''April Showers'' is a 1948 American

musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serve merely as breaks ...

directed by

James V. Kern James V. Kern (September 22, 1909, New York City, New York – November 9, 1966, Encino, California) was an American singer, songwriter, screenwriter, actor, and director. Educated at the Fordham Law School, Kern worked for a while as an attorn ...

and written by Peter Milne. The film stars

Jack Carson John Elmer Carson (October 27, 1910 – January 2, 1963) was a Canadian-born American film actor. Carson often played the role of comedic friend in films of the 1940s and 1950s, including ''The Strawberry Blonde'' (1941) with James Cagney and ...

Ann Sothern Ann Sothern (born Harriette Arlene Lake; January 22, 1909 – March 15, 2001) was an American actress who worked on stage, radio, film, and television, in a career that spanned nearly six decades. Sothern began her career in the late 1920 ...

Robert Alda Robert Alda (born Alfonso Giuseppe Giovanni Roberto D'Abruzzo; February 26, 1914 – May 3, 1986) was an Italian-American theatrical and film actor, a singer, and a dancer. He was the father of actors Alan and Antony Alda. Alda was featured in a ...

S. Z. Sakall Szőke Szakáll (born Jakab Grünwald, akas: Gärtner Sándor and Gerő Jenő; February 2, 1883 February 12, 1955), known in the English-speaking world as S. Z. Sakall, was a Hungarian-American stage and film character actor. He appeared in ...

, Robert Ellis and

Richard Rober Richard Rober (born Richard Steven Rauber; May 14, 1906 – May 26, 1952) was an American stage and film actor. From the mid-1930s to the mid-1940s he featured in numerous theatre productions, including being part of the original cast of '' Bor ...

. The film was released by

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Di ...

on March 27, 1948. ''April Showers'' was based in great part on the vaudeville career of

Buster Keaton Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton (October 4, 1895 – February 1, 1966) was an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is best known for his silent film work, in which his trademark was physical comedy accompanied by a stoic, deadpan expression ...

, who sued

and received only $3500.

Plot

June and Joe Tyme have a song and dance act that is stale. Their son, Buster, returns from boarding school and finds his parents out of work. He begs them to let him join the act. June relents, although she hoped her son would never work in vaudeville. Young Buster has talent, and the family is a hit with audiences in many cities. When the family is offered a booking in New York City, it fulfills a lifelong dream of Joe's to play on Broadway. New York prohibits child labor, so Buster pretends to be an adult midget when he is backstage. The ruse fails. His parents perform without him, flop, and leave New York. Bitterly disappointed, Joe drinks too much and misses a performance. After that, theater managers will not hire him. Joe suggests that Billy Shay replace him in the act so that Buster and June can continue performing. June worked for Billy before she married Joe, and she does not trust Billy. However, the act continues to be a success with Billy in it. Frustrated and embarrassed, Joe leaves June, telling her she should divorce him and marry Billy. Billy says the same thing to June, many times. After returning from performances in another city, Buster finds his father and see that Joe is barely scraping by. Joe lies to Buster about upcoming work and sends his son away. Buster, June, and Billy are asked to join a musical comedy, a major production that will be a big break for the act. During a final rehearsal, though, the director decides to cut the act because it is too similar to other acts in the show. Buster saves the act again. He suggests that a comic dance, instead, would liven up the show. He suggests a routine he used to do with Joe. The director immediately agrees, and asks Billy whether he knows the routine. Billy lies and says he taught that routine to Joe, but he needs a day to brush up. Billy makes Buster teach him the routine, but Billy cannot do it well. Both are frustrated after several hours, and Buster tries to leave. At that moment, Joe arrives, planning to tell Billy that he should marry June. He arrives in time to hear Billy slapping Buster repeatedly. Joe rescues his son and fights with Billy. The next day, the director hears what happened and allows Joe to perform with Buster and June. Their act gets big laughs again, and the family is reunited.

Cast

as Joe Tyme *

as June Tyme *

as Billy Shay *

as Mr. Curley * Robert Ellis as Buster Tyme *

as Al Wilson *

Joseph Crehan Joseph A. Creaghan (July 15, 1883 – April 15, 1966) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 300 films between 1916 and 1965, and notably played Ulysses S. Grant nine times between 1939 and 1958, most memorably in ''Union Paci ...

as William Barnes *

Billy Curtis Billy Curtis (born Luigi Curto; June 27, 1909 – November 9, 1988) was an American film and television actor with dwarfism, who had a 50-year career in the entertainment industry. Career The bulk of his work was in the western and science fict ...

as Capt. Rudolph L. Nemo *

John Gallaudet John Beury Gallaudet (August 23, 1903 – November 5, 1983) was an American film and television actor. Career Gallaudet was born in Philadelphia and attended Williams College. His Broadway credits included ''Good Men and True'' (1935), ''Lost ...

as Mr. Gordon *

Philip Van Zandt Philip Van Zandt (October 4, 1904 – February 15, 1958), sometimes billed as Phil Van Zandt, was a Dutch-American actor of stage, film, and television. He made nearly 250 film and television appearances between 1939 and 1958. Life and career ...

as Harry Swift * Ray Walker as Mr. Barclay

Reception

Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' reviewed the film negatively, criticizing the vaudeville plot as "an insufferable tale" and the acting by Carson, Sothern, and Ellis as poor.

References

External links

* * * * {{AFI film, id=25447, title=April Showers 1948 films Warner Bros. films American musical films 1948 musical films Films directed by James V. Kern American black-and-white films 1940s English-language films 1940s American films