''Behind the Mike'' is a 1937 American

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by

Sidney Salkow Sidney Salkow (June 16, 1911 – October 18, 2000) was an American film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulf ...

, which stars

William Gargan William Dennis Gargan (July 17, 1905February 17, 1979) was an American film, television and radio actor. He was the 5th recipient of the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 1967, and in 1941, was nominated for the Academy Award for B ...

Judith Barrett Judith Barrett (born Lucille Kelley, February 2, 1909 – March 10, 2000), also known as Nancy Dover, was an American film actress of the late 1920s and through the 1930s, up until 1940. Early life Born and raised in Venus, Texas, Barrett was on ...

, Don Wilson, and

Sterling Holloway Sterling Price Holloway Jr. (January 4, 1905 – November 22, 1992) was an American actor and voice 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'', Ad ...

. The screenplay was written by Barry Trivers from a story by Thomas Ahearn and Walton Butterfield. The film was released on September 26, 1937.

Plot

George Hayes is a radio announcer in New York with a propensity for his smart-aleck behavior and quick temper. During a rehearsal for the "Crunchy Munchy Hour", he gets into a heated argument with the owner of Crunchy Munchies, Cyrus Wittles. The argument ends with Hayes belting Wittles, which also ends Hayes' employment at the radio station. He is lured to the rural community of Valley Falls, where he is promised the job of manager for a local radio station, WBAM. Upon his arrival, he sees a well run station on the main street of the town, and walks in, believing it to be where he will be managing. There he meets Jane Arledge, who is the program manager for WVOX, the actual station he has walked into. Realizing his mistake, Arledge agrees to take him to WBAM, which is actually not much of a station, housed in a barn, with a single employee, Tommy Astor. Hayes wants to make the station a success, in order to impress Jane. He calls his friend, Tiny Martin, in New York City to come and help him. While they are working to get the station together, Hayes overhears the mayor of the town conspiring with the owner of WVOX, Harry Fox, to rig the upcoming election. He broadcasts the details, which causes a scandal. Jane initially doesn’t believe the accusations about her boss, and her tiff with Hayes, along with some coaxing by Tiny, convince Hayes to return plan to return to New York City. As Hayes is leaving for the train station, Jane uncovers evidence about her boss’s plan to embezzle money from the town after the election, in collusion with the Mayor. Not being able to use WVOX’s equipment, she rushes over to WBAM to broadcast her findings. Hayes hears the broadcast at the rail station and fears for Jane’s safety, so he returns to town. The townspeople are incensed at the mayor and Fox, and run them out of town. Jane declares her love for Hayes, and the two depart for New York City, leaving Astor to run the town's only remaining radio station.

Cast list

as George Hayes *Judith Barrett as Jane Arledge * Don Wilson as Tiny Martin *

as Tommy Astor *

William Davidson William or Bill Davidson may refer to: Businessmen * Bill Davidson (businessman) (1922–2009), Michigan businessman and sports team owner ** William Davidson Institute, University of Michigan, named in honor of Bill Davidson * William Davidson ...

as Cyrus Wittles *

Gerald Oliver Smith Gerald Wilson Oliver Smith (June 26, 1892 – May 28, 1974) was an English-born actor who spent most of his career in the United States, both in New York City as a stage actor and in the Hollywood film industry. Born in Sidcup, Kent, England, S ...

as Robert Ainesley * Charles Brokaw as Harry Fox *

Spencer Charters Spencer Charters (March 25, 1875 – January 25, 1943) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 220 films between 1920 and 1943, mostly in small supporting roles. Biography Charters was born in Duncannon, Pennsylvania. Until ...

as Pete Jones *

Grady Sutton Grady Harwell Sutton (April 5, 1906 – September 17, 1995) was an American film and television character actor from the 1920s to the 1970s. He appeared in more than 180 films. Early years Born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Sutton was raised ...

as Curly Conway *

Harlan Briggs Harlan Briggs (August 17, 1879 – January 26, 1952) was an American actor and Vaudeville performer who was active from the 1930s until his death in 1952. During the course of his career he appeared on Broadway, in over 100 films, as well a ...

as Sheriff *

Roy Atwell John Leroy "Roy" Atwell (May 2, 1878 – February 6, 1962) was an American actor, comedian and composer, known for playing characters that mis-deliver their lines or stammer, most notably Doc from Walt Disney's classic Snow White and the Seven Dwa ...

as Vale *

Jerry Mandy Jerry Mandy (June 5, 1892 – May 1, 1945) was an American film actor. He appeared in 114 films between 1923 and 1945. He was born in Utica, New York and died in Hollywood, California from a heart attack. Selected filmography * ''North Sta ...

as First violinist *

Cliff Nazarro Clifford Nazarro (January 31, 1904 – February 18, 1961) was an American double-talk Double-talk is a form of speech in which inappropriate, invented, or nonsense words are interpolated into normal speech to give the appearance of knowledg ...

