Upstage

The copy I looked at timed in at 55 minutes and was a bit fuzzy, but not so that I couldn't see the care with which Monta Bell directed this. Norma Shearer is given the star billing in the role of a girl who comes to New York to be a secretary and is immediately chosen by Oscar Shaw as his partner in a dancing act. Miss Shearer can't do anything but look lovely, but she does that so well that all the press notices mention this. She quickly develops a swollen head and garners the attention of Ward Crane. When Shaw doesn't give her more to do, she walks out on him and into a two-act with Crane, which promptly bombs.

Bell directs this with some interesting sequences, like the ones with the ventriloquist's dummy. The movie emphasizes the collegial atmosphere of vaudeville, and their admiration of stick-to-it-ness. Gwen Lee has a nice role as the not-so-dumb blonde, Tenen Holtz gets some good titles as the theatrical agent, and Shaw dances up a storm. I've only noticed him before this in The Coconuts, but here he's very good, looking like George Murphy, and Miss Shearer is shot to look striking. Pretty good.