| The Duke Steps Out | |
| Director: | James Cruze |
| Producer: | James Cruze |
| Story: | Lucian Cary |
| Starring: | William Haines Joan Crawford Karl Dane Tenen Holtz |
| Music: | William Axt (uncredited) |
| Cinematography: | Ira H. Morgan |
| Editing: | George Hively |
| Distributor: | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
| Runtime: | 62 minutes |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | Sound (Synchronized) (English Intertitles) |
| Budget: | $218,000[1] |
| Gross: | $920,000 |
The Duke Steps Out is a 1929 American synchronized sound comedy-drama film directed by James Cruze and starring William Haines and Joan Crawford. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized musical score with sound effects using both the sound-on-disc and sound-on-film process. The film is lost, but the Vitaphone sound discs track of music and sound effects survive in the UCLA Film and Television Archive.[2] [3]
Duke (Haines) a pampered millionaire's son, who longs to be a boxer, takes an interest in Susie (Crawford), a college coed, after he defends her from being bullied. Duke's interest in Susie leads him to enroll in the same school as Susie. After a misunderstanding between Duke and Susie, they realize they are meant to be together and are reunited.
The film featured a theme song entitled "Just You" which was composed by William Axt, David Mendoza and Raymond Klages.
According to MGM records the film earned $714,000 in the US and Canada and $206,000 elsewhere, resulting in a profit of $343,000.[1]