Clear the Decks (1929) Online

Cast overview:
	Reginald Denny	-	Jack Armitage
	Olive Hasbrouck	-	Miss Bronson
	Otis Harlan	-	Pussyfoot
	Lucien Littlefield	-	Plinge
	Collette Merton	-	Blondie
	Robert Anderson	-	Mate
	Elinor Leslie	-	Aunt
	Brooks Benedict	-	Trumbull

A Jewel Production. Unlike most other major studios, Universal lacked its own theater network (a business move that would pay dividends after the 1949 Supreme Court anti-trust decision that would threaten many of it's competitors). Carl Laemmle devised a 3-tiered branding system to market Universal's product to independent theaters: Red Feather (low budget programmers), Bluebird (mainstream releases) and Jewel (prestige pictures produced in hopes of commanding higher roadshow ticket prices). This system disappeared in late 1929.

A part-talkie, this demonstrates the difficulty Carl Laemmle had in securing Fox's Movietone system throughout 1929. He would often be unable to secure the equipment for longer than a week at a time and was faced with the predicament of rushing projects or releasing them in a less marketable part-talking format at a time when the public was clamoring for talkies.