Speak Easily - 1932 - Editing Exercise - Sequence 5 - Broadway Bound and Down to Business with Thelma

Despite Durante's brash presence, he brings the picture a splash of welcome energy with a bit of his anthem, "Can Broadway Do Without Me?"  and his march through the hallway to his new business office.  This is followed by a bit of stock footage pulled from King Vidor's 1928 masterpiece, The Crowd.  The rest of the scene is dominated by Sidney Toler, known at the time as a Broadway comic actor, but destined to be remembered for his later portrayal of Charlie Chan at 20th Century Fox and Monogram pictures.  Then Thelma Todd arrives, full of tough charm and hard-boiled agendas.

Most of the changes here are for staging - again, to adjust for the dark set and master shot mentality of MGM's misunderstanding of comedy.  

1932 - 7 minutes

2021 - 6 minutes, 58 seconds