''Kid Nightingale'' is a 1939 American 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

George Amy George Joseph Amy (October 15, 1903 – December 18, 1986) was an American film editor. He was born in Brooklyn, New York on October 15, 1903, and started his career at the age of 17, finding his niche at Warner Brothers in the 1930s. It was A ...

and written by Charles Belden and Raymond L. Schrock. The film stars John Payne,

Jane Wyman Jane Wyman ( ; born Sarah Jane Mayfield; January 5, 1917 – September 10, 2007)"Actress, P ...

Walter Catlett Walter Leland Catlett (February 4, 1889 – November 14, 1960) was an American actor and comedian. He made a career of playing excitable, meddlesome, temperamental, and officious blowhards. Career Catlett was born on February 4, 1889, in S ...

, Edward Brophy,

Charles D. Brown Charles D. Brown (July 1, 1887 – November 25, 1948) was an American stage and film actor. Born in Council Bluffs, Iowa, Brown wrote and directed a single short film in 1914. As an actor, he appeared in more than 100 films, stretching fro ...

, Max Hoffman Jr., and

John Ridgely John Ridgely (born John Huntington Rea, September 6, 1909 – January 18, 1968) was an American film character actor with over 175 film credits. Early years Ridgely was born in Chicago, Illinois,Katz, Ephraim (1979). ''The Film Encyclopedia: T ...

. The film was released by

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

on November 4, 1939.

Plot

Singing waiter Steve Nelson flattens a customer who heckles him. Skip Davis, a trainer of prizefighters, witnesses this and proposes a new career to Steve, who agrees on the condition voice coach Rudolfo Terrassi is hired to help train him as a singer as well. Women flock to ringside to watch the handsome Steve, dubbed "Kid Nightingale" for his singing talents. Steve is unaware that Skip and promoter Charles Paxton have fixed a number of fights, planning to bet on Steve to lose when he is pitted against a genuine opponent. Judy Craig, the fighter's fiancée, recognizes Terrassi to be an impostor, actually wrestler Strangler Colombo in disguise. She brings the real Terrassi to the ring, where Steve, realizing he has been hoodwinked, promptly knocks out his foe, ruining his trainer's scheme and quitting boxing for good.

Cast

* John Payne as Steve Nelson *

Jane Wyman Jane Wyman ( ; born Sarah Jane Mayfield; January 5, 1917 – September 10, 2007)"Actress, P ...

as Judy Craig *

as Skip Davis * Edward Brophy as Mike Jordon *

as Charles Paxton *Max Hoffman Jr. as Fitts *

as Whitey *Harry Burns as Strangler Colombo / Rudolfo Terrassi *

William Haade William Haade (March 2, 1903 – November 15, 1966) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 250 films between 1937 and 1957. He was born in New York City and died in Los Angeles, California. Haade was a construction boss until ...

as Rocky Snyder *Helen Troy as Marge *

Winifred Harris Winifred Vera Emily Harris (17 March 1880 – 18 April 1972) was a British actress with a substantial career in America. She appeared in New York plays beginning in 1914 and acted in numerous plays up to 1934. She left Broadway plays for films tho ...

as Mrs. Reynolds *

Lee Phelps Lee Phelps (born Napoleon Bonaparte Kukuck; May 15, 1893 – March 19, 1953) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 600 films between 1917 and 1953, mainly in uncredited roles. He also appeared in three films that won the Acade ...

as Ring Announcer *Frankie Van as Frankie

References

External links

* * 1939 films Warner Bros. films American musical comedy films 1939 musical comedy films Films directed by George Amy American black-and-white films 1930s English-language films 1930s American films {{musical-comedy-film-stub