly to join the party as the fourteenth guest. This arrangement sparks jealousy in Flora, a wealthy girl who is in love with Jack. To sabotage her, the jealous rival takes Molly and dresses her in a ridiculous, unflattering outfit to embarrass her in front of the high-society crowd. Molly keeps her head and comes out a winner.
A group of amateur actors in a small town attempt to produce a play in the local opera house. True to the slapstick style of Sennett’s productions, the plot revolves around the comedic mishaps and chaotic efforts of the inexperienced cast and crew to pull off their performance.
Lured to New York with false promises of having her play produced, Lila Lake is forced to accept a secretarial position with Mrs. Julia Hewitt, a dashing young widow secretly married to Jimmy Duval, son of Alice Duval, a prominent society leader. Alice seeks the aid of young lawyer Philip Thorne, who hires detectives to follow Julia; the latter, however, has left town with Jimmy, and Lila has agreed to impersonate her.
A wealthy, timid young man who is frequently bullied. He attempts to stand up for himself and win the affection of a girl, overcoming his meek nature in the process.
A series of sketches with a shoe clerk, his wife, and his extra-curricular activities. The shoe clerk steps out on his wife with one of his customers. Both his wife and the woman's husband catch them when they go to the beach and later watch a beauty and fashion contest. His wife enters it wearing a mask. Back at work on Monday, all has returned to normal, until the winner of the contest shows up for her prize - a complete wardrobe...
A poor sap tries to impress his girl by fighting the great boxing champion Jack Dempsey.
A small town Vermont fellow falls in love with a New York City radio singing star, but she is about to be married to the radio station owner.
