It's a Great Life | 1929 | Musical, Comedy, Romance

Title: It's a Great Life | 1929 | Musical, Comedy, Romance Director: Sam Wood Studio: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Starring: Rosetta Duncan, Vivian Duncan, Lawrence Gray, Jed Prouty, Benny Rubin Based on: Original story by Alfred Block and Byron Morgan Release Date: December 6, 1929 Runtime: 94 minutes Format: Black-and-white with two-color Technicolor sequences; Western Electric sound system Country: United States Language: English Genres: Musical, Comedy, Romance --- Chapters: 00:00:00 Sisters at the department store 00:16:30 Amateur show and discovery 00:36:00 Vaudeville ascent 00:59:00 Romance and rift 01:18:00 Illness and reunion finale --- Summary: Sisters Casey and Babe Hogan work in the sheet-music department of a bustling department store, where their annual amateur show provides an unexpected springboard. After an onstage save turns into a hit, the sisters and their pianist Jimmy Dean set their sights on vaudeville. Tensions rise as Babe and Jimmy fall in love, fracturing the act and the sisters’ bond. A crisis brings them back together, culminating in a renewed partnership and a show-business future built on loyalty, resilience, and performance. --- Background: Produced and released by MGM at the dawn of the sound era, the film was crafted as a showcase for vaudeville headliners the Duncan Sisters. In addition to Western Electric sound recording, it features early two-color Technicolor sequences—including a fashion revue and musical numbers such as Hoosier Hop and I’m Sailing on a Sunbeam. Contemporary sources also referred to the project as Imperfect Ladies during release, with Cotton and Silk used as a working title; the studio’s art direction was overseen by Cedric Gibbons. --- Trivia: Rosetta and Vivian Duncan receive on-screen billing as “The Duncan Sisters,” reflecting their stage prominence. Several sequences were photographed in two-color Technicolor, an uncommon hybrid approach for 1929 MGM features. Ann Dvorak appears as a dancer in the Hoosier Hop number early in her career. Douglas Shearer supervised sound recording, aligning the film with MGM’s technical push during the transition to talkies. The film’s narrative draws on the period’s fascination with department-store revues and the vaudeville-to-Broadway pipeline. --- Public Domain / Rights: Original Release: December 6, 1929 Original Studio / Distributor: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Copyright Status: Public Domain Renewal: Unknown --- Hashtags: ItsAGreatLife PublicDomain 1929 SamWood MGM DuncanSisters PreCode EarlySound Technicolor Source page: https: //commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:It%27s_a_Great_Life_(1929).webm Direct media URL: https: //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/It%27s_a_Great_Life_%281929%29.webm