''Pot o' Gold'' is a 1941 American romantic

musical comedy 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 break ...

starring

James Stewart James Maitland Stewart (May 20, 1908 – July 2, 1997) was an American actor and military aviator. Known for his distinctive drawl and everyman screen persona, Stewart's film career spanned 80 films from 1935 to 1991. With the strong morali ...

and

Paulette Goddard Paulette Goddard (born Marion Levy; June 3, 1910 – April 23, 1990) was an American actress and socialite. Her career spanned six decades, from the 1920s to the early 1970s. She was a prominent leading actress during the Golden Age of Hollywood ...

, directed by

George Marshall George Catlett Marshall Jr. (31 December 1880 – 16 October 1959) was an American army officer and statesman. He rose through the United States Army to become Chief of Staff of the United States Army, Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army under pres ...

, and based on the radio series '' Pot o' Gold''. The film was released April 3, 1941, eight months before the NBC radio series came to an end. Paulette Goddard's singing voice was dubbed by Vera Van. The film was known as ''The Golden Hour'' in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Plot

Jimmy Haskel is the owner of a

music store A music store or musical instrument store is a retail business that sells musical instruments and related equipment and accessories. Some music stores sell additional services, such as Music lesson, music lessons, music instrument or equipment ...

in Point Jervis, New York. His uncle, Charles J. "C.J." Haskel, hates music and has long wanted Jimmy to join him in his

health food A healthy diet is a diet that maintains or improves overall health. A healthy diet provides the body with essential nutrition: fluid, macronutrients such as protein, micronutrients such as vitamins, and adequate fibre and food energy. A hea ...

business. Jimmy agrees only after his music store fails. When Jimmy arrives in the big city, he meets Molly McCorkle, who welcomes him into her mother's boardinghouse. Horace Heidt's band practices there, adjacent to the Haskel factory. C.J. is infuriated and sends his assistant to stop the band. Jimmy throws a tomato at C.J.'s assistant, only to hit C.J. himself, which makes a good impression on the band and the McCorkles. They don't know Jimmy's true identity, and Molly McCorkle falls in love with him. When Jimmy substitutes for C.J. on his radio program, Molly's kid brother and Horace find out who he is. They devise a scheme to persuade C.J. to take a vacation. In the meantime, Jimmy takes over the operation of the business and invites Heidt's band to play on the show. Molly learns Jimmy's identity, and in anger, she says on-air that the Haskel program will give away $1000 every week. To protect her from prosecution, Jimmy claims the idea is his. He then has to find a way to give away the cash; a federal investigator informs him that there are many legal restrictions that make every scheme Jimmy and his associates can think up illegal. Jimmy finally comes up with a method just before the show airs. He gets a bunch of

telephone book A telephone directory, commonly called a telephone book, telephone address book, phonebook, or the white and yellow pages, is a listing of telephone subscribers in a geographical area or subscribers to services provided by the organization that ...

s, and Molly steals a carnival wheel, which they bring into the radio studio. They randomly select first the telephone book, then the page in it, and finally the entry on the page to determine the winner. The giveaway is immensely popular, with advertisers clamoring to sign up. This reconciles the Haskels and McCorkles, paving the way for Jimmy and Molly to get married.

Cast

as James Hamilton "Jimmy" Haskel *

as Molly McCorkle *

Horace Heidt Horace Heidt (May 21, 1901 – December 1, 1986) was an American pianist, big band leader, and radio and television personality. His band, Horace Heidt and his Musical Knights, toured vaudeville and performed on radio and television during the 19 ...

as Himself *

Charles Winninger Charles J. Winninger (May 26, 1884 – January 27, 1969) was an American stage and film actor, most often cast in comedies or musicals. Life and career Winninger was born in Athens, Wisconsin, the son of Rosalia (Grassler) and Franz Winninger ...

as Charles "C.J." Haskel * Mary Gordon as Mom McCorkle * Frank Melton as Jasper Backus, C.J.'s assistant *

Jed Prouty Jed Prouty (born Clarence Gordon Prouty; April 6, 1879 – May 10, 1956) was an American film actor. Biography Born as Clarence Gordon Prouty in Boston, Massachusetts, Prouty was a vaudeville performer before becoming a film actor. Mostly appe ...

as J.K. Louderman, network manager *

Charles Arnt Charles E. Arnt (August 20, 1906 – August 6, 1990) was an American film actor from 1933 to 1962. Arnt appeared as a character actor in more than 200 films. Arnt was born in Michigan City, Indiana, the son of a banker. He graduated from ...

as Parks, butler *

Dick Hogan Dixon Howard "Dick" Hogan (November 27, 1917 – August 18, 1995) was an American actor of the 1930s and 1940s. During his 12-year career he appeared in over three dozen films, in roles which varied from unnamed bellhops to featured and starring ...

as Willie McCorkle * James Burke as Police Lt. Grady * Donna Wood as Donna McCorkle * Larry Cotton as Larry Cotton, vocalist *

Art Carney Arthur William Matthew Carney (November 4, 1918 – November 9, 2003) was an American actor and comedian. A recipient of an Academy Awards, Academy Award, a Golden Globe Awards, Golden Globe Award, and six Primetime Emmy Awards, he was best kn ...

as Radio Announcer (uncredited)

Background

''Pot o' Gold'' was radio's first big-money giveaway program, garnering huge ratings within four weeks of its 1939 debut. The program's success prompted production of the film. The premise of the radio program, created by

Ed Byron Ed Byron (born Edward Armour Byron, October 1905 - November 21, 1964) was an American radio and television producer — "a pioneer in radio dramatic production". Biography The oldest of three children born to Armour C. Byron and Cecilia Halloran ...

