The Show of Shows

For the TV show (1950–1954), see Your Show of Shows. For the documentary film, see The Show of Shows: 100 Years of Vaudeville, Circuses and Carnivals.

The Show of Shows
theatrical release poster
Directed byJohn G. Adolfi
Written bySpecial material:
Frank Fay
J. Keirn Brennan
Produced byDarryl F. Zanuck
CinematographyBarney McGill
Music byEdward Ward
Production
company
Distributed byWarner Bros. Pictures
Release date
  • November 28, 1929 (1929-11-28) (US)[1]
Running time
128 minutes
107 minutes (Technicolor)
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$795,000[2]
Box office$1,624,000[2]

The Show of Shows is a 1929 American pre-Code musical revue film directed by John G. Adolfi and distributed by Warner Bros. The all-talking Vitaphone production cost almost $800,000 and was shot almost entirely in Technicolor.[2]

The Show of Shows was Warner Bros.' fifth color film; the first four were The Desert Song (1929), On with the Show! (1929), Gold Diggers of Broadway (1929) and Paris (1929). (Song of the West was actually completed by June 1929 but had its release delayed until March 1930). The Show of Shows featured most of the contemporary Warner Bros. film stars, including John Barrymore, Richard Barthelmess, Noah Beery Sr., Loretta Young, Dolores Costello, Bull Montana, Myrna Loy, Chester Conklin, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Tully Marshall, Nick Lucas, and Betty Compson.

  1. ^ The Show of Shows at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
  2. ^ a b c Warner Bros financial information in The William Schaefer Ledger. See Appendix 1, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, (1995) 15:sup1, 1-31 p 10 DOI: 10.1080/01439689508604551