as Messenger boy * Ralph Remley as Reiley *

Arthur Aylesworth Arthur Preston Aylesworth (August 12, 1883 – June 26, 1946) was an American stage and film actor. Early years Aylesworth was born in Apponaug, Rhode Island, to a military family; his father and his grandfather graduated from the United ...

as Williams * Si Jenks as Hec * Don Barclay as Sparky * Robert Fischer as Shultz * Monty Collins as Alberts * Carol Tevis as Jones' secretary * John Kelly as Fred

Production

In April 1937 it was announced that A. Dorian Atvos had completed a screenplay based on the original story by Thomas Ahearn and Walton Butterfield. Lou Brock was picked to produce the film for Universal, with

Larry J. Blake Larry J. Blake (April 24, 1914 – May 25, 1982) was an American actor. Career A native of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, New York, he started his career in vaudeville as an impersonator, working his way to a headliner. After appearing at the Roxy Theatr ...

in the leading role. John King was also expected to appear in the film. A week later it was announced that

Lester Cole Lester Cole (June 19, 1904 – August 15, 1985) was an American screenwriter. Cole was one of the Hollywood Ten, a group of screenwriters and directors who were cited for contempt of Congress and blacklisted for their refusal to testify regarding ...

would be re-writing the screenplay. In late May, ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' reported that Universal was ready to begin production on the film. On June 26, Don Wilson, who was the announcer for ''

The Jack Benny Program ''The Jack Benny Program'', starring Jack Benny, is a radio-TV comedy series that ran for more than three decades and is generally regarded as a high-water mark in 20th century American comedy. He played one role throughout his radio and televis ...

'', was added to the cast in a primary role. ''

Harrison's Reports ''Harrison's Reports'' was a New York City-based motion picture trade journal published weekly from 1919 to 1962. The typical issue was four letter-size pages sent to subscribers under a second-class mail permit. Its founder, editor and publisher ...

'', in their forecast for the 1937-38 films, were not kind to the upcoming film. Even though they thought highly of the producer, Brock, they felt that the story was so weak that the project should be abandoned. Calling the plot "inane", they considered it run of the mill, with nothing novel, and no human interest. William Gargan was selected as the male lead by the end of June, and it was revealed that Sidney Salkow would helm the picture. Universal announced on July 3 that the start of production on the project was imminent. Shortly after, it was announced that

Irene Hervey Irene Hervey (born Beulah Irene Herwick; July 11, 1909December 20, 1998) was an American film, stage, and television actress who appeared in over fifty films and numerous television series spanning her five-decade career. A native of Los Angeles ...

had been signed to a contract by Universal, and that her first project would be the lead in this film. In early July it was revealed that Brock had cast Judith Barrett as the female romantic lead for the film. The picture began filming on July 6. Shortly after, on July 7, Sterling Holloway was added to the cast. That same week it was revealed that William Davidson and Gerald Oliver Smith had joined the cast. In mid-July,

Deane Janis Deane Janis (June 19, 1904 – March 8, 1988) was an American popular singer during America's swing era. She is best known for singing on the musical variety radio program ''Camel Caravan''. Career Janis was born, Nadeen Andrews, in Omaha, Nebr ...

was flown in to record the film's theme song, "Behind the Mike". Around the same time it was revealed that Jimmy McHugh (music) and Harold Adamson (lyrics) were writing "Once You're In Love" for the picture, while Harold Adamson wrote "Crunchie Munchies". Roy Atwell, Spencer Charters, Grady Sutton, and Jerry Mandy were added to the cast in July, followed shortly by Harlan Briggs and Charles Brokaw. In early August, Universal announced that the film would be released on September 19, however by August 17 the release date had been pushed back to September 26. Universal, believing they were making up a fictitious station, used the

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assigne ...

"WBAM". However, those call letters were actually a station belonging to WOR, and used on one of their broadcast relay transmitters.

Reception

The Film Daily ''The Film Daily'' was a daily publication that existed from 1918 to 1970 in the United States. It was the first daily newspaper published solely for the film industry. It covered the latest trade news, film reviews, financial updates, informatio ...

'' gave the film a good review, enjoying the comic gags scattered throughout the production. They enjoyed the pacing and action, while they felt the storyline was a bit weak. They complimented the work of Gargan, Barrett, Wilson, and Holloway, as well as the directing of Salkow. ''Harrison's Reports'' was much less kind. They had not liked the premise of the film when they had reviewed it pre-production, and their review echoed those earlier sentiments. They felt the script was "trite", and the action "silly", although they did compliment the work of the actors. Their final grade was "fair to poor". ''

Motion Picture Daily ''Motion Picture Daily'' was an American daily magazine focusing on the film industry. It was published by Quigley Publishing Company, which also published the ''Motion Picture Herald''. The magazine was formed by the merging of three existing Qui ...

'' did not give the film a warm review, stating that it was more of the "quantity rather quality" mode, as well as also noting the weakness of the script.

References

External links

* * * {{Sidney Salkow Films directed by Sidney Salkow Universal Pictures films 1937 comedy films 1937 films American comedy films American black-and-white films 1930s American films