By Bruce Klauber
Jersey Shore fans of vintage cinema are likely aware of the well-known films that were shot, in whole or in part, the Atlantic City area, including “The King of Marvin Gardens,” “Atlantic City,” and the relatively obscure film profiled in these pages recently, “The Lemon Sisters.” There are a few, however, that even cult followers might not know about.
“The American Venus” was a 1926 silent film about a beauty contest winner. Though the biggest stars in the film were Louise Brooks and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., the real casting coup was Fay Lanphier, Miss California in the Miss America Pageant.
There was some controversy about Lanphier’s casting, in that some accused production company, Paramount, of fixing the pageant to ensure that Lanphier, who was actually cast in the film before the pageant began, would win the title. The claim was eventually proven to be false and Lanphier was the first Miss America winner to star in a major motion picture.
In an era when location shooting was rare, Paramount came up with the funds to shoot, in September of 1925, the actual Miss America Pageant at Convention Hall. To ballyhoo the opening, “The American Venus,” premier was held at Atlantic City’s Ambassador Hotel on the day after Christmas, 1925. Sadly, the complete print of this obscurity is lost, save a scene or two from the trailer.
Here’s a title to remember: “The Cohens and the Kellys in Atlantic City” was a 1929 film that actually featured sound in some dialogue sequences and in the musical score. The plot, such as it was, concerns the Cohens’ and Kellys’ failing bathing suit business, saved by their resourceful children who promote a new line of swimwear by setting up an Atlantic City beauty pageant. The majority of the shooting took place in Atlantic City.
The only actor in this film who really made it in Hollywood was a very young Walter Brennan, who appears in a cameo as a man in a police station.
Fans of The Three Stooges’ Shemp Howard may want to seek out the 1935 film, “Convention Girl,” also known as “Atlantic City Romance.” Shemp plays a prominent role in the movie, which contains plenty of Atlantic City location footage, including scenes of Steel Pier’s diving horse, the crowded beaches and rolling chairs.
Though the 1944 Republic film is titled “Atlantic City,” and was said to be Republic’s most expensive film of the time, most of the footage, with the exception of some Atlantic City stock shots and establishing footage, was shot on a Hollywood sound stage. What makes “Atlantic City” worth watching are the segments featuring Louis Armstrong and Dorothy Dandridge. This was released to the market six years after its initial release as “Atlantic City Honeymoon.”
Prior to the release of “The King of Marvin Gardens” (1972) and “Atlantic City” (1980) the best-known film that had an Atlantic City connection was 1957’s “The Burglar.” The film starred Dan Duryea and Jayne Mansfield and a good deal of the project was filmed in Philadelphia (legendary Philly newscaster John Facenda is in one scene) and in Atlantic City.
Actually filmed in 1955 and held back from release for two years, Atlantic City scenes include footage of Jayne Mansfield in a rolling chair, the ubiquitous diving horse, the Albany Avenue bridge and Boardwalk footage where the President Hotel can be seen. If diehard fans must see this, it can be streamed for $3.99 on Prime Video.
A more modern-day obscurity is “Duane Hopwood,” a 2005 comedy/drama that starred David Schwimmer of “Friends” fame and Janeane Garafolo. The generally unfunny project, which features Schwimmer as a Caesars floor manager and Garafolo as his long-suffering wife, was an ultra-low budget piece of cinema, shot in three weeks in Atlantic City, Margate, Longport, Ventnor and Ocean City.
It was hoped that the film’s low budget would ensure some kind of profit, but that was not to be. The production company, IFC, knew it had a dog on its hands and released it in 2005 on a limited basis to Philadelphia, Tucson and Kansas City. The domestic gross in total was a mere $13,510. Those who can sit through “Duane Hopwood” may be amused by a Dick Cavett cameo.
Surprisingly, the film did receive a few favorable reviews. The Roger Ebert website called it “a wise and touching film with a lot of love in it.” Michael Booth of The Denver Post called it “a remarkably accomplished indie movie.”
More typical of the reviews was one written by Film Threat’s Peter Hanson, who wrote, “‘Duane Hopwood’ is loaded with unoriginal ideas, weak comedic concepts and underwhelming emotional climaxes. The movie is the definition of bland.”
But the footage of the shore is, as usual, beautiful and it can be viewed on DVD at the bargain price of $3.59 on Amazon.
Though all these films may be less-than-great, the Jersey Shore continues to regularly attract film and television producers – from major studios and cable channels like Hallmark, to smaller, independent producers – looking for the kind of singular scenery that can only be found here. They believe, as Jerry Lewis said in one of his films, that “movies are your best entertainment.”
Bruce Klauber is the author of four books, an award-winning music journalist, concert and record producer and publicist, producer of the Warner Brothers and Hudson Music “Jazz Legends” film series, and performs both as a drummer and vocalist.
