The Swell Head

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 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]

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. ^ a b c Love 1977, p. 153
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "Film Reviews: Talking Shorts". Variety. August 1, 1928. p. 12.
  3. ^ a b c d "Short Subject Reviews". The Film Daily. August 5, 1928. p. 7.
  4. ^ a b c "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. ^ a b c 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. ^ a b 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.