Tisher Price Posted June 14, 2016 Share Posted June 14, 2016 Does anyone know where I can get a copy of Widow of Chicago, a gangster film starring Edward G. Robinson? I saw it almost a year and a half ago on they were celebrating Edward G. Robinson's birthday. Actually that was the film that got me hooked on Robinson and 1930s gangster films. I can't find it anywhere... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sukhov Posted July 6, 2018 Share Posted July 6, 2018 It's available for $16 here on the Barnes & Noble website. https://www.barnesandnoble.com/p/dvd-the-widow-from-chicago-edward-g-robinson/3956265/2674714117385?st=PLA&sid=BNB_DRS_New+Marketplace+Shopping+Media_00000000&2sid=Google_&sourceId=PLGoP164955&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI2IGmlMWK3AIVFnZeCh05Bg7aEAkYASABEgJRqPD_BwE Also saw this on the wiki page- A 62 minute version of the film survives and has been broadcast on television and cable. Due to the public's backlash against musicals late in 1930, all of the musical numbers were cut from the film to make it more marketable. These cuts accounts for the short length of the film. The film was advertised as a gangster picture, a genre which had become very popular with the public. The complete musical film was released intact in countries outside the United States where a backlash against musicals never occurred. It is unknown whether a copy of this full version still exists. - Huh, hopefully they can find the unedited, original version one day. The claim isn't sourced so I don't know where they get that it was originally meant as a musical and was sold that way outside the US. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scsu1975 Posted July 6, 2018 Share Posted July 6, 2018 1 hour ago, Gershwin fan said: It's available for $16 here on the Barnes & Noble website. https://www.barnesandnoble.com/p/dvd-the-widow-from-chicago-edward-g-robinson/3956265/2674714117385?st=PLA&sid=BNB_DRS_New+Marketplace+Shopping+Media_00000000&2sid=Google_&sourceId=PLGoP164955&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI2IGmlMWK3AIVFnZeCh05Bg7aEAkYASABEgJRqPD_BwE Also saw this on the wiki page- A 62 minute version of the film survives and has been broadcast on television and cable. Due to the public's backlash against musicals late in 1930, all of the musical numbers were cut from the film to make it more marketable. These cuts accounts for the short length of the film. The film was advertised as a gangster picture, a genre which had become very popular with the public. The complete musical film was released intact in countries outside the United States where a backlash against musicals never occurred. It is unknown whether a copy of this full version still exists. - Huh, hopefully they can find the unedited, original version one day. The claim isn't sourced so I don't know where they get that it was originally meant as a musical and was sold that way outside the US. I would not trust any claim that isn't sourced. According to the November 15, 1930 edition of Harrison's Reports (a trade journal), the film was released at 65 minutes. The anonymous reviewer gave it a lukewarm rating, at best. There is no mention of any musical numbers. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slaytonf Posted July 6, 2018 Share Posted July 6, 2018 Didn't seem like a movie liable to musicality. But with Alice White in it, who knows . . . . Are there gangster musicals from that era at all? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Movie Collector OH Posted July 6, 2018 Share Posted July 6, 2018 2 hours ago, slaytonf said: Didn't seem like a movie liable to musicality. But with Alice White in it, who knows . . . . Are there gangster musicals from that era at all? Don't know about "gangster" per se, but similarity-wise here are at least two which set a precedent, maybe three, whose genre included Crime & Musical: Blaze o' Glory (1929)https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0019703/ Broadway (1929)https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0019725/ The Yellow Mask (1930)https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0021564/ And if you are talking about Alice White, there was Just Imagine (1930) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sukhov Posted July 6, 2018 Share Posted July 6, 2018 3 hours ago, slaytonf said: Didn't seem like a movie liable to musicality. But with Alice White in it, who knows . . . . Are there gangster musicals from that era at all? G.W. Pabst's 3 Penny Opera comes to mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slaytonf Posted July 6, 2018 Share Posted July 6, 2018 11 minutes ago, Gershwin fan said: G.W. Pabst's 3 Penny Opera comes to mind. Yyyeah, but you know I'm talkin' about the kind E. G. Robinson would be in, a gangster movie, not a bleak, sardonic satire on the human condition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shutoo Posted July 7, 2018 Share Posted July 7, 2018 (I'm assuming this is The Widow From Chicago..?) amazon has the dvd, but it's pricey..$22 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Movie Collector OH Posted July 7, 2018 Share Posted July 7, 2018 One more that could have been a precedent for the idea of Widow Of Chicago originally being a ganster and a musical: Weary River (1929)https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0019557/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LsDoorMat Posted July 8, 2018 Share Posted July 8, 2018 On 7/6/2018 at 2:44 PM, MovieCollectorOH said: Don't know about "gangster" per se, but similarity-wise here are at least two which set a precedent, maybe three, whose genre included Crime & Musical: Blaze o' Glory (1929)https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0019703/ Broadway (1929)https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0019725/ The Yellow Mask (1930)https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0021564/ And if you are talking about Alice White, there was Just Imagine (1930) Maureen O'Sullivan was in Just Imagine, not Alice White. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Movie Collector OH Posted July 8, 2018 Share Posted July 8, 2018 4 hours ago, calvinnme said: Maureen O'Sullivan was in Just Imagine, not Alice White. Oops my bad. I was thinking of Marjorie White. Not a lot in common except some of the online descriptions must have made me think about the other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts