1943 - Park Theater Ad - 24 Dec MC - Allentown PA

''Follow the Band'' is a 1943 black-and-white

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

Jean Yarbrough Jean Yarbrough (August 22, 1901 – August 2, 1975) was an American film director. Biography Jean Yarbrough was born in Marianna, Arkansas on August 22, 1901. He attended the University of the South located in Sewanee, Tennessee. In 1922 ...

, one of many Universal churned out during World War II. It stars

Eddie Quillan Edward Quillan (March 31, 1907 – July 19, 1990) was an American film actor and singer whose career began as a child on the vaudeville stages and silent film and continued through the age of television in the 1980s. Vaudeville and silent fi ...

Mary Beth Hughes Mary Elizabeth Hughes (November 13, 1919 Katz, Ephraim (1979). ''The Film Encyclopedia: The Most Comprehensive Encyclopedia of World Cinema in a Single Volume''. Perigee Books. . P. 586. – August 27, 1995) was an American film, television, a ...

, and

Leon Errol Leon Errol (born Leonce Errol Sims, July 3, 1881 – October 12, 1951) was an Australian-American comedian and actor in the United States, popular in the first half of the 20th century for his appearances in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in film ...

, and is noteworthy as an early credit for

Robert Mitchum Robert Charles Durman Mitchum (August 6, 1917 – July 1, 1997) was an American actor. He rose to prominence with an Academy Award nomination for the Best Supporting Actor for ''The Story of G.I. Joe'' (1945), followed by his starring in ...

Plot

Marvin Howe is hired to work on the floor of the Clover Leaf Dairy Farm in Rutledge, Vermont, but much to his employer's dismay, he spends most of his working hours practicing playing the trombone, and not doing what he is supposed to. His boss, "Pop" Turnbull - the owner of the dairy, doesn't know that he is involved with Pop's daughter, Juanita, and is negatively surprised when the couple announces their engagement one day. Another man who works at the farm, Tate Winters, is also romantically interested in Juanita, and when he finds out about the engagement he convinces Pop that Marvin should be sent away on business. So Pop make Marvin go to New York City in order to obtain a membership National Dairymen's Association for him. Tate is well aware of that Pop repeatedly has been refused such a membership in the past, mainly because Pop raises goats and not cows. This makes the task nearly impossible for Marvin to perform. When Marvin arrives in New York he doesn't get to see the president of the Dairymen's Association, Jeremiah K. Barton. The president has told his secretary, Lucille Rose, to fend Marvin off and tell him that Jeremiah will be busy with a conference for a whole week. But the plan backfires. Instead of going home again, Marvin checks in at a boardinghouse for the week and stays in the city. The boardinghouse is owned by a Mrs. Forbes. While Marvin waits for an audience with Jeremiah, he takes time to play his trombone, which he brought with him. Mrs. Forbes son Skinnay hears Marvin play the trombone and likes what he hears. He offers Marvin to become a member of his jazz band. He accepts the offer, and furthermore, Skinnay's friend, the intriguing Dolly O'Brien, convinces Marvin to play with the band at a nightclub owned by her uncle, Big Mike O'Brien - the Rendezvous. During the show at night, Marvin accidentally becomes a local hero when he pops out gang leader Alphonse as he is trying to destroy the nightclub after being fired by Big Mike. Marvin gets the nickname "The Hot Toot". In the wake of these events, Pop decides to bring Juanita to the Big Apple, in order to demonstrate how the big city has changed the man she is planning to marry - all in an attempt to steer her clear of the marriage and choose Tate instead. Juanita is led to believe that Dolly is Marvin's new girl friend, and she breaks off their engagement, thus playing right into her father's and Tate's hands. She goes back to Rutledge, heart broken. Meanwhile, Marvin is offered a national radio show contract to play with Skinnay's jazz band. But Marvin is heart broken too, and instead of jumping at the opportunity he quits the band entirely and goes home to Rutledge to win Juanita back. He arrives just as Juanita is about to marry Tate. The band members of Skinnay's and Dolly follow Marvin back to Rutledge to help out. Dolly gets a chance to talk alone to Juanita, and she reveals the truth to her. After this Marvin and Juanita are reunited, just in time for the band to be able to perform on the radio for the first time.

Cast

as ''Marvin Howe'' *Anne Rooney as ''Juanita Turnbull'' *

Russell Hicks Edward Russell Hicks (June 4, 1895 – June 1, 1957) was an American film character actor. Hicks was born in 1895 in Baltimore, Maryland. During World War I, he served in the U.S. Army in France. He later became a lieutenant Colonel in the Cali ...

as ''Jeremiah K. Barton'' *

Samuel S. Hinds Samuel Southey Hinds (April 4, 1875 – October 13, 1948) was an American actor and former lawyer. He was often cast as kindly authority figures and appeared in more than 200 films until his death. Early years Hinds was born in Brooklyn, New Y ...

as ''"Pop" Turnbull'' *

as ''Dolly O'Brien'' *

as ''Big Mike O'Brien'' *

as ''Tate Winters''

References

External links

* *{{IMDb title, 0035894 1943 films American black-and-white films 1943 musical films American musical films Films directed by Jean Yarbrough 1940s American films