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Let's Go Native
''Let's Go Native'' is a 1930 American pre-Code black-and-white musical comedy film, directed by Leo McCarey and released by ''Paramount Pictures''. The well-received picture anticipated McCarey’s success in future comedies, among these '' Part-Time Wife'' (1930), ''The Kid from Spain'' (1932) and the screwball classic ''The Awful Truth'' (1937). Plot The story is set in the immediate aftermath of the Panic of 1929. Joan, an unemployed costume designer and her boyfriend Voltaire, a disinherited scion of a wealthy family, embark together on a Caribbean cruise. Voltaire discovers that his childhood sweetheart, Constance, is a passenger on the ship: romantic complications develop. The ''menage-a-trois'' find themselves shipwrecked on a tropical island. They discover that the paradise is populated by women, with only one male inhabitant, Jerry. Dubbed King of the Island, he quips “"It was one of the Virgin Islands, but it drifted." Further romantic complications ensue. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leo McCarey
Thomas Leo McCarey (October 3, 1898 – July 5, 1969) was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He was involved in nearly 200 films, including the critically acclaimed '' Duck Soup'', '' Make Way for Tomorrow'', '' The Awful Truth'', '' Going My Way'', '' The Bells of St. Mary's'', '' My Son John'', and '' An Affair to Remember''. While focusing mainly on screwball comedies during the 1930s, McCarey turned towards producing more socially conscious and overtly religious films during the 1940s, ultimately finding success and acclaim in both genres. McCarey was one of the most popular and established comedy directors of the pre-World War II era. Life and career Born in Los Angeles, California, McCarey attended St. Joseph's Catholic School and Los Angeles High School. His father was Thomas J. McCarey, whom the Los Angeles Times called "the greatest fight promoter in the world." Leo McCarey would later make a boxing comedy with Harold Lloyd called '' The Milk ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Duck Soup (1933 Film)
''Duck Soup'' is a 1933 American pre-Code musical comedy film written by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby (with additional dialogue by Arthur Sheekman and Nat Perrin) and directed by Leo McCarey. Released by Paramount Pictures on November 17, 1933, it stars the four Marx Brothers ( Groucho, Harpo, Chico, and Zeppo in his final film appearance) and also features Margaret Dumont, Louis Calhern, Raquel Torres and Edgar Kennedy. ''Duck Soup'' was the last of the five Marx Brothers films released by Paramount Pictures. In the film, Groucho portrays Rufus T. Firefly, the newly installed president of the fictional country of Freedonia. Zeppo is his secretary, while Chico and Harpo are spies for the neighboring country of Sylvania. Relations between Firefly and the Sylvanian ambassador (Calhern) deteriorate during the film, eventually leading the two countries to war. Compared to the Marx Brothers' previous films, ''Duck Soup'' was a financial disappointment, though not an outright ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Victor Heerman
Victor Eugene Heerman (August 27, 1893 – November 3, 1977) was an English-American film director, screenwriter, and film producer.Vazzana, Eugene Michael (2001). ''Silent Film Necrology.'' McFarland, After writing and directing short comedies for Mack Sennett, Heerman teamed with his wife Sarah Y. Mason to win the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay of Louisa May Alcott's novel '' Little Women'' in 1933. He is probably best-known to film buffs as director of the Marx Brothers' second film, '' Animal Crackers'' (1930). He and Mason were the first screenwriters involved in early, never-produced scripts commissioned for what would become MGM's '' Pride and Prejudice''. Life and career As director *'' She Loved a Sailor'' (1916, short) *'' Are Waitresses Safe?'': 1917, short) *'' A Maiden's Trust'': (1917, short) *'' Pinched in the Finish'': 1917, short) *'' Stars and Bars'': (1917, short) *'' Watch Your Neighbor'' (1918, short) *'' His Naughty Wife'' (1919, short) *'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Animal Crackers (1930 Film)
''Animal Crackers'' is a 1930 American Pre-Code Hollywood, pre-Code comedy film starring the Marx Brothers and directed by Victor Heerman. It is based on the Brothers' 1928 Animal Crackers (musical), eponymous musical by George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind, and features Groucho Marx, Groucho, Harpo Marx, Harpo, Chico Marx, Chico, and Zeppo Marx alongside Margaret Dumont and Lillian Roth. The story centers on a Long Island society party honoring eccentric African explorer Captain Spaulding (Animal Crackers), Captain Jeffrey T. Spaulding (Groucho), where multiple schemes involving a valuable painting lead to conflict. Produced by Paramount Pictures at their Kaufman Astoria Studios, Astoria Studios in Queens, ''Animal Crackers'' was the Marx Brothers' second feature film, following ''The Cocoanuts'' (1929). The production faced significant challenges in adapting the stage musical to sound film, early sound cinema. The studio made extensive cuts to musical numbers and restructured ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marx Brothers
The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act known for their anarchic humor, rapid-fire wordplay, and visual gags. They achieved success in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in 14 motion pictures. The core group consisted of brothers Chico Marx, Harpo Marx, and Groucho Marx; earlier in their career, they were joined by younger brothers Gummo and Zeppo. They are considered by critics, scholars and fans to be among the greatest and most influential comedians of the 20th century, a recognition underscored by the American Film Institute (AFI) selecting five of their fourteen feature films to be among the top 100 comedy films (with two in the top fifteen) and including them as the only group of performers on AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars list of the 25 greatest male stars of Classical Hollywood cinema. Their performing lives, heavily influenced by their mother, Minnie Marx, started with Groucho on stage at age 14, in 1905. He was joined, in succession, by Gummo and Har ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Virginia Bruce
