Movietone’s Presentation of “Mother Knows Best”

In 1929, the Movietone movie, Mother Knows Best, played at Schine’s State Theater in Sandusky on February 7, 8, and 9. The movie was based on Edna Ferber’s novel of the same name. In the film, Madge Bellamy portrayed actress Sally Quail, whose professional and personal was being dominated by her mother. Many critics felt that the film was loosely based on the life of actress Elsie Janis. The movie was part a silent movie, but it did have some scenes in which the characters spoke.

Advertisements for Mother Knows Best appeared in both the Sandusky Register and Sandusky Star Journal. Both papers featured a contest in which pieces of a puzzle could be put together to form a scene from the movie. The first 25 people to solve the puzzle correctly would win two tickets to the movie.