Name: Madonna of Avenue A
Genre: Drama
Released: 1929-06-22
Duration: 1 h 11 min
Rating: 5
Cast: Dolores Costello, Grant Withers, Douglas Gerrard

This lost film doesn't seem to get much interest...

... and maybe that is because everything is gone - sound discs, film, trailers, everything.

Only movie reviews and movie posters survive. It was one of Delores Costello's early talking films, but certainly not her first. The earlier "Noah's Ark", a part talkie, does survive and is occasionally shown on Turner Classic Movies.

Costello plays a teen girl, Maria, who discovers her mother is a dance hall hostess. She is enrolled in a boarding school by her mother to keep her from going down the same path she did, but then Maria partakes of some drinking on a bootlegger's yacht. When discovered she is expelled, and that is when she returns home and finds out how mom makes her living. Maria responds by running off and eloping with her bootlegger boyfriend (Grant Withers). Complications ensue, but they are predictable ones.

So maybe it is more forgivable that Warner Brothers lost this routine programmer than it is that they lost Gold Diggers of Broadway from the same year, still it would have been nice to see something that ticks all of the boxes of life in the roaring twenties, made at the end of that era rather than interpreted afterwards in the late 30s.

This was also an early talking role for Grant Withers who had a shooting star of a leading man career over at Warner Brothers, one that went to supporting roles by 1932.

The drama genre is a broad category that features stories portraying human experiences, emotions, conflicts, and relationships in a realistic and emotionally impactful way. Dramas delve into the complexities of human life, often exploring themes of love, loss, morality, societal issues, personal growth, with the aim to evoke an emotional response from the audience by presenting relatable and thought-provoking stories.

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Madonna of Avenue A is a 1929 talking drama film directed by Michael Curtiz. It was produced and distributed by Warner Bros.. It starred Dolores Costello in one of her last silent films. This is reportedly a lost film.

Dolores Costello and Louise Dresser in Madonna of Avenue A (1929)

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Dolores Costello and Grant Withers in Madonna of Avenue A (1929)

Louise Dresser and Grant Withers in Madonna of Avenue A (1929)

Dolores Costello in Madonna of Avenue A (1929)

Michael Curtiz and Dolores Costello in Madonna of Avenue A (1929)

Madonna of Avenue A

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