''$1,000 a Minute'' is a 1935 American

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by

Aubrey Scotto Aubrey H. Scotto (August 21, 1895 – June 24, 1953) was an American film director, writer and film editor. Born in Los Angeles and active in films from 1929, Scotto graduated from directing short subjects to Republic Pictures features in 1933. ...

and starring Roger Pryor and Leila Hyams. The film was released on October 22, 1935. It was nominated for an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

in the Best Sound Recording category.

Plot

A broken and penniless newspaperman participates in an experiment in which two crazy millionaires are offering a prize of $10,000 to anyone who can spend $1,000 a minute, every minute, for 12 hours straight.

Cast

* Roger Pryor as Wally Jones * Leila Hyams as Dorothy Summers *

Edward Brophy Edward Santree Brophy (February 27, 1895 – May 27, 1960) was an American character actor and comedian, as well as an assistant director and second unit director during the 1920s. Small of build, balding, and raucous-voiced, he frequently portr ...

as Benny Dolan *

Sterling Holloway Sterling Price Holloway Jr. (January 14, 1905 – November 22, 1992) was an American actor who appeared in over 100 films and 40 television shows. He did voice acting for The Walt Disney Company, playing Mr. Stork in ''Dumbo'', Adult Flower in ...

as Pete *

Edgar Kennedy Edgar Livingston Kennedy (April 26, 1890 – November 9, 1948) was an American comedic character actor who appeared in at least 500 films during the silent and sound eras. Professionally, he was known as "Slow Burn", owing to his ability to por ...

as Police Officer McCarthy *

Purnell Pratt Purnell Pratt (October 20, 1885 – July 25, 1941) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 110 films between 1914 and 1941. He was born in Bethel, Illinois and died in Hollywood, California. Pratt spent more than a year in Fra ...

as Charlie, the Editor *

Herman Bing Herman Bing (March 30, 1889 – January 9, 1947) was a German-American character actor. He acted in more than 120 films and many of his parts were uncredited. Biography Bing was born in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Bing began his career ...

as Vanderbrocken *

Arthur Hoyt Arthur Hoyt (March 19, 1874 – January 4, 1953) was an American film character actor who appeared in more than 275 films in his 34-year film career, about a third of them silent films. Career Born in Georgetown, Colorado, in 1874, Hoyt ma ...

as Jewel clerk * William Austin as Salesman *

Franklin Pangborn Franklin Pangborn (January 23, 1889 – July 20, 1958) was an American comedic character actor famous for playing small but memorable roles with comic flair. He appeared in many Preston Sturges movies as well as the W. C. Fields films '' Inter ...

as Reville * George Hayes as New Deal Watson *

Morgan Wallace Morgan Wallace (born Maier Weill, July 26, 1881 – December 12, 1953) was an American actor. He appeared in more than 120 films between 1914 and 1946, including W.C. Fields' ''It's a Gift'' (1934) Introduction by Arthur Knight where he p ...

as Big Jim Bradley * Claude King as Robinson

Reception

In a contemporary review for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', critic Andre Sennwald wrote: "This fanciful situation is a setup for cinema farce and '$1,000 a Minute' races busily along, picking up its laughs on the run. Stemming from a short story, the enterprise suffers the natural hazard of sustaining the idea over a distance, and the adapters are not overly successful in their efforts to pad it to the requirements of a full-length motion picture. The film has a tendency to work down instead of up to a climax, and toward the end it thins out pretty rapidly. But it makes for good, unpretentious fun, and it contains more honest laughter than you will find in many more elaborate screen entertainments."

References

External links

* 1935 films 1935 comedy films 1930s English-language films American comedy films American black-and-white films Films directed by Aubrey Scotto Films produced by Nat Levine Republic Pictures films 1930s American films English-language comedy films {{1930s-comedy-film-stub