The Duke Steps Out

The Duke Steps Out
The Duke Steps Out
	Theatrical poster
Directed by	James Cruze
Written by	Raymond L. Schrock; Dale Van Every; Joseph Farnham (titles)
Story by	Lucian Cary
Produced by	James Cruze
Starring	William Haines; Joan Crawford; Karl Dane; Tenen Holtz
Cinematography	Ira H. Morgan
Edited by	George Hively
Music by	William Axt (uncredited)
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date	March 16, 1929;
Running time	62 minutes
Country	United States
Languages	Sound (Synchronized); (English Intertitles)
Budget	$218,000
Box office	$920,000

The Duke Steps Out is a 1929 American synchronized sound comedy-drama film directed by James Cruze and starring William Haines and Joan Crawford. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized musical score with sound effects using both the sound-on-disc and sound-on-film process. The film is lost, but the Vitaphone sound discs track of music and sound effects survive in the UCLA Film and Television Archive.^[2]^[3]

Plot

Duke (Haines) a pampered millionaire's son, who longs to be a boxer, takes an interest in Susie (Crawford), a college coed, after he defends her from being bullied. Duke's interest in Susie leads him to enroll in the same school as Susie. After a misunderstanding between Duke and Susie, they realize they are meant to be together and are reunited.

Cast

William Haines as Duke
Joan Crawford as Susie
Karl Dane as Barney, Duke's Chauffeur
Tenen Holtz as Jake, Duke's Manager
Edward Nugent as Tommy Wells
Jack Roper as Poison Kerrigan
Delmer Daves as Bossy Edwards
Luke Cosgrave as Professor Widdicomb
Herbert Prior as Mr. Corbin
Gwen Lee (uncredited)
Harold Lockwood (uncredited)
Gertrude Messinger (uncredited)
Marie Messinger (uncredited)

Music

The film featured a theme song entitled "Just You" which was composed by William Axt, David Mendoza and Raymond Klages.

Box office

According to MGM records the film earned $714,000 in the US and Canada and $206,000 elsewhere, resulting in a profit of $343,000.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
^ Arne Andersen's Lost Film Files; Metro/MGM
^ The Duke Steps Out at silentera.com

External links

The Duke Steps Out at IMDb
The Duke Steps Out at the TCM Movie Database

This article about a silent comedy-drama film is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[Mannix-1] The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.

[2] Arne Andersen's Lost Film Files; Metro/MGM

[3] The Duke Steps Out at silentera.com

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v t e Films directed by James Cruze
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1930s	Once a Gentleman (1930) She Got What She Wanted (1930) Salvation Nell (1931) Washington Merry-Go-Round (1932) If I Had a Million (segment "Death Cell", 1932) Racetrack (1933) Sailor Be Good (1933) I Cover the Waterfront (1933) Mr. Skitch (1933) David Harum (1934) Their Big Moment (1934) Helldorado (1934) Two-Fisted (1935) Sutter's Gold (1936) The Wrong Road (1937) Prison Nurse (1938) Gangs of New York (1938) Come On, Leathernecks! (1938)