Madam Satan

Infobox Film
name = Madam Satan

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image_size =
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director = Cecil B. DeMille
producer = Cecil B. DeMille
writer = Jeanie Macpherson
Gladys Unger
narrator =
starring = Kay Johnson
Reginald Denny
Lillian Roth
music = Clifford Grey
Elsie Janis
Herbert Stothart (music: "Ballet Mecanique" - title uncredited)
cinematography = Harold Rosson
editing = Anne Bauchens
distributor = MGM
released = 1930
runtime = 116 mins
country = United States
language = English
budget =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website =
amg_id =
imdb_id = 0021106

"Madam Satan" (1930) was produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille as a musical drama for MGM, one of the few films DeMille made for the Culver City studio. It has been called one of the oddest films DeMille made and certainly one of the oddest films MGM made during its "golden age." [Robert Osborne, introduction to telecast on Turner Classic Movies]

Production

The zeppelin sequences were originally filmed in Technicolor. [ Los Angeles Times: Feb 21, 1930. p. A10 ] The film, however, was released in black and white due to the backlash against musicals which made the extra expense of color superfluous. The same thing occurred with another MGM musical, "Children of Pleasure" (1930), whose color sequences were similarly released in black and white. The original color sequences to "Madam Satan" no longer exist.

Plot

Angela Brooks (Kay Johnson) discovers that her husband Bob (Reginald Denny) is cheating on her with another woman, Trixie (Lillian Roth). Learning that her husband intends to go to a costume ball on a moored dirigible in New York City, Angela disguises herself and attempts to "vamp" her husband. During the ball there are a number of exotic musical numbers. At the climax, a thunderstorm causes the dirigible to break lose and everyone is forced to parachute into the reservoir in Central Park.

Cast

*Kay Johnson as "Angela Brooks"
*Reginald Denny as "Bob Brooks"
*Lillian Roth as "Trixie"
*Roland Young as "Jimmy Wade"
*Elsa Peterson as Martha - Angela's Maid
*Jack King as "Herman" (pianist)
*Eddie Prinz "Riff" (banjo player
*Boyd Irwin as "Zeppelin Captain"
*Wallace MacDonald as "First Mate"
*Tyler Brooke as "Romeo"
*Ynez Seabury as "Babo"
*Theodore Kosloff as "Electricity"
*Julanne Johnston as "Miss Conning Tower"
*Martha Sleeper as "Fish Girl"
*Doris McMahon as "Water"

Crew

*Writing credits: Jeanie MacPherson and Gladys Unger
*Music: Clifford Grey, Elsie Janis, Herbert Stothart
*Cinematography: Harold Rosson
*Film Editing: Anne Bauchens
*Art Direction: Cedric Gibbons and Mitchell Leisen
*Costume Design: Adrian

Preservation

The original black and white release print is extant. The original Technicolor sequences exist only in this black and white copy.

Notes

External links

*imdb title|0021106
* [http://www.tcm.com/thismonth/article.jsp?cid=72486&mainArticleId=72479 Turner Classic Movies Article]