''Hi Diddle Diddle'' is a 1943 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 o ...

made in directed by

Andrew L. Stone Andrew L. Stone (July 16, 1902 – June 9, 1999) was an American screenwriter, film director and producer. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for the film '' Julie'' in 1957 and received a star on the Hollywo ...

and starring Adolphe Menjou, Martha Scott, Dennis O'Keefe,

June Havoc June Havoc (born Ellen Evangeline Hovick; November 8, 1912 – March 28, 2010) was a Canadian American actress, dancer, stage director and memoirist. Havoc was a child vaudeville performer under the tutelage of her mother Rose Thompson Hovick, ...

Billie Burke Mary William Ethelbert Appleton Burke (August 7, 1884 – May 14, 1970) was an American actress who was famous on Broadway and radio, and in silent and sound films. She is best known to modern audiences as Glinda the Good Witch of the North ...

, and

Pola Negri Pola Negri (; born Apolonia Chalupec ; 3 January 1897 – 1 August 1987) was a Polish stage and film actress and singer. She achieved worldwide fame during the silent and golden eras of Hollywood and European film for her tragedienne and femm ...

. The title is a play on the nursery rhyme " Hey Diddle Diddle" and the use of diddle as a word for

confidence trick A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibility, and greed. Researchers h ...

. The film features animated portions from

Leon Schlesinger Leon Schlesinger (May 20, 1884 – December 25, 1949) was an American film producer who founded Leon Schlesinger Productions, which later became the Warner Bros. Cartoons studio, during the Golden Age of American animation. He was a distant rel ...

's studio with the fast moving screenplay frequently

breaking the fourth wall Breaking or breakin' may refer to: Arts * Breakdancing (also breaking), an athletic style of street dance * '' Breakin, a 1984 American breakdancing-themed musical film * "Breakin, a twelfth-season episode of the American animated television ...

. This film is in the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable. Because those rights have expired ...

. It's also known as ''Diamonds and Crime'' (American reissue title).

Leslie Halliwell Robert James Leslie Halliwell (23 February 1929 – 21 January 1989) was a British film critic, encyclopaedist and television rights buyer for ITV, the British commercial network, and Channel 4. He is best known for his reference guides, '' Fi ...

in the seventh edition, (page 463), of 'Halliwell's Film Guide' says it was "AKA 'Try and Find It' ".

Plot summary

Young Janie Prescott is about to be married to her sailor sweetheart, Sonny Phyffe, but the wedding is delayed because the ship hasn't arrived to its dock. The wedding ceremony has to be pushed forward, and is combined with a christening ceremony that is to be performed by the same pastor. Sonny's ship eventually docks and when he meets his father, small-time swindler Hector, before the wedding, he is given a corsage to pass on to Janie. Hector has actually stolen the corsage from his wife (Sonny's stepmother), opera singer Genya Smetana. Hector isn't aware of that the corsage has real diamonds in it, and it is a gift from the opera where Genya works. Unfortunately the wedding is yet again delayed when it is discovered that Peter Carrington III, Janie's previous suitor, has managed to lose all of Mrs. Prescott's money on bad investments and a roulette table at the 59 Club. The family is now broke. Sonny then tells Janie he doesn't care about her money and the wedding proceeds as planned, after Sonny agrees to let his father help Mrs. Prescott get her money back. With the help of some friends Hector manages to fix the roulette tables at the 59 Club, and after the wedding he drags Sonny to the club before he goes off on his honeymoon. Sonny wins repeatedly, and Peter who watches, decides to make another attempt at sabotaging the relation between Janie and Sonny. He takes Janie, Mrs. Prescott and a Senator Simpson to 59 Club. Confusion and suspicion arises as Hector is seen with his friend, night club singer Leslie, in a compromising position, and then Janie sees Sonny in a similar way. Genya is oblivious about her step-son Sonny, whom she does not know even exists, and Janie who he is about to marry, so she thinks Hector has married Janie and given her the stolen corsage. Janie is then called to service as an air raid warden before she has time to go away on her honeymoon, while Sonny spends the night alone. To venge all the trouble that has arisen, Hector sets up to trick Peter into a bad business deal, buying worthless stock to a high price. Sonny owns such stock and when Peter is scammed, Sonny makes a fine profit. It turns out though that the banker in charge of the transaction bought the stock himself to make a good deal, and that Peter and Mrs. Prescott staged the loss of their property to test Sonny's intentions with Janie. Genya learns that Hector has a son from another relation, who is married to Janie. Sonny and Janie finally reunite at his father's apartment, and they spend the rest of their two-day honeymoon at her apartment. When a new order is given that Sonny has to travel immediately with his ship, the maid covers for the couple and lies, saying they already left town. Thus they get to be undisturbed for the weekend, and everyone else meet at Hector's apartment, singing Wagner opera songs together.

Cast

Soundtrack

*June Havoc - "I Loved You too Little, too Late" (Written by Phil Boutelje and Foster Carling) *Pola Negri - "Evening Star" (from "

Tannhäuser Tannhäuser (; gmh, Tanhûser), often stylized, "The Tannhäuser," was a German Minnesinger and traveling poet. Historically, his biography, including the dates he lived, is obscure beyond the poetry, which suggests he lived between 1245 and ...

" written by Richard Wagner) *June Havoc - "The Man with the Big Sombrero" (Written by Phil Boutelje and Foster Carling) *Pola Negri, Billie Burke, Paul Porcasi, Lorraine Miller and others - "The Pilgrim's Chorus" (from "Tannhäuser" written by

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

)

Quotes

*Senator Simpson ooking at hat check girl You know, I've seen that girl somewhere before. *Liza Prescott: She's a very particular friend of the director who's making this picture. He sticks her in every scene he can. *Janie Prescott: Mother, shh! Somebody might hear you. *Col. Hector Phyffe: eeing his wife appear unexpectedly as he is kissing another womanMy wife! Stand by to render first aid! *Leslie Quayle: Hi, sailor. Your father working today for a change? *Sonny Phyffe: Yes. You want him? *Leslie Quayle: No thanks, honey. I just want to see him.

References

External links

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hi Diddle Diddle 1943 films 1943 comedy films American comedy films American black-and-white films Films directed by Andrew L. Stone Films with screenplays by Frederick J. Jackson United Artists films 1940s English-language films 1940s American films