''Panama Hattie'' is a 1942 American film based upon the
Broadway musical of the same name. It was produced by
Arthur Freed
Arthur Freed (September 9, 1894 – April 12, 1973) was an American lyricist and Hollywood film producer. He won the Academy Award for Best Picture twice, in 1951 for ''An American in Paris'' and in 1958 for '' Gigi''. Both films were musicals. ...
and directed by
Norman Z. McLeod.
Plot summary
Cast
*
Red Skelton
Richard Red Skelton (July 18, 1913September 17, 1997) was an American entertainer best known for his national radio and television shows between 1937 and 1971, especially as host of the television program ''The Red Skelton Show''. He has stars ...
as Red
*
Ann Sothern
Ann Sothern (born Harriette Arlene Lake; January 22, 1909 – March 15, 2001) was an American actress who worked on stage, radio, film, and television, in a career that spanned nearly six decades. Sothern began her career in the late 1920 ...
as Hattie Maloney
*
Rags Ragland
Rags Ragland (born John Lee Morgan Beauregard Ragland, August 23, 1905 – August 20, 1946) was an American comedian and character actor.
Personal life
Ragland was born on August 23, 1905, in Louisville, Kentucky, to parents Adam Joseph Ragland ...
as Rags (as 'Rags' Ragland)
*
Ben Blue
Ben Blue (born Benjamin Bernstein; September 12, 1901 – March 7, 1975) was a Canadian-American actor and comedian who had a career that spanned nearly 50 years.
Early life
He was born Benjamin Bernstein in Montreal, Quebec on Septem ...
as Rowdy
*
Marsha Hunt as Leila Tree
*
Virginia O'Brien
Virginia Lee O'Brien (April 18, 1919 – January 16, 2001) was an American actress, singer, and radio personality known for her comedic singing roles in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musicals of the 1940s.
Life and career
O'Brien primarily performed in ...
as Flo Foster
*
Alan Mowbray
Alan Mowbray (born Alfred Ernest Allen; 18 August 1896 – 25 March 1969) was an English stage and film actor who found success in Hollywood.
Early life
Mowbray was born in London, England. He served with distinction in the British Army in W ...
as Jay Jerkins, Dick's Butler
*
Dan Dailey
Daniel James Dailey Jr. (December 14, 1915 – October 16, 1978) was an American dancer and actor. He is best remembered for a series of popular musicals he made at 20th Century Fox such as ''Mother Wore Tights'' (1947).
Biography Early life
Da ...
as Dick Bulliard (as Dan Dailey Jr.)
*
Jackie Horner
Jackie or Jacky may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Jackie (given name), a list of people and fictional characters named Jackie or Jacky
** Jackie, current ring name of female professional wrestler Jacqueline Moore
** Jackie Lee ( ...
as Geraldine 'Gerry' Bulliard
Notes
Substantial retakes were directed by
Roy Del Ruth
Roy Del Ruth (October 18, 1893, Delaware – April 27, 1961) was an American filmmaker.
Early career
Beginning his Hollywood career as a writer for Mack Sennett in 1915, Del Ruth later directed his first short film ''Hungry Lions'' (1919) ...
with choreography by
Danny Dare
Danny Dare (March 20, 1905, New York City – November 20, 1996, Tarzana, Los Angeles, California) was an American choreographer, actor, director, writer, and producer of the stage, screen, and film.Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 1996: Film, ...
and musical numbers staged by
Vincente Minnelli
Vincente Minnelli (born Lester Anthony Minnelli; February 28, 1903 – July 25, 1986) was an American stage director and film director. He directed the classic movie musicals ''Meet Me in St. Louis'' (1944), ''An American in Paris'' (1951), ''Th ...
. The film used only four of Porter's songs and substituted other songs.
["'Panama Hattie' Film Version"]
sondheimguide.com, accessed January 11, 2011 The cast featured
Red Skelton
Richard Red Skelton (July 18, 1913September 17, 1997) was an American entertainer best known for his national radio and television shows between 1937 and 1971, especially as host of the television program ''The Red Skelton Show''. He has stars ...
as Red,
Ann Sothern
Ann Sothern (born Harriette Arlene Lake; January 22, 1909 – March 15, 2001) was an American actress who worked on stage, radio, film, and television, in a career that spanned nearly six decades. Sothern began her career in the late 1920 ...
as Hattie Maloney,
Rags Ragland
Rags Ragland (born John Lee Morgan Beauregard Ragland, August 23, 1905 – August 20, 1946) was an American comedian and character actor.
