''Everything's Rosie'' is a 1931 American

Pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship guidelines, popularly known ...

slapstick comedy film directed by

Clyde Bruckman Clyde Adolf Bruckman (June 30, 1894January 4, 1955) was an American writer and director of comedy films during the late silent era as well as the early sound era of cinema. Bruckman collaborated with such comedians as Buster Keaton, Monty Bank ...

, from a screenplay by Ralph Spence,

Tim Whelan Tim Whelan (November 2, 1893 – August 12, 1957) was an American film director, writer, producer and actor best remembered for his writing credits on ''Harold Lloyd'' and ''Harry Langdon'' comedies, and his directing of mostly British films (e.g ...

, and

Al Boasberg Al Boasberg (December 5, 1891 – June 18, 1937) was an American comedy writer in vaudeville, radio, and film, as well as being a film director. Biography Boasberg was born in Buffalo, New York in a Jewish family. He is credited with helpin ...

, based on a story by Boasberg. Although the screenplay was credited as original, it bore a striking resemblance to a 1923 play, ''Poppy'', which had starred

W.C. Fields WC or wc may refer to: * Water closet or flush toilet Arts and entertainment * ''W.C.'' (film), an Irish feature film * WC (band), a Polish punk rock band * WC (rapper), a rapper from Los Angeles, California * Westside Connection, former ...

. The film starred

Robert Woolsey Robert Rollie Woolsey (August 14, 1888 – October 31, 1938) was an American stage and screen comedian and half of the 1930s comedy team Wheeler & Woolsey. Early life Robert Rollie (sometimes spelled Rolla or even Raleigh) was born on Aug ...

, one-half of the comedy team of

Wheeler & Woolsey Wheeler & Woolsey were an American vaudeville comedy double act who performed together in comedy films from the late 1920s. The team comprised Bert Wheeler (1895–1968) of New Jersey and Robert Woolsey (1888–1938) of Illinois. Collaboration a ...

, and was an attempt by RKO Radio Pictures to capitalize on the popularity of the comedy duo, having each of the team star in their own solo films. The film also starred Anita Louise and John Darrow, but was a critical failure, although it did manage not to lose money in a year when most RKO films did exactly that. Following the film's disappointing reception, the Wheeler & Woolsey team was quickly reunited, and ''Everything's Rosie'' was to be the only film Woolsey ever appeared in without Wheeler.

Plot

Dr. J. Dockweiler Droop (

) is a carnival charlatan, scamming local shills out of their hard earned money. He adopted Rosie ( Anita Louise) when she was three, and has raised her to become a pretty young woman, who is just as good an operator as her adoptive father is. As they pass through a small town, Rosie falls in love with Billy Lowe (

John Darrow John Darrow (born Harry Simpson; 17 July 1907 – 24 February 1980) was an American actor of the late silent and early talking film eras. Biography Born in Leonia, New Jersey in 1907, Darrow began acting in theater with a stock company, right ...

), and pleads with Dockweiler to leave the carnival life and settle down. Dockweiler agrees, and the two leave the carnival. To support them, Dockweiler becomes partners with a jewelry store owner, Al Oberdorf (Alfred James), who is on the verge of bankruptcy. Due to Dockweiler's sales skills, he saves the store from failure. He has also been spending his time convincing the gullible townspeople that he is actually a European noblemen. While Rosie is in love with Billy, she finds out that he is engaged to a snobbish socialite, Madeline Van Dorn (

Lita Chevret Lita Chevret (May 27, 1908 – May 23, 2001) was an American actress who began her career at the genesis of sound films. She appeared in over 60 films between 1929 and 1940, although in most of those she had small or non-billed parts. Life Chev ...

