Roaring 20s: Golden Gate Orch. - Weary River, 1929

Golden Gate Orchestra (California Ramblers) -- Weary River, Fox Trot from "Weary River" (Silvers and Clarke), Vocal Chorus by John Ryan, Velvet Tone 1929 (USA)

NOTE: The song „Weary River" was one of top American hits of the year 1929. It was featured in the early talkie "Weary River", where Richard Barthelmess performs as a "singing gangster". Dubbed by Johnny Murray, he sings during the breaks in his criminal business to his gierlfriend (Betty Compson), who is visibly thrilled by his crooning.
Richard Barthelmess for his role in The Noose (1928) was the first American actor nominated to Academy Award in the Best Actor category. Son of the stage actress Caroline Harris, who for some time tutored Alla Nazimova in English, Barthelmess was noticed by that Russian/American silent movie goddess in one of his college productions. With her encouragement, he made his first film appearance in 1916 in the serial Gloria's Romance. His next role, in War Brides opposite Nazimova, attracted the attention of legendary director D.W. Griffith, who offered him several important roles, finally casting him opposite Lillian Gish in Broken Blossoms (1919) and Way Down East (1920) - a success, that immediately made him one of Hollywood's highest paid performers. With the advent of the sound era, Barthelmess' fortunes changed. He made several films in the new medium, most notably Son of the Gods (1930), The Last Flight (1931), Central Airport (1933) and a supporting role as Rita Hayworth's husband in Only Angels Have Wings (1939). Having failed to maintain the stardom of his silent film days, Barthelmess gradually left entertainment. During World War II he served as a lieutenant commander and he never returned to film, preferring instead to live off his investments. He died of cancer in 1963.