, was that any person who picked up the telephone when host

called would automatically win $1000. Phone numbers were chosen by three spins on the Wheel of Fortune: (1) choice of phone directory, (2) page number and (3) the line on the page. The series ran on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

from September 26, 1939 to December 23, 1941 and later a new show by the same name from October 2, 1946 to March 26, 1947 on ABC.

Soundtrack

* Various characters - "Hi, Cy, What's A-Cookin'?" (Written by Henry Russell and Louis Forbes) * Paulette Goddard (dubbed by Vera Van) with Horace Heidt & His Musical Knights - "Pete the Piper" (Written by Henry Russell) * James Stewart - "When Johnny Toots His Horn" (Written by

Hy Heath Walter Henry "Hy" Heath (July 9, 1890 – April 3, 1965) was an American entertainer, songwriter, composer and writer. Born in Oakville, Tennessee, he received his education in public schools and then became a comedian in musical comedy, vaudeville ...

and Fred Rose) * Horace Heidt & His Musical Knights - "A Knife, a Fork and a Spoon" (Written by

Dave Franklin Dave Franklin (September 28, 1895 – February 2, 1970) was an accomplished American songwriter and pianist. A member of Tin Pan Alley, Franklin co-wrote " The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down", which was adopted as the theme song to the ''Looney Tune ...

) * Larry Cotton with Horace Heidt & His Musical Knights - "Do You Believe in Fairy Tales?" (Music by Vee Lawnhurst, lyrics by

Mack David Mack David (July 5, 1912 – December 30, 1993) was an American lyricist and songwriter, best known for his work in film and television, with a career spanning the period between the early 1940s and the early 1970s. David was credited with writing ...

) * Paulette Goddard (dubbed by Vera Van) with Horace Heidt & His Musical Knights - "Broadway Caballero" (Written by Henry Russell)

Production and reception

Producer James Roosevelt had been working in the motion picture industry since January 1939, as an executive and consultant. He formed Globe Productions at the end of the year, and soon announced that the first Globe production would be ''Pot o' Gold''. While ''Pot o' Gold'' was in preparation, Roosevelt introduced a new concept:

Soundies A soundie is a three-minute American film displaying both the audio and video of a musical performance. Over 1,850 soundies were produced between 1940 and 1946, regarded today as "precursors to music videos". Soundies exhibited a variety of mu ...

musical movies. These were three-minute musicals filmed especially for new coin-operated movie jukeboxes, and making their debut in September 1940. Many of the earliest Soundies films are very handsomely mounted, because they used many of the same sets, costumes, musicians, and dancers from ''Pot o' Gold'', then in production. When ''Pot o' Gold'' was released to theaters in April 1941, it was warmly received by trade critics. The general tone was that, although the story was unremarkable and formulaic, the film was a masterstroke of light entertainment. ''Motion Picture Herald'' reported: "Basic and proven ingredients artfully mixed and beaten to a light froth, with the final seasoning done exactly to a turn. The result is as satisfying as that achieved by a superb cook with ordinary kitchen ingredients.” "The story as a whole is light and frothy," agreed ''Film Daily'', "and the picture as a whole is good entertainment for any and all audiences." The ''New York World-Telegram'' review called the film a “fast-moving comedy, abounding in tuneful numbers, speed, and good gags. It aspires to entertain and this it does with great success.” ''Boxoffice'' wrote: "Tailored for mass appeal, it should prove an impressively profitable exhibitor venture." Because the film was produced independently — copyrighted by James Roosevelt personally and not owned or controlled by a studio — it became available for reissue in late 1943. Robert M. Savini of

Astor Pictures Astor Pictures was a film distribution, motion picture distribution company in the United States from 1930 to 1963. It was founded by Robert M. Savini (29 August 1886 – 29 April 1956). Astor specialized in film re-releases. It later release ...

bought the reissue rights from co-producer Henry Henigson (Henigson acted for James Roosevelt, who was serving in the Marine Corps). Savini retitled the film ''Jimmy Steps Out'' and released it to theaters in 1944. James Stewart was then away from the screen, serving in the Army, so ''Jimmy Steps Out'' became the only Stewart film on the wartime market and thus became a great success. Like other independent ventures, the film came back to haunt the stars. Paulette Goddard and Horace Heidt had invested in the film's production and filed suit against producer Roosevelt for an accounting while Roosevelt was in the military. Because of the film's non-studio status it has been a TV perennial since 1948, and was an early arrival to home video. James Stewart, despairing of the film's omnipresent availability, was ashamed of its overexposure and referred to ''Pot o' Gold'' as the worst picture he ever appeared in.page 186 Nine years later, Stewart did another movie about a big-money radio show, ''

The Jackpot ''The Jackpot'' is a 1950 American comedy film directed by Walter Lang, with James Stewart and Barbara Hale in the lead roles. It features a young Natalie Wood. The screenplay was based on a John McNulty article, "The Jackpot", in ''The New Yo ...

'' (1950).

was featured in a small role. He was then a musician and comedian with the Horace Heidt orchestra, and ''Pot o' Gold'' was his only film credit for more than 20 years.

References

External links

* * * * {{George Marshall 1941 films 1941 musical comedy films 1941 romantic comedy films American musical comedy films Films based on radio series American romantic comedy films American romantic musical films 1940s English-language films American black-and-white films Films directed by George Marshall United Artists films 1940s romantic musical films 1940s American films English-language romantic comedy films English-language romantic musical films English-language musical comedy films