''Anything Goes'' is a 1936 American

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 brea ...

directed by

Lewis Milestone Lewis Milestone (born Leib Milstein (Russian: Лейб Мильштейн); September 30, 1895 – September 25, 1980) was a Moldovan-American film director. He is known for directing '' Two Arabian Knights'' (1927) and ''All Quiet on the Weste ...

and starring

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a ...

Ethel Merman Ethel Merman (born Ethel Agnes Zimmermann, January 16, 1908 – February 15, 1984) was an American actress and singer, known for her distinctive, powerful voice, and for leading roles in musical theatre.Obituary '' Variety'', February 22, 1984. ...

Charles Ruggles Charles Sherman Ruggles (February 8, 1886 – December 23, 1970) was an American comic character actor. In a career spanning six decades, Ruggles appeared in close to 100 feature films, often in mild-mannered and comic roles. He was also the e ...

and Ida Lupino. Based on the 1934 stage musical ''

Anything Goes ''Anything Goes'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The original book was a collaborative effort by Guy Bolton and P. G. Wodehouse, heavily revised by the team of Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. The story concerns madcap ant ...

'' by

Guy Bolton Guy Reginald Bolton (23 November 1884 – 4 September 1979) was an Anglo-American playwright and writer of musical comedies. Born in England and educated in France and the US, he trained as an architect but turned to writing. Bolton preferred ...

and

P. G. Wodehouse Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, ( ; 15 October 188114 February 1975) was an English author and one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century. His creations include the feather-brained Bertie Wooster and his sagacious valet, Jeeve ...

, the stage version contains songs by

Cole Porter Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway and in film. Born to ...

. The film is about a young man who falls in love with a beautiful woman whom he follows onto a luxury liner, where he discovers she is an English heiress who ran away from home and is now being returned to England. He also discovers that his boss is on the ship. To avoid discovery, he disguises himself as the gangster accomplice of a minister, who is actually a gangster on the run from the law. The film required revisions of Porter's saucy lyrics to pass

Production Code The Motion Picture Production Code was a set of industry guidelines for the self-censorship of content that was applied to most motion pictures released by major studios in the United States from 1934 to 1968. It is also popularly known as the ...

censors. Only four of his songs remained: "

", "

I Get a Kick Out of You "I Get a Kick Out of You" is a song by Cole Porter, which was first sung in the 1934 Broadway musical '' Anything Goes'', and then in the 1936 film version. Originally sung by Ethel Merman, it has been covered by dozens of prominent performers, ...

", "There'll Always Be a Lady Fair", and "

You're the Top "You're the Top" is a Cole Porter song from the 1934 musical '' Anything Goes''. It is about a man and a woman who take turns complimenting each other. The best-selling version was Paul Whiteman's Victor single, which made the top five. It was th ...

". "You're the Top" contained substantially revised lyrics, and only the first line (sung by Ethel Merman during the opening credits) was retained from the song "Anything Goes". Bing Crosby's influence was used to gut most of Porter's score and obtain four new songs from several new songwriters, Richard A. Whiting,

Hoagy Carmichael Hoagland Howard Carmichael (November 22, 1899 – December 27, 1981) was an American musician, composer, songwriter, actor and lawyer. Carmichael was one of the most successful Tin Pan Alley songwriters of the 1930s, and was among the first ...

Leo Robin Leo Robin (April 6, 1900 – December 29, 1984) was an American composer, lyricist and songwriter. He is probably best known for collaborating with Ralph Rainger on the 1938 Academy Award for Best Original Song, Oscar-winning song "Thanks for t ...

, Edward Heyman, and Friedrich Hollander, but other than "

Moonburn "Moonburn" is a 1935 American popular song written by Hoagy Carmichael and Edward Heyman. It was the first song written by Hoagy Carmichael for films and it was introduced by Bing Crosby in the 1936 film ''Anything Goes''. A definitive jazz reco ...

