The Swell Head

The Swell Head (also known as The Swelled Head and Eddie Foy, Jr., with Bessie Love in The Swelled Head)[4][5][6] is a 1928 American romantic musical[7] short starring Eddie Foy Jr. and Bessie Love, directed by Foy's brother Bryan. Variety mused that "this may be the first backstage sound short."[2]

This article is about the 1928 short film. For the 1927 feature film, see The Swell-Head. For the 1930 feature film, see The Swellhead.

The Swell Head
Directed byBryan Foy[1]
Screenplay byHugh Hubert[2][3]
StarringEddie Foy Jr.
Bessie Love
Production
company
Release date
  • March 1928 (1928-03) (U.S.)[4]
Running time
18 minutes;[2] 2 reels[3]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The film is preserved at the UCLA Film and Television Archive.[4]

Plot

A young man (Foy) and woman (Love) perform a vaudeville act multiple times a day. The young man's ego makes their collaboration difficult. When he is made aware of this, he changes his ways, and the pair fall in love.[2][3]

Cast

Soundtrack

Production

A plagiarism lawsuit was filed against the studio.[6]

Release and reception

Though it was a short film, because it was a sound film, it headlined at some theaters.[9] The film had its New York premiere at the Strand Theatre.[2]

Foy and Love received high praise for their performances,[2][3] and the film left open the possibility for sequel shorts.[2]

References
Citations
  1. Love 1977, p. 153
  2. "Film Reviews: Talking Shorts". Variety. August 1, 1928. p. 12.
  3. "Short Subject Reviews". The Film Daily. August 5, 1928. p. 7.
  4. "Eddie Foy, Jr., with Bessie Love in The swell head / the Vitaphone Corp ; Hugh Herbert ; Murray Roth ; director, Brian Foy?". UCLA Library Film & Television Archive.
  5. Catalog of Copyright Entries, Cumulative Series: Motion Pictures 1912–1939. Copyright Office, The Library of Congress. 1951. p. 214.
  6. Liebman, Roy (May 20, 2015). Vitaphone Films: A Catalogue of the Features and Shorts. McFarland. ISBN 978-1-4766-0936-2.
  7. Love 1977, p. 111
  8. Bradley, Edwin M. (June 14, 2015). "Warner Bros. / Vitaphone". The First Hollywood Sound Shorts, 1926–1931. McFarland. p. 435. ISBN 978-1-4766-0684-2.
  9. "Key City Reports". Motion Picture News. September 8, 1928. p. 798.
Works cited
  • Love, Bessie (1977). From Hollywood with Love: An Autobiography of Bessie Love. London: Elm Tree Books. OCLC 734075937.
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