). Heartbroken, when Billy invites her to his birthday, she agrees to go, along with Dockweiler. While at the party, Dockweiler decides to get back at the townspeople who have heartbroken his daughter, and runs a crooked shell game, bilking the locals of large amounts of cash. When Rosie discovers that Billy has true feelings for her, and intends to marry her, she asks Dockweiler to lose back the money he has won. He agrees, but before the evening is out, the Sheriff (Clifford Dempsey) arrives and asks him to leave town for running a dishonest game. Before they can leave, however, the jewelry store is robbed, and suspicion falls on Dockweiler who is arrested for the theft. He escapes from the jail, and is leaving town with Rosie, when the Sheriff and Billy track them down to let them know that the real jewel thieves have been apprehended. Dockweiler understands that he will never fit in with the local gentry, so, now assured of Rosie's happiness with Billy, bids them adieu and departs.

Cast

as Dr. J. Dockweiler Droop * Anita Louise as Rosie Droop *

as Billy Lowe *

Florence Roberts Florence Roberts (March 16, 1861/1864 – June 6, 1940(photo included) was an American actress of the stage and in motion pictures. Stock company actress Born in New York City, she began acting onstage there. Her career began at the Brooklyn ...

as Mrs. Lowe * Clifford Dempsey as Sheriff Hopkins *

as Madeline Van Dorn * Alfred James as Al Oberdorf *

Frank Beal Frank Beal (September 11, 1862 – December 20, 1934) was an American actor and film director of the silent film era. Biography Born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1862, Beal began acting in 1880 and gained fame as a director and an actor. In 1908, ...

as Mr. Lowe (Cast list as per

AFI AFI may refer to: * ''Address-family identifier'', a 16 bit field of the Routing Information Protocol * Ashton Fletcher Irwin, an Australian drummer * AFI (band), an American rock band ** ''AFI'' (2004 album), a retrospective album by AFI rele ...

database)

Reception

The film was routinely panned by critics.

Mordaunt Hall Mordaunt Hall (1 November 1878 – 2 July 1973) was the first regularly assigned motion picture critic for ''The New York Times'', working from October 1924 to September 1934.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 ...

'' came right to the point in his review, "One of the cinema's minor indiscretions, an item entitled "Everything's Rosie," was inflicted last evening on a small audience at the Globe which found it as lacking in wit as in intelligence and ordinary good taste." ''

Silver Screen A silver screen, also known as a silver lenticular screen, is a type of projection screen that was popular in the early years of the motion picture industry and passed into popular usage as a metonym for the cinema industry. The term silver scree ...

'' magazine gave it a "fair" rating, stating, "Robert Woolsey without Bert Wheeler is nothing to turn cartsprings about" ''

Screenland ''Screenland'' was a monthly U.S. magazine about movies, published between September 1920 and June 1971,

Notes

RKO had begun to test the waters for solo careers for both Robert Woolsey and Bert Wheeler in the 1931 film, '' Cracked Nuts'', and with the success of that film, decided to give each of the comedy team their own solo project. ''Everything's Rosie'' was Woolsey's film, while Wheeler would appear sans Woolsey in '' Too Many Cooks''. The lukewarm reception to both films cemented the two as a team, as those two films were the only ones either made without the other after becoming a comedy team. The film did achieve a milestone in the technical aspects of filmmaking, when their sound crew managed to record several natural sound effects in the field. The sounds of leaves rustling and bird calls were successfully recorded, along with natural wind effects, while in the field at Sherwood Forest, outside Hollywood. Sound engineer Hugh McDowell, Jr. had invented the equipment, the "silencer and ground noise eliminator", which enabled the recording. The working title of the film was ''Going! Going! Gone!'', but was changed to ''Everything's Rosie'' after Anita Louise's character's name was chosen to be Rosie. While the screenplay based on Boasberg's story was credited as original, the story was very similar to a 1923 play which had starred W.C. Fields, titled ''Poppy'', which ran on Broadway at the

Apollo Theatre The Apollo Theatre is a Grade II listed West End theatre, on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster, in central London.

from September 1923 through June 1924. Coincidentally, Woolsey had a significant role in that play.

References

External links

* * * * {{Clyde Bruckman 1931 films RKO Pictures films 1931 romantic comedy films Films directed by Clyde Bruckman American black-and-white films American romantic comedy films 1930s English-language films 1930s American films