''Touchdown, Army'' retitled ''Generals of Tomorrow'' in the UK is a 1938 American
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
Kurt Neumann, written by
Lloyd Corrigan
Lloyd Corrigan (October 16, 1900 – November 5, 1969) was an American film and television actor, producer, screenwriter, and director who began working in films in the 1920s. The son of actress Lillian Elliott, Corrigan directed films, usually ...
and Erwin S. Gelsey, and starring
John Howard
John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007, holding office as leader of the Liberal Party. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the s ...
,
Mary Carlisle
Mary Carlisle (born Gwendolyn Witter; February 3, 1914 – August 1, 2018) was an American actress, singer, and dancer, best known for her roles as a wholesome ingénue in numerous 1930s Musical film, musical-comedy films.
She starred in more ...
,
Robert Cummings
Charles Clarence Robert Orville Cummings (June 9, 1910 – December 2, 1990) was an American film and television actor who appeared in roles in comedy films such as ''The Devil and Miss Jones'' (1941) and ''Princess O'Rourke'' (1943), and in d ...
,
William Frawley
William Clement Frawley (February 26, 1887 – March 3, 1966) was an American vaudevillian and actor best remembered for playing landlord Fred Mertz in the American television sitcom ''I Love Lucy'', "Bub" O'Casey in the television comedy series ...
,
Owen Davis Jr.
Owen Gould Davis Jr. (October 6, 1907 – May 21, 1949) was an American actor known primarily for his work in film. He also performed in the theatre, making his Broadway debut in the play ''Carry On'' (1928), which his father, Owen Davis, had w ...
, and Benny Baker. It was released on October 7, 1938, by
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...
.
Plot
Army University football player Jimmy Howal gets a reception far different from what he expected when he enters West Point. His cocky attitude makes everyone opposed of him, especially hot-tempered southerner Brandon Culpepper, who also sees Howal as a rival for beautiful Toni Denby, daughter of West Point officer Colonel Denby. Howal is failing French prior to the Army-Navy game, and the cadets fear he will be kept from playing because of it. Then, Toni tutors Howal, but she, unknowingly, uses an old exam which is the basis for the new test. Howal realizes what has happened when he passes the exam with flying colors and suspects Toni of having set out to make a fool of him.
Cast
*
John Howard
John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007, holding office as leader of the Liberal Party. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the s ...
as Cadet Brandon Culpepper
*
Mary Carlisle
Mary Carlisle (born Gwendolyn Witter; February 3, 1914 – August 1, 2018) was an American actress, singer, and dancer, best known for her roles as a wholesome ingénue in numerous 1930s Musical film, musical-comedy films.
She starred in more ...
as Toni Denby
*
Robert Cummings
Charles Clarence Robert Orville Cummings (June 9, 1910 – December 2, 1990) was an American film and television actor who appeared in roles in comedy films such as ''The Devil and Miss Jones'' (1941) and ''Princess O'Rourke'' (1943), and in d ...
as Cadet Jimmy Howal
*
William Frawley
William Clement Frawley (February 26, 1887 – March 3, 1966) was an American vaudevillian and actor best remembered for playing landlord Fred Mertz in the American television sitcom ''I Love Lucy'', "Bub" O'Casey in the television comedy series ...
as Jack Heffernan
*
Owen Davis Jr.
Owen Gould Davis Jr. (October 6, 1907 – May 21, 1949) was an American actor known primarily for his work in film. He also performed in the theatre, making his Broadway debut in the play ''Carry On'' (1928), which his father, Owen Davis, had w ...
as Cadet Kirk Reynolds
*
Benny Baker
Benny Baker (born Benjamin Michael Zifkin; May 5, 1907 – September 20, 1994) was an American film and theater actor and comedian, and appeared in over 50 films between 1934 and 1988. He died in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California.
Filmogr ...
as Cadet Dick Mycroft
*
Minor Watson
Minor Watson (December 22, 1889 – July 28, 1965) was a prominent character actor. He appeared in 111 movies made between 1913 and 1956. His credits included '' Boys Town'' (1938), ''Yankee Doodle Dandy'' (1942), ''Kings Row'' (1942), '' Guada ...
as Col. Denby
*
Raymond Hatton
Raymond William Hatton (July 7, 1887 – October 21, 1971) was an American film actor who appeared in almost 500 motion pictures.
Biography
Hatton was born in Red Oak, Iowa. His physician father steered him toward a career in medicine. Howev ...
as Bob Haskins
Production
Lew Ayres
Lewis Frederick Ayres III (December 28, 1908 – December 30, 1996) was an American actor whose film and television career spanned 65 years. He is best known for starring as German soldier Paul Bäumer in the film '' All Quiet on the Western Fr ...
was meant to play a lead but Robert Cummings – who was already in the cast – took the part instead, promoted from a more subsidiary role. Filming started June 1938.
See also
*
List of American football films
The following is a list of American football films.
See also
* List of sports films
* List of highest grossing sports films
Notes
References
{{American football in the United States
American football
Films
A film also ...
References
External links
*
1938 films
1930s sports comedy films
American black-and-white films
American sports comedy films
American football films
Films directed by Kurt Neumann
Films scored by John Leipold
Films set in the United States Military Academy
Paramount Pictures films
1938 comedy films
1930s English-language films
1930s American films
{{1930s-comedy-film-stub