Vintage original 9.25 x 12 in. US sheet music from the 1920's silent film version of the musical drama/romance, SHOW BOAT, released in 1929 by Unversal Pictures by Harry A. Pollard and a prologue directed by Arch Heath.
Copyright 1928 by Spier & Coslow Inc. (NYC), the song is entitled The Lonesome Road, with words by Gene Austin and music by Nathaniel Shilkret. The front cover features an exterior photographic image of co-stars Laura La Plante and Joseph Schildraut in period Soutern attire with artwork of a riverboat behind them. The interior consists of 3 pages of music. It is in overall fine- condition with some separation along the bottom half of the spine.
*"Show Boat is a 1929 American romantic drama film based on the 1926 novel Show Boat by Edna Ferber. The film initially did not use the 1927 stage musical of the same name as a source, but scenes were later added into the film incorporating two of the songs from the musical as well as other songs. This version was released by Universal in two editions, one a silent film for movie theatres still not equipped for sound, and one a part-talkie with a sound prologue.The film was long believed to be lost, but most of it has been found and released on LaserDisc and shown on Turner Classic Movies. A number of sections of the soundtrack were found in the mid-1990s on Vitaphonerecords, although the film was made with a Movietone soundtrack. Two more records were discovered in 2005."
*(source: Wikipedia)
*"As early as late 1926, Universal Pictures was ready to start production on Show Boat. An item in the Jan. 1927 Photoplay noted that filming would "soon start" with Mary Philbin, Norman Kerry, and Jean Hersholt. However, none of the three were involved in the final film. According to a directory chart in the Aug. 11, 1928 Exhibitors Herald and Moving Picture World, production began July 16, 1928.
Universal acquired the rights to the Jerome Kern-Oscar Hammerstein score after the film had been shot as a part-talking drama. Several scenes were then reshot to include songs and an 18-minute sound prologue was added. The prologue included short speeches by Carl Laemmle and Florenz Ziegfeld and songs from the stage production were performed by Helen Morgan, Jules Bledsoe, and Tess Gardella. Two other filmed versions of the play were made, in 1936 and 1951. Show Boat marked the motion picture debut of singer-actress Helen Morgan, who also appeared as "Julie LaVerne" in the 1936 Show Boat."
*(source: AFI Catalog of Feature Films)
SMB