Big News | 1929 | Crime, Drama, Mystery

Title: Big News | 1929 | Crime, Drama, Mystery Director: Gregory La Cava Studio: Pathé Exchange, Inc. Starring: Robert Armstrong, Carole Lombard, Sam Hardy, Tom Kennedy, Wade Boteler, Charles Sellon Based on: For Two Cents by George S. Brooks Release Date: September 7, 1929 Runtime: 75 Format: Black-and-white; RCA Photophone sound-on-film; also released in a silent version; 1.18:1 Country: United States Language: English Genres: Crime, Drama, Mystery --- Chapters: 00:00:00 City room and marital strain 00:12:30 Fired from the paper 00:28:00 Following the dope ring lead 00:43:00 Editor’s murder and frame-up 00:58:00 Manhunt and counter-investigation 01:12:00 Confession revealed and aftermath --- Summary: A hard-drinking reporter, Steve Banks, clashes with his editors and alienates his wife, Margaret, a journalist at a rival paper. Despite being fired, he keeps pursuing a narcotics story tied to a powerful speakeasy owner. When the editor is murdered, circumstantial evidence points to Steve. Racing against the police and the real culprits, he works to clear his name and expose the criminal network, testing loyalties at home and in the newsroom. --- Background: Produced and distributed by Pathé Exchange at the cusp of the sound era, Big News was adapted from George S. Brooks’s stage play For Two Cents. The film was recorded using the RCA Photophone system and issued both as an all-dialogue feature and in a silent version to accommodate theaters not yet wired for sound. Carole Lombard appears early in her career, and contemporary publicity mimicked bold newspaper front pages to sell the film’s newsroom milieu. --- Trivia: Carole Lombard is credited as “Carol Lombard,” an earlier form of her screen name. The sound version premiered in New York at the Colony Theater later in 1929, while the general release date is September 7, 1929. The film survives in a 16mm reduction print, a common preservation format for early talkies that otherwise might have been lost. Early sound recording was provided via the RCA Photophone system, and the frame was presented at approximately 1.18:1, a ratio used during the transition to talkies. Character actor George “Gabby” Hayes appears in an early screen role as a reporter. --- Public Domain / Rights: Original Release: September 7, 1929 Original Studio / Distributor: Pathé Exchange, Inc. Copyright Status: Public Domain Renewal: Unknown --- Hashtags: BigNews1929 PublicDomain CaroleLombard GregoryLaCava PreCode ClassicFilm CrimeDrama PatheExchange Source page: https: //commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Big_News_(1929).webm Direct media URL: https: //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/52/Big_News_%281929%29.webm