My Man is a 1928 black and white part-talkie American comedy-drama musical film directed by Archie Mayo starring Fanny Brice and featuring Guinn "Big Boy" Williams. It was Brice's feature film debut at the age of 37. She was a star in the Ziegfeld Follies before she started acting in motion pictures. At the time Warner Bros. made this film there were still some silent movies in production and being released. My Man used intertitles but included talking sequences, synchronized music, and sound effects using a Vitaphone sound-on-disc system. It was not until 1929 that talking movies would completely take over, but Warner Bros. had completely stopped making silent movies and switched to sound pictures by the end of that year, either part talking or full talking. Warner Bros. also started making movies in color as well as sound movies.
Plot
Fannie Brand (Fanny Brice), an industrious girl who supports her brother and sister by working in a theatrical costume house, falls in love with Joe Halsey (Guinn "Big Boy" Williams), a young fellow who earns a precarious living demonstrating an elastic exerciser in a drugstore window. Fannie and Joe set a date to be married, but the wedding is called off when Fannie finds Joe making love to her unprincipled sister, Edna (Edna Murphy). Fannie auditions for Landau (Andrés De Segurola), a theatrical producer, and goes on the Broadway stage. Fannie is a great success, and she and Joe soon find their way back into each other's arms.
Cast
Fanny Brice as Fannie Brand (credited as Fannie Brice) Guinn "Big Boy" Williams as Joe Halsey Edna Murphy as Edna Brand Andrés De Segurola as Landau Richard Tucker as Waldo Billy Seay as Sammy Arthur Hoyt as Thorne Ann Brody as Mrs. Schultz Clarissa Selwynne as Forelady
Reception
According to Warner Bros. records, the film earned $1,099,000 in the U.S. and $119,000 elsewhere.
Songs
"I'd Rather Be Blue Over You" – Fred Fisher and Billy Rose
"My Man" – music by Maurice Yvain, lyrics by Channing Pollock
"Second Hand Rose" – music by James F. Hanley, lyrics by Grant Clarke
"If You Want the Rainbow, You Must Have the Rain" – music by Oscar Levant, lyrics by Mort Dixon and Billy Rose "I'm an Indian" – music by Leo Edwards, lyrics by Blanche Merrill "I Was a Florodora Baby" – music by Harry Carroll, lyrics by Ballard MacDonald All songs sung by Fanny Brice.
Premiere Vitaphone short subjects
My Man premiered at the Warners' Theatre in Manhattan on December 21, 1928.
Film preservation
An incomplete version of this film reportedly survives. In addition to this incomplete copy, the full synchronized soundtrack survives on Vitaphone discs, as well as the soundtrack for the theatrical trailer.
See also
List of lost films
List of early sound feature films (1926–1929) List of early Warner Bros. talking features