Children of Pleasure

1930 film by Harry Beaumont

Children of Pleasure

Poster

Directed by| Harry Beaumont
Written by| Richard Schayer
Crane Wilbur
Based on| The Song Writer
1928 play
by Crane Wilbur
Starring| Lawrence Gray
Wynne Gibson
Cinematography| Percy Hilburn (fr)
Technicolor sequences
Edited by| Blanche Sewell
Distributed by| Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Release date

* April 26, 1930 (1930-04-26)

Running time

| 70 minutes
Country| United States
Language| English

Children of Pleasure  is a 1930 American pre-Code MGM musical comedy film directed by Harry Beaumont, originally released with Technicolor sequences. It was adapted from Crane Wilbur's 1929 play, The Song Writer.

## Plot

[edit]

Danny, an acclaimed singer and songwriter, falls in love with a socialite girl who he then overhears admitting that she is stringing him along just in time to avoid marriage. Danny is notably Jewish, and among the issues the film raises is his temptation to assimilate into the larger culture.

The film is an adaptation of a play that riffed on the real-life relationship between songwriter Irving Berlin and Long Island socialite Ellin Mackay, which was all over the gossip columns in the late 1920s. Mackay's millionaire father cut her off and did not speak to her for years because, after a long courtship, she married Berlin, who was Jewish. (Unlike the fickle debutante in the film, Mackay stayed with Berlin, and their marriage lasted over sixty years.)

The film is played against a theatrical backdrop, and contains many songs and production numbers.

## Cast

[edit]

* Lawrence Gray as Danny Regan
* Wynne Gibson as Emma 'Em' Gray
* Judith Wood as Patricia 'Pat' Thayer (as Helen Johnson)
* Kenneth Thomson as Rod Peck (as Kenneth Thompson)
* Lee Kohlmar as Bernie (as Lee Kolmar)
* May Boley as Fanny Kaye
* Benny Rubin as Andy Little
* Jack Benny as himself, Cameo Appearance (uncredited)
* Sidney Bracey as Miles (butler) (uncredited)
* Mary Carlisle as Secretary (uncredited)
* Carrie Daumery as Dowager (uncredited)
* Ann Dvorak as Chorus girl (uncredited)
* Jay Eaton as Eddie Brown (uncredited)

## Production

[edit]

The film was originally premiered and released with Technicolor sequences in the summer of 1930. Several film reviewers refer to these Technicolor sequences.[1][2]

One reviewer noted that "the revue scenes filmed in Technicolor being particularly lavish."[3] These color sequences were later replaced with a black-and-white version that had been filmed simultaneously because the backlash against musicals (which occurred in the autumn of 1930) made the expense of printing color prints superfluous and frivolous. Only this black-and-white general release version currently exists except for a portion of the Technicolor "Dust" number that was re-used in the short film Roast-Beef and Movies in 1934, and can also be seen in That's Entertainment! III (1994). This color clip is currently viewable on YouTube.

## Soundtrack

[edit]

Lawrence Gray recorded two of his songs from the picture for Brunswick Records. His rendition of the songs Leave It That Way and The Whole Darned Thing's For You were released on Brunswick's popular ten-inch series on record number 4775.[citation needed]

## See also

[edit]

* List of American films of 1930
* List of early color feature films

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Berkeley Daily Gazette, July 10, 1930, p. 14
2. ^ Times Daily, May 28, 1930, p. 20
3. ^ The Hartford Courant, June 8, 1930, p. D3

## External links

[edit]

* Children of Pleasure at IMDb
* Children of Pleasure at the TCM Movie Database
* Children of Pleasure at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by Harry Beaumont

1910s|

* The Truant Soul (1916)
* Burning the Candle (1917)
* Filling His Own Shoes (1917)
* Skinner's Dress Suit (1917)
* Skinner's Bubble (1917)
* Skinner's Baby (1917)
* Thirty a Week (1918)
* Brown of Harvard (1918)
* Go West, Young Man (1918)
* A Man and His Money (1919)
* Heartsease (1919)
* One of the Finest (1919)
* Lord and Lady Algy (1919)
* The Gay Lord Quex (1919)
* The City of Comrades (1919)
* The Little Rowdy (1919)
* Toby's Bow (1919)
* A Wild Goose Chase (1919)

1920s|

* Going Some (1920)
* Dollars and Sense (1920)
* The Great Accident (1920)
* Officer 666 (1920)
* Stop Thief! (1920)
* June Madness (1922)
* Lights of the Desert (1922)
* Seeing's Believing (1922)
* Glass Houses (1922)
* The Five Dollar Baby (1922)
* They Like 'Em Rough (1922)
* Love in the Dark (1922)
* Very Truly Yours (1922)
* The Ragged Heiress (1922)
* The Gold Diggers (1923)
* Main Street (1923)
* A Noise in Newboro (1923)
* Crinoline and Romance (1923)
* Babbitt (1924)
* Don't Doubt Your Husband (1924)
* Beau Brummel (1924)
* The Lover of Camille (1924)
* A Lost Lady (1924)
* Recompense (1925)
* His Majesty, Bunker Bean (1925)
* Womanpower (1926)
* Sandy (1926)
* One Increasing Purpose (1927)
* Forbidden Hours (1928)
* Our Dancing Daughters (1928)
* A Single Man (1929)
* The Broadway Melody (1929)
* Speedway (1929)

1930s|

* Lord Byron of Broadway (1930)
* Children of Pleasure (1930)
* The Florodora Girl (1930)
* Those Three French Girls (1930)
* The Great Lover (1931)
* Dance, Fools, Dance (1931)
* Laughing Sinners (1931)
* West of Broadway (1931)
* Are You Listening (1932)
* Unashamed (1932)
* Faithless (1932)
* Made on Broadway (1933)
* When Ladies Meet (1933)
* Should Ladies Behave (1933)
* Murder in the Private Car (1934)
* Enchanted April (1935)
* The Girl on the Front Page (1936)
* When's Your Birthday? (1937)

1940s|

* Maisie Goes to Reno (1944)
* Twice Blessed (1945)
* Up Goes Maisie (1946)
* The Show-Off (1946)
* Undercover Maisie (1947)
* Alias a Gentleman (1948)

Unfinished|

* Great Day (Unfinished)

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