Is Everybody Happy? (1929 film)

Is Everybody Happy?
Is Everybody Happy?
Directed by	Archie Mayo
Written by	Joseph Jackson; James A. Starr; De Leon Anthong [titles]
Starring	Ted Lewis; Ted Todd; Alice Day; Gail Wilson; Ann Pennington
Cinematography	Ben Reynolds
Edited by	Desmond O'Brien
Music by	The Original Dixieland Jazz Band; Harry Akst; W. C. Handy; Ted Lewis; Grant Clarke
Production; company	Warner Bros.
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date	October 19, 1929;
Running time	80 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Is Everybody Happy? (1929) is an American pre-Code musical film starring Ted Lewis, Alice Day, Lawrence Grant, Ann Pennington, and Julia Swayne Gordon, directed by Archie Mayo, and released by Warner Bros. The music for the film was written by Harry Akst and Grant Clarke, except for "St. Louis Blues" by W. C. Handy and "Tiger Rag". The film's title comes from Lewis's catchphrase "Is everybody happy?"

The film's soundtrack exists on Vitaphone discs preserved at the UCLA Film and Television Archive, but the film itself is considered a lost film, according to the Vitaphone Project website. A five-minute clip from the film can be found on YouTube.^[1]

Lewis and his orchestra also appeared in a short subject called Is Everybody Happy? (1941), consisting of musical numbers cut from the Abbott and Costello feature film Hold That Ghost (1941) released by Universal Studios. Columbia Pictures released a feature-length biopic of Lewis also titled Is Everybody Happy? (1943).

Cast[edit]

Ted Lewis as Ted Todd
Alice Day as Gail Wilson
Ann Pennington as Lena Schmitt
Lawrence Grant as Victor Molnár
Julia Swayne Gordon as Mrs. Molnár
Otto Hoffman as Landlord
Purnell Pratt as Stage Manager
Muggsy Spanier as himself

Soundtrack[edit]

"Wouldn't It Be Wonderful?" – written by Harry Akst, Grant Clarke
"I'm the Medicine Man For the Blues" – written by Harry Akst, Grant Clarke
"Samoa" – written by Harry Akst, Grant Clarke
"New Orleans" – written by Harry Akst, Grant Clarke
"In the Land of Jazz" – written by Harry Akst, Grant Clarke
"Start the Band" – written by Harry Akst, Grant Clarke
"St. Louis Blues" – written by W. C. Handy
"Tiger Rag" – music by Henry Ragas (as H. W. Ragas), Nick LaRocca (as D. J. La Rocca), Larry Shields (as L. Shields), Tony Sbarbaro (as A. Sbarbaro) and Edwin B. Edwards (as E. B. Edwards); lyrics by Harry DeCosta (as Harry Da Costa)