", written by

and Edward Heyman, which temporarily became a hit for Crosby, it is usually agreed that most of the replacement score was forgettable. Some, including movie musical expert John Springer, have criticized Paramount for substituting new songs by other composers for the originals. (This was a common policy in Hollywood during the 1930s, when film studios owned music publishing houses and hoped that songs written especially for films would guarantee extra profits for the studio.) When Paramount sold the 1936 film to television, they retitled the movie ''Tops is the Limit'' because the 1956 film version, also from Paramount, was currently in theaters.

Cast

as Billy Crocker *

as Reno Sweeney *

as Rev. Dr. Moon * Ida Lupino as Hope Harcourt *

Grace Bradley Grace Bradley (September 21, 1913 – September 21, 2010) was an American film actress who was active in Hollywood during the 1930s. Early life Bradley was born in Brooklyn and was an only child. As a child, she took piano lessons and, by the ...

as Bonnie LeTour *

Arthur Treacher Arthur Veary Treacher (, 23 July 1894 – 14 December 1975) was an English film and stage actor active from the 1920s to the 1960s, and known for playing English types, especially butler and manservant roles, such as the P.G. Wodehouse valet c ...

as Sir Evelyn Oakleigh * Robert McWade as Elisha J. Whitney *

Richard Carle Richard Carle (born Charles Nicholas Carleton, July 7, 1871 – June 28, 1941) was an American stage and film actor as well as a playwright and stage director. He appeared in more than 130 films between 1915 and 1941. Carle was born in Som ...

as Bishop Dobson *

Margaret Dumont Margaret Dumont (born Daisy Juliette Baker; October 20, 1882 – March 6, 1965) was an American stage and film actress. She is best remembered as the comic foil to the Marx Brothers in seven of their films; Groucho Marx called her "practically ...

as Mrs. Wentworth * Jerry Tucker as Junior * Matt Moore as Capt. McPhail *

Edward Gargan Edward Gargan (July 17, 1902 – February 19, 1964) was an American film and television actor. Career He was born of Irish parents in Brooklyn, New York. He was the elder brother of actor William Gargan. As soon as he had left college, he wen ...

as Detective *

Matt McHugh Matthew O. McHugh (January 22, 1894 – February 22, 1971) was an American film actor who appeared in more than 200 films between 1931 and 1955, primarily in small cameo parts. Career McHugh came from a theatrical family. His parents ran a s ...

as Detective *

Budd Fine Budd Nathan Fine (September 10, 1894 – February 9, 1966) was an American character actor of the silent and sound film eras. Born Budd Nathan Fine on September 10, 1894, in Hartford Connecticut, Fine served in the US Army during World War I, ...

as Pug-Ugly *

Jack Mulhall John Joseph Francis Mulhall (October 7, 1887 – June 1, 1979) was an American film actor beginning in the silent film era who successfully transitioned to sound films, appearing in over 430 films in a career spanning 50 years. Early years Mu ...

as Ship's Purser *

Jack Norton Jack Norton (born Mortimer John Naughton; September 2, 1882 – October 15, 1958) was an American stage and film character actor who appeared in more than 180 films between 1934 and 1948, often playing drunks, although in real life he was a ...

as Drunken passenger * The Avalon Boys as Quartet

Production credits

- director *

Benjamin Glazer Benjamin Glazer (May 7, 1887 – March 18, 1956) was a screenwriter, producer, foley artist, and director of American films from the 1920s through the 1950s. He made the first translation of Ferenc Molnár's play ''Liliom'' into English in 1921 ...

- producer *

- music and lyrics *

Karl Struss Karl Struss, A.S.C. (November 30, 1886 – December 15, 1981) was an American photographer and a cinematographer of the 1900s through the 1950s. He was also one of the earliest pioneers of 3-D films. While he mostly worked on films, such as F.W ...

- photography *

Lindsay and Crouse Lindsay and Crouse was the writing team of Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse, who collaborated famously on a succession of Broadway plays and musicals for 27 years during the mid 20th century. Their first collaboration was the rewriting of the bo ...

