The Great Gabbo Movie Review 1929

A ventriloquist can express himself only through his dummy, losing his own identity and going mad at the end. Von Stroheim's first talkie. May quite possibly be the first mentally-twisted-ventriloquist story ever put on film. Von Stroheim hated the movie, believing it to be analogous to his own life. When he tried to buy the rights to the film, presumably to destroy the prints, he found that the property had been already purchased by real-life ventriloquist, Edgar Bergen. Based on a story by Ben Hecht.

Distribution

Video Yesteryear, 2 Ridgedale Ave., Cedar Knolls, NJ 07927, Phone: (203)744-2476

Available on VHS
Running time 82 minutes.

Cast and Crew

Genres

You Big Dummy!, Role Reversal, Puppets

Screenplay

Ben Hecht, F. Hugh Herbert

Cast

Erich von Stroheim, Betty Compson, Don Douglas, Marjorie "Babe" Kane

Cinematography

Ira Morgan

Director

James Cruze

Music

Howard Jackson, Charley Chase

Producer

Sono Art, World Wide