Delicious (1931 film)

Delicious
Delicious
	original film poster
Directed by	David Butler
Written by	Guy Bolton; Sonya Levien
Starring	Janet Gaynor; Charles Farrell; Virginia Cherrill
Cinematography	Ernest Palmer
Edited by	Irene Morra
Music by	George Gershwin
Distributed by	Fox Film Corporation
Release date	December 27, 1931 (U.S.);
Running time	106 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Delicious (1931) is an American pre-Code Gershwin musical romantic comedy film starring Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell, directed by David Butler, with color sequences in Multicolor (now lost).

Plot

Cast

Janet Gaynor as Heather Gordon
Charles Farrell as Larry Beaumont
El Brendel as Chris Jansen
Raul Roulien as Sascha
Lawrence O'Sullivan as Detective O'Flynn
Manya Roberti as Olga
Olive Tell as Mrs. Van Bergh
Virginia Cherrill as Diana Van Bergh
Mischa Auer as Mischa
Marvine Maazel as Toscha

Production background

The film features music by George Gershwin, including the introduction of Rhapsody in Rivets, which was expanded by the composer even before the film soundtrack was recorded into the concert work for piano and orchestra Second Rhapsody, regarded today as one of Gershwin's neglected masterpieces.^[1] Gershwin also contributed other sequences for the score, but only a five-minute dream sequence called The Melting Pot and the six-minute Rhapsody in Rivets made the final cut. Fox Film Corporation rejected the rest of the score.

Gaynor plays a Scottish girl emigrating by ship to America who runs afoul of the authorities and has to go on the run, falling in with a ragtag group of immigrant musicians in Manhattan. Gaynor and Farrell made almost a dozen films together, including Frank Borzage's classics Seventh Heaven (1927), Street Angel (1928), and Lucky Star (1929). Gaynor won the first Academy Award for Best Actress for the first two and F. W. Murnau's Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans.

Preservation status

On December 14, 2011, Turner Classic Movies aired a print of the film restored by George Eastman House.

On September 22, 2013, it was announced that a musicological critical edition of the full orchestral score will be eventually released. The Gershwin family, working in conjunction with the Library of Congress and the University of Michigan, are working to make scores available to the public that represent Gershwin's true intent.^[2] The entire Gershwin project may take 30 to 40 years to complete, and it is unclear when the score to Delicious will be released. It will be the first time this score has ever been published.^[3]^[4]

References

^ Gibbons, Jack. "Gershwin's Second Rhapsody". Retrieved February 12, 2020.
^ "New, critical edition of George and Ira Gershwin's works to be compiled | PBS NewsHour". Pbs.org. September 14, 2013. Retrieved December 9, 2015.
^ "Musicology Now: George and Ira Gershwin Critical Edition". Musicologynow.ams-net.org. September 17, 2013. Archived from the original on December 15, 2018. Retrieved December 9, 2015.
^ "The Editions » Gershwin". Music.umich.edu. September 8, 2013. Retrieved December 9, 2015.

External links

Delicious at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
Delicious at IMDb
Delicious at TCM Movie Database
Delicious at AllMovie

[Jack_Gibbons-1] Gibbons, Jack. "Gershwin's Second Rhapsody". Retrieved February 12, 2020.

[2] "New, critical edition of George and Ira Gershwin's works to be compiled | PBS NewsHour". Pbs.org. September 14, 2013. Retrieved December 9, 2015.

[3] "Musicology Now: George and Ira Gershwin Critical Edition". Musicologynow.ams-net.org. September 17, 2013. Archived from the original on December 15, 2018. Retrieved December 9, 2015.

[4] "The Editions » Gershwin". Music.umich.edu. September 8, 2013. Retrieved December 9, 2015.

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