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Romance of the Underworld

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Romance of the Underworld
Film poster
Directed byIrving Cummings
Written byDouglas Z. Doty (screenplay)
Garrett Graham (intertitles)
Story byDouglas Z. Doty
Sidney Lanfield
Based onA Romance of the Underworld
by Paul Armstrong
Produced byWilliam Fox
StarringMary Astor
CinematographyConrad Wells
Edited byFrank Hull
Distributed byFox Film Corporation
Release date
  • November 11, 1928 (1928-11-11)
Running time
68 minutes; 7 reels (6,162 feet)
CountryUnited States
LanguagesSound (Synchronized)
(English Intertitles)

Romance of the Underworld is a 1928 American synchronized sound drama film produced and distributed by Fox Film Corporation. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized musical score with sound effects using the sound-on-film movietone process. Directed by Irving Cummings and starring Mary Astor, it was based upon a stage play called A Romance of the Underworld by Paul Armstrong. A previous version of the story was filmed as A Romance of the Underworld in 1918 by director James Kirkwood with Catherine Calvert in Astor's part.

Poster for the 1918 film

Plot

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Cast

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Scene from the movie

Uncredited

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Music

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The film featured a theme song titled "Judy", which was composed by Irving Kahal, Sammy Fain, and Pierre Norman.

Censorship considerations

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The Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America, formed by the film industry in 1922, regulated the content of films through a list of subjects that were to be avoided. While Mary Astor portrayed a prostitute in Romance of the Underworld, this was acceptable as prostitution was not explicitly barred so long as it was not forced (i.e., white slavery) and aspects of her work was not shown in the film.[1] Here the work of Astor's character is ambiguously described as being a "hostess."

Preservation

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Romance of the Underworld is extant at the Museum of Modern Art.[2][3] And also in a European archive.[4]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Campbell, Russell (1997). "Prostitution and Film Censorship in the USA". Screening the Past (2): C/6. Retrieved July 5, 2020.
  2. ^ Progressive Silent Film List: Romance of the Underworld at silentera.com
  3. ^ The American Film Institute Catalog Feature Films: 1921-30 by The American Film Institute, c. 1971
  4. ^ The Library of Congress/FIAF American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog:Romance of the Underworld
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