Virginia Bruce (born Helen Virginia Briggs; September 29, 1910 – February 24, 1982) was an American actress and singer. Early life Bruce was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. As an infant she moved with her parents, Earil and Margaret Briggs, to Fargo, North Dakota. The city directory of Fargo documents that the Briggs family lived there at 421 14th Street South. After Bruce graduated from Fargo Central High School in 1928, she moved with her family to Los Angeles intending to enroll at the University of California, Los Angeles when a friendly wager sent her seeking film work. Career Bruce's first screen work was in 1929 as an extra for Paramount in '' Why Bring That Up?'' In 1930, she appeared on Broadway in the musical ''Smiles'' at the Ziegfeld Theatre, followed by the Broadway production ''America's Sweetheart'' in 1931. Bruce returned to Hollywood in 1932, where she began work in early August at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer on the film '' Kongo'' starring Walter Huston. During p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iris Adrian
Iris Adrian Hostetter (May 29, 1912 – September 17, 1994) was an American stage and film actress. Life and career Adrian was an only child, born in Los Angeles, California, to Florence (née Van Every) and Adrian Earl Hostetter, who wed in 1909 in Los Angeles. She was raised by her single mother in Los Angeles. She was a graduate of Hollywood High School. Adrian won a beauty pageant, worked with the Ziegfeld Follies, and performed with Fred Waring before she entered films at the end of the silent era in ''Chasing Husbands'' (1928) and appeared as an extra or chorus girl in early sound films like '' Paramount on Parade'' (1930). During the 1930s she specialised in playing hard-boiled gals, glamorous gold-diggers, and gangsters' "molls". She played supporting roles in numerous features. She played "Gee-Gee Graham" in ''Lady of Burlesque''. In the Jerry Lewis comedy, ''The Errand Boy'', she played a glamorous movie star "Anastasia Anastasia", whose on-set birthday party is w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eugene Pallette
Eugene William Pallette (July 8, 1889 – September 3, 1954) was an American actor who worked in both the silent and sound eras, performing in more than 240 productions between 1913 and 1946. After an early career as a slender leading man, Pallette became a stout character actor. He had a deep voice, which some critics have likened to the sound of a croaking frog, and is probably best-remembered for comic character roles such as Alexander Bullock (Carole Lombard's character's father) in '' My Man Godfrey'' (1936), Friar Tuck in ''The Adventures of Robin Hood'' (1938), and his similar role as Fray Felipe in '' The Mark of Zorro'' (1940). He also co-starred in ''Mr. Smith Goes to Washington'' (1939) and '' Heaven Can Wait'' (1943). Early life Eugene Pallette was born in Winfield, Kansas, the son of William Baird Pallette and Elnora "Ella" Jackson. His parents had both been stage actors in their younger years, but by 1889 (the year of Pallette's birth) his father was worki ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Sellon
Charles A. Sellon (August 24, 1870 – June 26, 1937) was an American stage and film actor. Sellon appeared in more than 100 films and stage acts between 1901 and 1935. He played the blind Mr. Muckle in W. C. Fields' comedy '' It's a Gift'' (1934) and the wheelchair-using uncle in '' Bright Eyes'' (1934) with Shirley Temple. His other films included ''The Mighty'', ''The Painted Desert'', and ''Tracked in the Snow Country''. On Broadway, Sellon appeared in ''The Challenge'' (1919), ''Roads of Destiny'' (1918), ''The Pawn'' (1917), and ''The Cat and the Fiddle'' (1907). Sellon was married to Florence E. Willis from 1896 until his death. They had one child together: a son, Robert Charles Sellon. Partial filmography * '' The Bad Man'' (1923) * '' South Sea Love'' (1923) * '' Flowing Gold'' (1924) * '' Merton of the Movies'' (1924) * '' Sundown'' (1924) * '' The Monster'' (1925) * '' Private Affairs'' (1925) * '' The Lucky Devil'' (1925) * '' The Calgary Stampede'' (1925) * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Newell (actor, Born 1905)
David Newell (January 23, 1905 – January 25, 1980) was primarily known as an American character actor, whose acting career spanned from the very beginning of the sound film era through the middle of the 1950s. He made his film debut in a featured role in '' The Hole in the Wall'', a 1929 film starring Edward G. Robinson and Claudette Colbert. Career Early in his career he had many featured roles, in such films as: RKO's '' The Runaway Bride'' in 1929, starring Mary Astor; 1931's '' Ten Cents a Dance'', starring Barbara Stanwyck and directed by Lionel Barrymore; and ''White Heat'' in 1934. He would occasionally receive a starring role, as in 1930's '' Just Like Heaven'', which co-starred Anita Louise. However, by the mid-1930s he was being relegated to mostly smaller supporting roles. Some of the more notable films he appeared in include: '' A Star is Born'' (1937), which stars Janet Gaynor and Fredric March; '' Blondie'' (1938); the Bette Davis vehicle, ''Dark Victory'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kay Francis
Kay Francis (born Katharine Edwina Gibbs; January 13, 1905 – August 26, 1968) was an American stage and film actress. After a brief period on Broadway in the late 1920s, she moved to film and achieved her greatest success between 1930 and 1936, when she was the number one female star and highest-paid actress at Warner Bros. studio. She adopted her mother's maiden name (Francis) as her professional surname. Early life Katharine Edwina Gibbs was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Territory (present-day Oklahoma), in 1905, the only child of Joseph Sprague Gibbs and Katharine Clinton ( Francis), an actress. Wed in 1903, her parents divorced in 1909 when Kay's mother left her alcoholic father and took Kay with her. Her mother had been born in Nova Scotia, Canada, and was a successful actress and singer on a hardscrabble theatrical circuit under the stage name Katherine Clinton. Kay often traveled with her mother. Kay attended Catholic schools when it was affordable, becomin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