Personal life
Ragland was born on August 23, 1905, in Louisville, Kentucky, to parents Adam Joseph Ragland ...
as Rags,
Ben Blue
Ben Blue (born Benjamin Bernstein; September 12, 1901 – March 7, 1975) was a Canadian-American actor and comedian who had a career that spanned nearly 50 years.
Early life
He was born Benjamin Bernstein in Montreal, Quebec on Septem ...
as Rowdy,
Marsha Hunt as Leila Tree,
Virginia O'Brien
Virginia Lee O'Brien (April 18, 1919 – January 16, 2001) was an American actress, singer, and radio personality known for her comedic singing roles in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musicals of the 1940s.
Life and career
O'Brien primarily performed in ...
as Flo Foster,
Alan Mowbray
Alan Mowbray (born Alfred Ernest Allen; 18 August 1896 – 25 March 1969) was an English stage and film actor who found success in Hollywood.
Early life
Mowbray was born in London, England. He served with distinction in the British Army in W ...
as Jay Jerkins,
Dan Dailey
Daniel James Dailey Jr. (December 14, 1915 – October 16, 1978) was an American dancer and actor. He is best remembered for a series of popular musicals he made at 20th Century Fox such as ''Mother Wore Tights'' (1947).
Biography Early life
Da ...
as Dick Bulliard and
Lena Horne
Lena Mary Calhoun Horne (June 30, 1917 – May 9, 2010) was an American dancer, actress, singer, and civil rights activist. Horne's career spanned more than seventy years, appearing in film, television, and theatre. Horne joined the chorus of th ...
as Singer in Phil's Place.
[ Songs used in the film are as follows:][
* "Hattie from Panama" (]Roger Edens
Roger Edens (November 9, 1905 – July 13, 1970) was a Hollywood composer, arranger and associate producer, and is considered one of the major creative figures in Arthur Freed's musical film production unit at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer during the "go ...
) – Chorus
* "I've Still Got My Health" (Porter) – Ann Sothern
* "Berry Me Not" ( Phil Moore) nstrumental, danced by the Berry Brothers* " Just One of Those Things" (Porter) – Lena Horne rom ''Jubilee''* "Fresh As a Daisy" (Porter) – Virginia O'Brien
* "Good Neighbors" (Edens) – Red Skelton, Rags Ragland, Ben Blue and Chorus
* "Let's Be Buddies" (Porter) – Sothern with Jackie Horner, and O'Brien with Alan Mowbray
* "Hail, Hail, the Gang's All Here
Hail, Hail, the Gang's All Here is an American popular song first published in 1917. The lyrics, written by D. A. Esrom (pseudonym of Theodora Morse) to a tune composed by Arthur Sullivan for the 1879 comic opera ''The Pirates of Penzance'', a ...
" (Arthur Sullivan
Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan (13 May 1842 – 22 November 1900) was an English composer. He is best known for 14 comic opera, operatic Gilbert and Sullivan, collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including ''H.M.S. Pinaf ...
; Theodore F. Morse) nstrumental* "Did I Get Stinkin' At the Savoy" (E. Y. Harburg
Edgar Yipsel Harburg (born Isidore Hochberg; April 8, 1896 – March 5, 1981) was an American popular song lyricist and librettist who worked with many well-known composers. He wrote the lyrics to the standards "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" ( ...
and Walter Donaldson) – O'Brien
* "The Sping" (Moore and J. LeGon) – Horne anced by the Berry Brothers* "The Son of a Gun Who Picks on Uncle Sam" (Harburg and Burton Lane) – Company
Reception
According to MGM records the film earned $1,798,000 in the US and Canada, $528,000 elsewhere, making the studio a profit of $474,000."101 Pix Gross in Millions" ''Variety'' 6 Jan 1943 p 58
/ref>
References
External links
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{{Authority control
1942 films
1942 musical films
American black-and-white films
American musical films
Films directed by Norman Z. McLeod
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films
Films set in Panama
1940s American films