| Frank R.A.J. Maloney wrote: Quote: Good call. This is from the Wiki article on Talmadge: "By the time Woman Disputed (1928) was released, the talking film revolution had begun, and Norma began taking voice lessons in preparation. She worked diligently with voice coaches for over a year so she could make her sound debut. Contrary to popular belief, she does not speak with a Brooklyn accent in sound films. Her first talkie, New York Nights (1929), showed that she could speak and act acceptably in talkies.[26] While her performance was good, the film was not. Norma tried a big, important film next, DuBarry, Woman of Passion (1930). In spite of the elaborate sets by William Cameron Menzies, between incompetent direction and Talmadge's inexperience at a role requiring very demanding vocal acting, the film was a dismal failure. It was such a disaster of acting, dialogue, and sound that the film was an embarrassing flop. Norma’s failure in DuBarry, Woman of Passion (1930]) inspired the hilarious character of the 1920s actress Lina Lamont with the thick Brooklyn accent played by Jean Hagen in Singin' in the Rain (1952)." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norma_Talmadge Also, as long as we're talking "Art imitates life": The "Dancing Cavalier" plot that Cosmo Brown comes up with--"See, he's a hoofer in a Broadway show...And he gets hit on the head and dreams he's back in France!"--suspiciously resembles the plot of "DuBarry Was a Lady", a well-known stage hit at the time, made into a MGM musical some years before with Red Skelton, Lucille Ball, and.....Gene Kelly. :) Derek Janssen ejanss1@verizon.net |