More than three-quarters of a century after the film 'Convention City' was made, the cinematic comedy has turned into a real-life mystery as all prints of the film have disappeared.
The original movie poster
Convention City, a 1933 feature film that pushed the boundaries of its time with its sexual overtones and humor, also served as an advertisement for Atlantic City with its footage of the Boardwalk, beaches and other attractions.
More than three-quarters of a century later, the cinematic comedy has turned into a real-life mystery as all prints of the film have disappeared, making it a hot item among film buffs hoping a copy will surface.
Director Archie Mayo had a reputation for comedy and would one day direct the Marx Brothers in A Night in Casablanca. He would also be behind the camera for Humphrey Bogart’s breakthrough role as Duke Mantee in The Petrified Forest.
In Convention City, Mayo oversaw a talented cast that included such stars as Dick Powell, Oscar nominees Adolphe Menjou and Joan Blondell, and future Oscar winner Mary Astor. While principal footage with the actors was shot at a studio in California, another film crew traveled to Atlantic City to capture the local flavor of the resort.
The movie focuses on a convention of sales representatives for the fictional Honeywell Rubber Company and their annual gathering at an Atlantic City hotel. It was a convention where pleasure came before business. The poster for the movie boasted of “traveling salesmen on the make, farmers’ daughters on the jump and jealous wives on the trail.”
One plot line dealt with Menjou’s character, Ted, vying for the romantic attention of Claire (a 16-year-old Patricia Ellis), his boss’s teenage daughter, as a way of securing a promotion. Told she’s underage, Ted responds, “She’s old enough, almost. Anyhow, I remember the year she was born.”
In under 70 minutes, film historian Ron Hutchinson wrote, “Convention City revels in drunkenness, brothel visits, Blondell’s ample cleavage, endless trysts and a salesman tempting a goat up to his hotel room.”
In its review published in December 1933, The New York Times had mixed reactions.
“Several of the jokes need a subterranean mind to be correctly understood. An accurate appraisal of Convention City should include the information that the Strand audience laughed long and loud.”
The reviewer singled out Menjou’s performance for praise. “Mr. Menjou stands out like a diamond in a 10-cent store jewelry counter.”
Made for an estimated $239,000, the film grossed about $522,000, a solid showing for the Great Depression.
Films like Convention City, with its adult themes and risque lines, led to the creation of the Production Code Administration, said Robert A. Emmons Jr., a professor at Rutgers-Camden and filmmaker. The PCA monitored films for content, serving as an unofficial censor.
“With a uniformed and central office, the PCA would certify, or not, studio productions,” Emmons said.
“When Warner Brothers tried to re-release an edited version of Convention City in 1936, it did not receive PCA approval.
The history of Convention City is sketchy after this point. An ad for the film was found in a Madrid newspaper in August 1942 with the title Que Semana (The Weekend). Warner Brothers records indicate all negatives for the film were junked in December 1948. Blondell claimed she had a copy of the film that she would screen at parties for her guests.
Film historians are perplexed at how more than 500 prints of a movie could all disappear without a trace.
One critic observed that Convention City appears to be the most recent feature film from a major Hollywood studio that is totally lost.
Posters and photographic stills from the move still exist. A reading of the script by professionals was held in New York City in 1995.
More significantly, second-unit footage of the film shot in Atlantic City around 1933 was discovered in the mid-1990s. About 20 minutes of silent black-and-white footage shows the railroad station, beaches, Boardwalk and Steel Pier with an advertisement for actor/singer Rudy Vallee.
Movies can offer a window on the past, a look at the way we were. That’s the case of The Money, later renamed Atlantic City Jackpot, a 1976 independent film partially shot in the city and Atlantic County four years before the first casino opened.
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