''Many Happy Returns'' is a 1934 American

pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was an era in the Cinema of the United States, American film industry that occurred between the widespread adoption of sound in film in the late 1920s and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship gui ...

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

comedy film directed by Norman Z. McLeod and starring

Gracie Allen Grace Ethel Cecile Rosalie Allen (July 26, 1895 – August 27, 1964) was an American vaudevillian, singer, actress, and comedian who became internationally famous as the zany partner and comic foil of husband George Burns, her straight man, ap ...

, George Burns and George Barbier.

Plot

Cast

as herself * George Burns as himself * George Barbier as Horatio Allen * Joan Marsh as Florence Allen * Ray Milland as Ted Lambert * Stanley Fields as Joe * William Demarest as Brinker * Johnny Arthur as Davis * Franklin Pangborn as Allen's Secretary * Egon Brecher as Dr. Otto von Strudel * Jack Mulhall as actor * Morgan Wallace as Nathan Silas * Kenneth Thomson as Motion Picture Director *

Guy Lombardo Gaetano Alberto "Guy" Lombardo (June 19, 1902 – November 5, 1977) was a Canadian and American bandleader, violinist, and hydroplane racing, hydroplane racer whose unique "sweet jazz" style remained popular with audiences for nearly five decade ...

as himself * Veloz and Yolanda as specialty dancers

Reception

In a contemporary review for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', critic Mordaunt Hall wrote: " he filmdepends chiefly on Gracie Allen and George Burns for its mirth. It is one of those impossible features where almost anything is likely to happen. Given the slightest excuse, orchestral and other music is played. .... The activities in this film in going from Gotham to Hollywood appear to have been a little too much for both Miss Allen and Mr. Burns, for they seem to have run out of really funny lines."

References

External links

* 1934 films American comedy films 1934 comedy films Films directed by Norman Z. McLeod Paramount Pictures films American black-and-white films 1930s American films 1930s English-language films English-language comedy films {{1930s-comedy-film-stub