The Battle of the Sexes (1928 film)

The Battle of the Sexes
lobby card
Directed byD. W. Griffith
Written byGerrit J. Lloyd
(adaptation & titles)
Based onThe Single Standard
by Daniel Carson Goodman
Produced byJoseph M. Schenck
StarringJean Hersholt
Phyllis Haver
Belle Bennett
Don Alvarado
Sally O'Neil
CinematographyKarl Struss
G.W. Bitzer
Edited byJames Smith
Music byHugo Riesenfeld
Nathaniel Shilkret
Distributed byUnited Artists
Release date
  • October 12, 1928 (1928-10-12) (U.S.)
Running time
88 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguagesSound (Synchronzied)
(English intertitles)
Budget$750,000

The Battle of the Sexes is a 1928 American synchronized sound comedy film directed by D. W. Griffith. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized musical score, singing and sound effects using both the sound-on-disc and sound-on-film process. The film starred Jean Hersholt, Phyllis Haver, Belle Bennett, Don Alvarado, and Sally O'Neil. It was released by United Artists. The film is a remake by Griffith of an earlier film he directed in 1914 which starred Lillian Gish. Both films are based on the novel The Single Standard by Daniel Carson Goodman; the story was adapted for this production by Gerrit J. Lloyd.

The film was recorded using the Movietone sound-on-film system but discs were made for those theatres that only had equipment to play sound-on-disc sound films. In 2004, the film was released on DVD by Image Entertainment without its original soundtrack. The theme song of the motion picture, "Just a Sweetheart", by Dave Dryer, Josef Pasternack, and Nathaniel Shilkret (recorded versions of which are available, for example, on a commercially issued Paul Whiteman CD) was omitted from the DVD. A completely modern score was substituted which bears no resemblance to the original score.