My Man (1928 film)

My Man is a 1928 black and white sound part-talkie American comedy-drama musical film directed by Archie Mayo starring Fanny Brice and featuring Guinn "Big Boy" Williams. In addition to sequences with audible dialogue or talking sequences, the film features a synchronized musical score and sound effects along with English intertitles. The soundtrack was recorded using the Vitaphone sound-on-disc system.

This film was Brice's feature film debut at the age of 37. She was a star in the Ziegfeld Follies before she started acting in motion pictures. Warner Bros. had completely stopped making silent movies by 1928 and had switched exclusively to sound pictures by the end of the year, producing synchronized, part-talkies or full all-talking pictures. In 1929, Warner Bros. would lead the way in making sound movies in color.

Plot
Fannie Brand (Fanny Brice), an industrious girl who supports her brother and sister by working in a theatrical costume house, falls in love with Joe Halsey (Guinn "Big Boy" Williams), a young fellow who earns a precarious living demonstrating an elastic exerciser in a drugstore window. Fannie and Joe set a date to be married, but the wedding is called off when Fannie finds Joe making love to her unprincipled sister, Edna (Edna Murphy). Fannie auditions for Landau (Andrés De Segurola), a theatrical producer, and goes on the Broadway stage. Fannie is a great success, and she and Joe soon find their way back into each other's arms.

Cast

 * Fanny Brice as Fannie Brand (credited as Fannie Brice)
 * Guinn "Big Boy" Williams as Joe Halsey
 * Edna Murphy as Edna Brand
 * Andrés De Segurola as Landau
 * Richard Tucker as Waldo
 * Billy Seay as Sammy
 * Arthur Hoyt as Thorne
 * Ann Brody as Mrs. Schultz
 * Clarissa Selwynne as Forelady

Reception
According to Warner Bros. records, the film earned $1,099,000 in the U.S. and $119,000 elsewhere.

Songs
All songs sung by Fanny Brice.
 * "I'd Rather Be Blue Over You" – Fred Fisher and Billy Rose
 * "My Man" – music by Maurice Yvain, lyrics by Channing Pollock
 * "Second Hand Rose" – music by James F. Hanley, lyrics by Grant Clarke
 * "If You Want the Rainbow, You Must Have the Rain" – music by Oscar Levant, lyrics by Mort Dixon and Billy Rose
 * "I'm an Indian" – music by Leo Edwards, lyrics by Blanche Merrill
 * "I Was a Florodora Baby" – music by Harry Carroll, lyrics by Ballard MacDonald

Premiere Vitaphone short subjects
My Man premiered at the Warners' Theatre in Manhattan on December 21, 1928.

Film preservation
An incomplete version of this film reportedly survives. In addition to this incomplete copy, the full synchronized soundtrack survives on Vitaphone discs, as well as the soundtrack for the theatrical trailer.