Romance of the Underworld
- November 11, 1928 (1928-11-11)
(English Intertitles)
Romance of the Underworld is a 1928 American synchronized sound drama film produced and distributed by Fox Film Corporation. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized musical score with sound effects using the sound-on-film movietone process. Directed by Irving Cummings and starring Mary Astor, it was based upon a stage play called A Romance of the Underworld by Paul Armstrong. A previous version of the story was filmed as A Romance of the Underworld in 1918 by director James Kirkwood with Catherine Calvert in Astor's part.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/75/Romance_of_the_Underworld_1918.jpg/220px-Romance_of_the_Underworld_1918.jpg)
Plot
Cast
- Mary Astor as Judith Andrews
- Ben Bard as Derby Dan Manning
- Robert Elliott as Edwin Burke
- John Boles as Stephen Ransome
- Oscar Apfel as Champagne Joe
- Helen Lynch as Blonodie Nell
- William H. Tooker as Asa Jenks
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e0/Romance_of_the_Underworld_%28SAYRE_14175%29.jpg/220px-Romance_of_the_Underworld_%28SAYRE_14175%29.jpg)
Uncredited
- William Benge as Bartender
- Maurice Black as Maitre D'
- Sherry Hall as Pianist
- John Kelly as window cleaner
Music
The film featured a theme song titled "Judy", which was composed by Irving Kahal, Sammy Fain, and Pierre Norman.
Censorship considerations
The Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America, formed by the film industry in 1922, regulated the content of films through a list of subjects that were to be avoided. While Mary Astor portrayed a prostitute in Romance of the Underworld, this was acceptable as prostitution was not explicitly barred so long as it was not forced (i.e., white slavery) and aspects of her work was not shown in the film.[1] Here the work of Astor's character is ambiguously described as being a "hostess."
Preservation
Romance of the Underworld is extant at the Museum of Modern Art.[2][3] And also in a European archive.[4]
See also
- List of early sound feature films (1926–1929)
References
- ^ Campbell, Russell (1997). "Prostitution and Film Censorship in the USA". Screening the Past (2): C/6. Retrieved July 5, 2020.
- ^ Progressive Silent Film List: Romance of the Underworld at silentera.com
- ^ The American Film Institute Catalog Feature Films: 1921-30 by The American Film Institute, c. 1971
- ^ The Library of Congress/FIAF American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog:Romance of the Underworld
External links
- Romance of the Underworld at IMDb
- Synopsis at AllMovie
- Lobby poster
- v
- t
- e
- Flesh and Blood (1922)
- Broad Daylight (1922)
- The Jilt (1922)
- The Man from Hell's River (1922)
- Paid Back (1922)
- Environment (1922)
- The Drug Traffic (1923)
- East Side - West Side (1923)
- Broken Hearts of Broadway (1923)
- Stolen Secrets (1924)
- In Every Woman's Life (1924)
- Riders Up (1924)
- Fools Highway (1924)
- The Dancing Cheat (1924)
- The Rose of Paris (1924)
- As Man Desires (1925)
- One Year to Live (1925)
- Just a Woman (1925)
- The Desert Flower (1925)
- Infatuation (1925)
- The Johnstown Flood (1926)
- Rustling for Cupid (1926)
- The Midnight Kiss (1926)
- The Country Beyond (1926)
- Bertha, the Sewing Machine Girl (1926)
- The Brute (1927)
- The Port of Missing Girls (1928)
- Romance of the Underworld (1928)
- Dressed to Kill (1928)
- In Old Arizona (1928)
- Behind That Curtain (1929)
- Not Quite Decent (1929)
- Cameo Kirby (1930)
- On the Level (1930)
- A Devil with Women (1930)
- A Holy Terror (1931)
- The Cisco Kid (1931)
- Attorney for the Defense (1932)
- The Night Club Lady (1932)
- Man Against Woman (1932)
- Man Hunt (1933)
- The Woman I Stole (1933)
- The Mad Game (1933)
- I Believed in You (1934)
- Grand Canary (1934)
- The White Parade (1934)
- Curly Top (1935)
- It's a Small World (1935)
- Poor Little Rich Girl (1936)
- Girls' Dormitory (1936)
- White Hunter (1936)
- Vogues of 1938 (1937)
- Merry-Go-Round of 1938 (1937)
- Little Miss Broadway (1938)
- Just Around the Corner (1938)
- Everything Happens at Night (1939)
- Hollywood Cavalcade (1939)
- The Story of Alexander Graham Bell (1939)
- Lillian Russell (1940)
- Down Argentine Way (1940)
- That Night in Rio (1941)
- Belle Starr (1941)
- Louisiana Purchase (1941)
- My Gal Sal (1942)
- Springtime in the Rockies (1942)
- Sweet Rosie O'Grady (1943)
- What a Woman! (1943)
- The Impatient Years (1944)
- The Dolly Sisters (1945)
- Double Dynamite (1951)
![]() | This article about a silent romantic drama film is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
- v
- t
- e