- screenplay * LeRoy Prinz - staging of dance ensembles *

Farciot Edouart Farciot Edouart, ASC (born Alexander Farciot Edouart; November 5, 1894 – March 17, 1980) was a motion picture special effects artist and innovator, a recognized specialist and innovator in the area of "process photography", also known as rear pro ...

- special photographic effects * Hans Dreier - art direction *

Ernst Fegté Ernst Fegté (28 September 1900 – 15 December 1976) was a German art director. He was active in the American cinema from the 1920s to the 1970s, he was the art director or production designer on more than 75 feature films. He worked at Par ...

- art direction * Eda Warren - editor * Jack Goodrich - sound recording * Don Johnson - sound recording *

Travis Banton Travis Banton (August 18, 1894 – February 2, 1958) was an American costume designer. He is perhaps best known for his long collaboration with actress Marlene Dietrich and director Josef von Sternberg. He is generally considered one of the most ...

- costume design * A. E. Freudman - interior decorations *

Vinton Freedley Vinton Freedley (November 5, 1891 – June 5, 1969) was an American theater and television producer known for his productions of the works of Cole Porter, George Gershwin, Richard Rodgers and television shows such as Talent Jackpot and ''Showtim ...

- production advisor

Soundtrack

" sung by Ethel Merman *"

" sung by Bing Crosby and Ethel Merman *"

I Get a Kick out of You "I Get a Kick Out of You" is a song by Cole Porter, which was first sung in the 1934 Broadway musical '' Anything Goes'', and then in the 1936 film version. Originally sung by Ethel Merman, it has been covered by dozens of prominent performers, ...

" sung by Ethel Merman *"There'll Always Be a Lady Fair" (Cole Porter) sung by the Avalon Boys and Bing Crosby *"My Heart and I" (

Frederick Hollander Friedrich Hollaender (in exile also Frederick Hollander; 18 October 189618 January 1976) was a German film composer and author. Life and career He was born in London to a Jewish family, where his father, operetta composer Victor Hollaender, w ...

) sung by Bing Crosby *"Sailor Beware" ( Richard Whiting / Leo Robin) sung by Bing Crosby *"

" sung by Bing Crosby *"Shanghai-De-Ho" (Frederick Hollander/ Leo Robin) sung by Bing Crosby and Ethel Merman Crosby recorded three of the new songs for

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American Decca's president. ...

. and they were also included in the Bing's Hollywood series.

Reception

''The New York Times'' wrote "Paramount uncorked its pent-up version of ''Anything Goes'' at the Paramount Theatre yesterday and instead of an exuberant pop and a merry fizz, there was merely a gentle sigh...Bing Crosby is an acceptable substitute for the show’s William Gaxton in almost every subdivision except that in which he joins Miss Merman in “You’re The Top”. It doesn’t seem possible but Mr. Crosby croons it." ''Variety'' wrote "Cole Porter’s lyrics, which were the original essence and chief asset of the original stage ''Anything Goes'' have been sacrificed for and replaced by plot motion in this Paramount film adaptation...Ethel Merman comes from the original cast and her job in the picture equals her job in the stage version, which means aces. Crosby in the Billy Gaxton juve lead makes it more important than the latter did, because of the extra territory taken in by his singing...As directed by Lewis Milestone everything moves along swiftly. On the whole, as screen entertainment and as musical adaptation, Par’s ‘Goes’ will do." Writing for ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world. It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''Th ...

'' in 1936,

Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading English novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquir ...

gave the film a poor review, specifically criticizing

's slow and "moony methods" of singing in "a picture which should rattle quite as fast as a sub-machine gun". Greene found that the song "You're the Top" had been "murdered". (reprinted in: )

References

*Green, Stanley (1999) Hollywood Musicals Year by Year (2nd ed.), pub. Hal Leonard Corporation page 52

External links