The Duke Steps Out

The Duke Steps Out
Theatrical poster
Directed byJames Cruze
Written byRaymond L. Schrock
Dale Van Every
Joseph Farnham (titles)
Story byLucian Cary
Produced byJames Cruze
StarringWilliam Haines
Joan Crawford
Karl Dane
Tenen Holtz
CinematographyIra H. Morgan
Edited byGeorge Hively
Music byWilliam Axt (uncredited)
Distributed byMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date
  • March 16, 1929 (1929-03-16)
Running time
62 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguagesSound (Synchronized)
(English Intertitles)
Budget$218,000[1]
Box office$920,000[1]

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

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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

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Music

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

Box office

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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]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c 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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