| What a Widow! | |
|---|---|
 Film poster | |
| Directed by | Allan Dwan Dudley Murphy (uncredited) James Seymour (uncredited) |
| Screenplay by | James Gleason James Seymour |
| Story by | Josephine Lovett |
| Produced by | Gloria Swanson Joseph P. Kennedy Allan Dwan |
| Starring | Gloria Swanson Owen Moore Lew Cody |
| Cinematography | George Barnes |
| Edited by | Viola Lawrence |
| Music by | Hugo Felix Josiah Zuro |
Production company | Gloria Productions |
| Distributed by | United Artists |
Release date |
|
Running time | 88 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
What a Widow! is a 1930 American pre-Code musical romantic comedy film directed by Allan Dwan and produced by and starring Gloria Swanson. The music was written by Vincent Youmans. It was distributed through United Artists.[1] Although rumored to have been lost for decades, the film is extant in two complete 35mm copies at the George Eastman Museum.
The film was produced by Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. It received generally positive reviews and was noted for its animated title sequence created by William Dietz, but was met with lukewarm returns at the box office mainly due to the backlash against musical films late in 1930.[2] Due to the public's backlash against musicals, United Artists downplayed the fact that the film was a musical, removed references to Vincent Youmans and his songs and advertised the film as a romantic comedy.
- ^ Shearer, Stephen Michael; Basinger, Jeanine (2013). Gloria Swanson: The Ultimate Star. Macmillan. p. 445. ISBN 978-1-250-01366-8.
- ^ (Shearer & Basinger 2013, pp. 1673–1674)