''Every Day's a Holiday'' is a 1937 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 ...

starring and co-written by

Mae West Mary Jane "Mae" West (August 17, 1893 – November 22, 1980) was an American actress, singer, comedian, screenwriter, and playwright whose career spanned more than seven decades. Recognized as a prominent sex symbol of her time, she was known ...

, directed by A. Edward Sutherland, and released by

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

. The film, released on December 18, 1937, also starred Edmund Lowe, Charles Winninger, and Charles Butterworth. This was West's last film under her Paramount contract, after which she went on to make '' My Little Chickadee'' (1940) for

Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...

and '' The Heat's On'' (1943) for

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...

Plot

In turn-of-the-century New York City, con artist Peaches O'Day (West) gets into trouble with the law for trying to sell the

Brooklyn Bridge The Brooklyn Bridge is a cable-stayed suspension bridge in New York City, spanning the East River between the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn. Opened on May 24, 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was the first fixed crossing of the East River. It w ...

, but Jim McCarey (Lowe), a police captain, likes her enough that he lets her off with a promise from Peaches to leave town. She hatches a scheme instead with the wealthy Van Doon (Winninger) and butler Graves (Butterworth) to perform as a singer, calling herself Fifi, disguised in a black wig. Quade ( Lloyd Nolan), a chief of police with political ambitions, makes a pass at "Fifi" and is rejected. In anger, he orders the club closed. Capt. McCarey refuses and becomes Quade's rival, even persuaded to run against him for mayor. Before giving a speech at

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...

during the campaign, McCarey is kidnapped. He escapes just in time and the publicity is helpful in his election victory. It turns out that Peaches planned the whole thing, resulting in a romantic relationship with the new mayor of New York.

Cast

as Peaches O'Day * Edmund Lowe as Capt. McCarey * Charles Butterworth as Larmadou Graves * Charles Winninger as Van Reighle Van Pelter Van Doon * Walter Catlett as Nifty Bailey * Lloyd Nolan as John Quade *

Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...

as Himself * George Rector as Himself * Herman Bing as Fritz Krausmeyer * Roger Imhof as Trigger Mike *

Chester Conklin Chester Cooper Conklin (January 11, 1886 – October 11, 1971) was an early American film comedian who started at Keystone Studios as one of Mack Sennett's Keystone Cops, often paired with Mack Swain. He appeared in a series of films with ...

as Cabby * Lucien Prival as Danny the Dip * Adrian Morris as Henchman *

Francis McDonald Francis McDonald (August 22, 1891 – September 18, 1968) was an American actor whose career spanned 52 years. Early years Born on August 22, 1891, in Bowling Green, Kentucky, McDonald was the son of John Francis McDonald and Catherine Ashlu ...

as Henchman *

John Indrisano Johnny Indrisano (November 1, 1905 — July 6, 1968) was an American welterweight boxer whose career spanned the period from 1923 to 1934. He later became a film stunt performer and a film and TV actor. Career Indrisano was born in Boston. ...

as Henchman *

as marching band leader (uncredited)

Awards

The film was nominated 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 ...

for Best Art Direction by Wiard Ihnen.

References

External links

* * * 1937 films 1937 comedy films American black-and-white films American comedy films Films directed by A. Edward Sutherland Films set in 1900 Films set in New York City Paramount Pictures films Films with screenplays by Mae West 1930s English-language films 1930s American films English-language comedy films {{1930s-comedy-film-stub