Street Angel
Theatrical release poster
Directed byFrank Borzage
Written byPhilip Klein
Henry Roberts Symonds
Monckton Hoffe (play)
Produced byWilliam Fox
StarringJanet Gaynor
Charles Farrell
Alberto Rabagliati
CinematographyPaul Ivano
Ernest Palmer
Distributed byFox Film Corporation
Release date
  • April 9, 1928 (1928-04-09)
Running time
102 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguagesSound (Synchronized)
English Intertitles
Box office$1.7 million[1]

Street Angel is a 1928 American synchronized sound drama film. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized musical score with sound effects using the sound-on-film movietone process. The film was directed by Frank Borzage, adapted by Harry H. Caldwell (titles), Katherine Hilliker (titles), Philip Klein, Marion Orth and Henry Roberts Symonds from the play Lady Cristilinda by Monckton Hoffe. As one of the early, transitional sound film releases, it did not include recorded dialogue, but used intertitles along with recorded sound effects and musical selections.[2]

Street Angel was one of three movies for which Janet Gaynor received the first Academy Award for Best Actress in 1929; the others were F. W. Murnau's Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans and Borzage's 7th Heaven.[3]

The movie received two further Academy Award nominations in 1930, for Best Art Direction and Best Cinematography, making it one of two English-language films to receive Oscar nominations in separate years. The other was The Quiet One, nominated in 1949 for Documentary Feature[4] and 1950 for Story and Screenplay.[5]

Street Angel entered the public domain in the United States in 2024.[6]

Plot

The full film

A spirited young woman (Gaynor) tries to prostitute herself and, failing in that, to steal money, to pay for her seriously ill mother's medicine. She is caught in the act and convicted but escapes from her guards, only to find her mother dead. Fleeing the pursuing police, she joins a traveling carnival, where she meets a vagabond painter (Farrell). Though they fall in love, her past will not leave her alone.

Cast

Music

The film featured a theme song entitled "Angela Mia (My Angel)" which was composed by Erno Rapee and Lew Pollack.

Home video release

The film was thought lost for years, but it is now part of a 12 film collection by Fox that was released in 2008.[7]

See also

References

  1. ^ "WHICH CINEMA FILMS HAVE EARNED THE MOST MONEY SINCE 1914?". The Argus. Melbourne: National Library of Australia. March 4, 1944. p. 3 Supplement: The Argus Weekend magazine. Retrieved August 6, 2012.
  2. ^ Steffen, James. "Street Angel (1928)". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved March 12, 2016.
  3. ^ "NY Times: Street Angel". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. 2012. Archived from the original on October 17, 2012. Retrieved December 6, 2008.
  4. ^ "The 21st Academy Awards - 1949". Oscars.org. Retrieved October 7, 2021.
  5. ^ "The 22nd Academy Awards - 1950". Oscars.org. Retrieved October 7, 2021.
  6. ^ "Public Domain Day 2024 | Duke University School of Law". web.law.duke.edu.
  7. ^ "Street Angel (1928)". Retrieved September 20, 2014.

External links

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Films directed by Frank Borzage
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