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The Better 'Ole
The Better 'Ole
	Film poster
Directed by	Charles Reisner
Written by	Charles Reisner (adaptation); Darryl F. Zanuck (adaptation); Robert Hopkins (titles)
Based on	The Better 'Ole, or, The Romance of Old Bill; (1918 play); by Bruce Bairnsfather and Arthur Elliot
Starring	Sydney Chaplin; Doris Hill; Harold Goodwin; Jack Ackroyd
Cinematography	Edwin B. DuPar
Music by	Maurice Baron
Production; company	The Vitaphone Corporation
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures
Release dates	October 23, 1926 (US); ;
Running time	97 minutes
Country	United States
Languages	Sound (Synchronized); (English Intertitles)
Budget	$449,000
Box office	$1,273,000

Full movie

The Better 'Ole is a 1926 American synchronized sound World War I comedy drama film. Released by Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc., this film is the second full-length film to utilize the Vitaphone sound-on-disc process, two months after the first Vitaphone feature Don Juan; with no audible dialogue, the film does have a synchronized musical score and sound effects. This film was also the second onscreen adaptation of the 1917 musical The Better 'Ole by Bruce Bairnsfather and Arthur Elliot. Charlie Chaplin's eldest brother Sydney Chaplin played the main lead as Old Bill in perhaps his best-known film today. This film is also believed by many to have the first spoken word of dialog, "coffee", although there are those who disagree.^[3] At one point during the film, Harold Goodwin's character whispers a word to Sydney Chaplin which is also faintly heard.^[4] This was discovered by the UCLA's Robert Gitt, during the restoration of the sound discs for the film. The line was recorded in perfect sync, apparently during the orchestra recording sessions rather than live on set,^[3] therefore making it the earliest known use of dubbing in a motion picture.

Plot

Old Bill (Sydney Chaplin), a jovial Limey sergeant, discovers that the major of his regiment is a German spy in collusion with Gaspard (Theodore Lorch), the local innkeeper. The spies mistrust him and poison his wine; but it spills and eats a hole in the floor through which Gaspard falls into the cellar. Trying to rescue him, Bill discovers a cote of carrier pigeons. Tipped off by the major, the Germans bomb an opera house where Bill and fellow soldier Alf (Jack Ackroyd) are performing; they escape, however, in their impersonation of a horse and later pose as German soldiers in a German regiment. Bill manages to get a photograph of the major greeting the German general, but it falls into the hands of Joan (Doris Hill), a prisoner of war. Bill is forced to join a German attack against the British, and though he saves his own regiment, he is shot as a German spy. An old friend, however, has substituted blank cartridges for the real ones, and Bill is pardoned when Joan and his friend Bert arrive with the incriminating photograph.

Cast

Sydney Chaplin as Pvt. William 'Old Bill' Busby
Doris Hill as Joan
Harold Goodwin as Bert Chester, Secret Service
Jack Ackroyd as Alfie "Little Alf"
Edgar Kennedy as Cpl. Austin
Theodore Lorch as Gaspard
Charles K. Gerrard as Maj. Russett (credited as Charles Gerrard)
Tom McGuire as The English General
Tom Kennedy as The Blacksmith
Kewpie Morgan as Gen. von Hinden
Arthur Clayton as The Colonel

Premiere Vitaphone short subjects

The Better 'Ole premiered at the Colony Theatre in New York City, New York, on October 7, 1926. Four of the seven shorts survive on both disc and film, with the occasional loss of footage due to nitrate decompostion. Disc recordings survive for the shorts with George Jessel, Bruce Bairnsfather and Reinald Werrenrath respectively.^[5]

Title	Year
Elsie Janis in a Vaudeville Act, “Behind the Lines,” Assisted by Men's Chorus of the 107th Regiment	1926
The Howard Brothers in "Between the Acts at the Opera"	1926
George Jessel - A Theatrical Booking Office	1926
A Studio Scene - Bruce Bairnsfather	1926
Herman Heller & Vitaphone Orchestra - "The Spirit of 1918 Overture"	1926
Reinald Werrenrath, Noted concert baritone, sings "The Long, Long Trail" and "When You Look at the Heart of a Rose"	1926
Al Jolson in A Plantation Act	1926

Box office

According to Warner Bros. records, the film earned $955,000 domestically and $318,000 foreign.^[6]

Preservation

The film, as well at its Vitaphone soundtrack, survive and remain intact, with the exception of one reel, which is currently missing. The film exists in the UCLA Film and Television Archive.^[7]

Home media

This film was released on DVD-R through the Warner Archive Collection in 2009.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c The Better 'Ole at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
^ ^a ^b Glancy, H Mark (1995). "Warner Bros Film Grosses, 1921–51: the William Schaefer ledger". Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television. 15: 55–73. doi:10.1080/01439689500260031.
^ ^a ^b Eyman, Scott (1999). The Speed of Sound: Hollywood and the Talkie Revolution, 1926-1930. Baltimore, Maryland, USA: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 97. ISBN 9780801861925.
^ The Better 'Ole Trivia at the TCM Movie Database
^ Hutchinson, Ron. "Vitaphone Project DataBase!!". The Vitaphone Project.
^ Warner Bros financial information in The William Schaefer Ledger. See Appendix 1, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, (1995) 15:sup1, 1-31 p 5 DOI: 10.1080/01439689508604551
^ Progressive Silent Film List: The Better 'Ole at the silentera.com