''Fifty Million Frenchmen ''is a 1931 American

pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the Cinema of the United States, 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 censorshi ...

musical

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

Lloyd Bacon Lloyd Francis Bacon (December 4, 1889 – November 15, 1955) was an American screen, stage and vaudeville actor and film director. As a director he made films in virtually all genres, including westerns, musicals, comedies, gangster films, an ...

. It was photographed entirely in

Technicolor Technicolor is a series of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes, the first version dating back to 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black and white films ...

. The film was produced and released by

Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American Film studio, film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, Califo ...

, and was based on

Cole Porter Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway and in film. Born to ...

's 1929 Broadway musical ''

Fifty Million Frenchmen ''Fifty Million Frenchmen'' is a musical comedy with a book by Herbert Fields and music and lyrics by Cole Porter. It opened on Broadway in 1929 and was adapted for a film two years later. The title is a reference to the hit 1927 song "Fifty Milli ...

''. The film was originally intended to be released, in the United States, late in 1930, but was shelved due to public apathy towards musicals. Despite waiting a number of months, the public proved obstinate and the Warner Bros. reluctantly released the film in February 1931 after removing all the music. The film was released outside the United States as a full musical comedy in 1931.

Plot

Set in Paris, the story concerns the exploits of wealthy Jack Forbes (

William Gaxton William Gaxton (né Arthur Anthony Gaxiola, December 2, 1893 – February 2, 1963) was an American star of vaudeville, film, and theatre. Gaxton was president of The Lambs Club from 1936 to 1939, 1952 to 1953, and 1957 to 1961. He and Victor ...

), who bets his friend Michael Cummings ( John Halliday) that he can woo and win Looloo Carroll (

Claudia Dell Claudia Dell (born Claudia Dell Smith; January 10, 1910 – September 5, 1977) was an American showgirl and actress of the stage and movies. Early years Dell was born in San Antonio, Texas on January 10, 1910. She attended school in San ...

) without using any of his money or connections. Cummings hires Simon and Peter ( Ole Olsen and

Chic Johnson Harold Ogden "Chic" Johnson (March 15, 1891 – February 28, 1962) was the barrel-chested half of the American comedy team of Olsen and Johnson, known for his strangely infectious, high-pitched "Woo-Woo" laugh. Background Johnson was born of S ...

), a pair of erstwhile detectives, to make sure that Forbes doesn't win his bet. Instead, Simon and Peter befriend our hero and decide to help him out. Olsen & Johnson have all the best material, notably an early

double entendre A double entendre (plural double entendres) is a figure of speech or a particular way of wording that is devised to have a double meaning, of which one is typically obvious, whereas the other often conveys a message that would be too socially ...

encounter with a randy American tourist (

Helen Broderick Helen Broderick (August 11, 1891 – September 25, 1959) was an American actress known for her comic roles, especially as a wisecracking sidekick. Career Broderick began on Broadway as a chorus girl in the ''Follies of 1907'', the first ...

) and a scene in which Olsen impersonates a mind-reading fakir (

Bela Lugosi Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó (; October 20, 1882 – August 16, 1956), known professionally as Bela Lugosi (; ), was a Hungarian and American actor best remembered for portraying Count Dracula in the 1931 horror classic ''Dracula'', Ygor in ''S ...

) – who loses his clothes in the process! The finale has the comedians being chased by every law officer in Paris.

Cast

* Ole Olsen as Simon Johanssen *

as Peter Swanson *

as Jack Forbes *

as Violet * John Halliday as Michael Cummins *

as Lu Lu Carroll * Lester Crawford as Billy Baxter *

Evalyn Knapp Evalyn Knapp (born Evelyn Pauline Knapp; June 17, 1906 – June 12, 1981) was an American film actress of the late 1920s, 1930s and into the 1940s. She was a leading B-movie serial actress in the 1930s. She was the younger sister of the orche ...

as Miss Wheeler-Smith *

Charles Judels Charles Judels (August 17, 1882 - February 14, 1969) was a Dutch-born American actor. Early years Judels was born on August 17, 1882, in Amsterdam as a third generation in a family of actors. His grandfather owned several theatres throughout th ...

as Pernasse – Hotel Manager * Carmelita Geraghty as Marcelle Dubrey *

Nat Carr Nat Carr (August 12, 1886 – July 6, 1944) was an American character actor of the silent and early talking picture eras. During his eighteen-year career, Carr appeared in over 100 films, most of them features. Life and career Carr was bor ...

and

Vera Gordon Vera Pogorelsky Gordon (June 11, 1886 – May 8, 1948) was a Russian-born American stage and screen actress. Early life Vera Pogorelsky was born in Ekaterinoslav, Russia, on June 11, 1886, the daughter of Boris Pogorelsky and Teigan Nemirovsky ...

as Jewish tourists *

as Orizon the Magician ''(uncredited)''

Music

''50 Million Frenchmen'' was originally a

musical, but the songs were omitted from all prints of the film in the United States because box-office receipts for musical films at that time were down.

Box office

According to Warner Bros records the film earned $401,000 domestically and $29,000 internationally.

Preservation

Only a black and white copy of the cut print released in 1931 in the United States seems to have survived. The complete film was released intact in countries outside the United States where a backlash against musicals never occurred. It is unknown whether a copy of this full version still exists.

References

External links

* * * * {{Lloyd Bacon 1931 films 1931 musical comedy films 1931 romantic comedy films 1930s color films American musical comedy films American romantic comedy films American romantic musical films Films based on musicals Films directed by Lloyd Bacon Films set in Paris Warner Bros. films Early color films 1930s English-language films 1930s American films