Babes on Swing Street (1944)

69-70 mins | Comedy | 27 October 1944

Full page view
HISTORY

The working titles of this film were Merrily We Sing and United We Sing. According to DV, this was the first film in which actress Peggy Ryan received top billing. HR news items and production charts include June Vincent and Leo Carrillo in the cast, but they did not appear in the released film. HR news items also include Bobby Brooks in the cast, but his appearance in the released film could not be confirmed. ...

More Less

The working titles of this film were Merrily We Sing and United We Sing. According to DV, this was the first film in which actress Peggy Ryan received top billing. HR news items and production charts include June Vincent and Leo Carrillo in the cast, but they did not appear in the released film. HR news items also include Bobby Brooks in the cast, but his appearance in the released film could not be confirmed.

Less

SOURCE CITATIONS
SOURCE
DATE
PAGE
Box Office
20 Sep 1944
---
Daily Variety
15 Sep 1944
p. 6
Film Daily
18 Sep 1944
p. 6
Hollywood Reporter
6 Mar 1944
p. 1
Hollywood Reporter
26 Apr 1944
p. 5
Hollywood Reporter
27 Apr 1944
p. 3
Hollywood Reporter
4 May 1944
p. 10
Hollywood Reporter
5 May 1944
p. 21
Hollywood Reporter
15 Sep 1944
p. 3
Motion Picture Herald Product Digest
8 Jul 1944
p. 1983
Motion Picture Herald Product Digest
23 Sep 1944
p. 2110
Variety
20 Sep 1944
p. 10
CAST
PRODUCTION CREDITS
NAME
PARENT COMPANY
DISTRIBUTION COMPANY
NAME
CREDITED AS
CREDIT
DIRECTORS
Asst dir
PRODUCERS
Exec prod
Assoc prod
WRITERS
Orig story
PHOTOGRAPHY
Dir of photog
ART DIRECTORS
John B. Goodman
Art dir
FILM EDITOR
SET DECORATORS
Set dec
COSTUMES
Gowns
MUSIC
Mus dir
SOUND
Dir of sd
[Sd] tech
VISUAL EFFECTS
Spec photog
DANCE
Dances staged by
SOURCES
SONGS
"Just Being with You," "Hotcha Sonja," "I've Got a Way with Boys," "Wrong Thing at the Right Time," "Musical Chairs" and "Music and You," words and music by Inez James and Sidney Miller; "Peg O' My Heart," words and music by Alfred Bryan and Fred Fisher; "Take It Easy," words and music by Albert De Bru, Irving Taylor and Vic Mizzy; "Youth Is on the March," words and music by Milton Rosen and Everett Carter; "Siboney," words and music by Dolly Morse and Ernesto Lecuona; "Loch Lomond (By Yon Bonnie Brae)," Scottish traditional.
SONGWRITERS/COMPOSERS
+
DETAILS
Alternate Titles:
Merrily We Sing
United We Sing
Release Date:
27 October 1944
Production Date:
5 May--early Jun 1944
Copyright Info
Claimant
Date
Copyright Number
Universal Pictures Co., inc.
25 October 1944
LP12926
Physical Properties:
Sound
Western Electric Recording
Black and White
Duration(in mins):
69-70
Length(in feet):
6,328
Country:
United States
PCA No:
10277
SYNOPSIS

Barber Joe Costello prefers to let his teenage daughter Trudy shave his customers while he plays the accordion. One day, Trudy's wealthy heiress friend, Carol Curtis, arrives at the Costello barber show and announces that Mr. Ansel of the Randall Institute of Music has agreed to audition the local kids for his private school. After the audition, Ansel agrees to offer the group ten scholarships, but informs the talented youngsters that there is still a minimum fee of twenty dollars per month. While the youngsters try to devise ways to raise the needed tuition money, Carol's snobbish spinster aunt Martha sets up trust funds for both her absentminded brother Malcolm and Carol from the family's vast real estate holdings. Meanwhile, teenagers Billy Harper and Corny Panatowski come up with the idea of opening a nightclub to raise the tuition money, and Carol offers to help them find a hall in which to house it. Learning of the youngsters' plights, Malcolm suggests that they convert the empty Curtis Hall into a nightclub, something he had been considering doing himself with band leader Freddie Slack. Knowing that his sister would never agree to such an idea, Malcolm convinces Martha that he needs the empty building as a studio for his oil painting. After a great deal of hard work, "Chez Enfants" prepares for its grand opening, but Carol is upset by the return of blonde bombshell Fern Wallace, her rival for Billy's affections. Martha then discovers Malcolm's scheme the day before the club's grand opening and orders the building evacuated. Afterward, Fern falsely accuses Carol of deliberately closing the show, and convinces Billy of as ...

More Less

Barber Joe Costello prefers to let his teenage daughter Trudy shave his customers while he plays the accordion. One day, Trudy's wealthy heiress friend, Carol Curtis, arrives at the Costello barber show and announces that Mr. Ansel of the Randall Institute of Music has agreed to audition the local kids for his private school. After the audition, Ansel agrees to offer the group ten scholarships, but informs the talented youngsters that there is still a minimum fee of twenty dollars per month. While the youngsters try to devise ways to raise the needed tuition money, Carol's snobbish spinster aunt Martha sets up trust funds for both her absentminded brother Malcolm and Carol from the family's vast real estate holdings. Meanwhile, teenagers Billy Harper and Corny Panatowski come up with the idea of opening a nightclub to raise the tuition money, and Carol offers to help them find a hall in which to house it. Learning of the youngsters' plights, Malcolm suggests that they convert the empty Curtis Hall into a nightclub, something he had been considering doing himself with band leader Freddie Slack. Knowing that his sister would never agree to such an idea, Malcolm convinces Martha that he needs the empty building as a studio for his oil painting. After a great deal of hard work, "Chez Enfants" prepares for its grand opening, but Carol is upset by the return of blonde bombshell Fern Wallace, her rival for Billy's affections. Martha then discovers Malcolm's scheme the day before the club's grand opening and orders the building evacuated. Afterward, Fern falsely accuses Carol of deliberately closing the show, and convinces Billy of as much. The next day, Malcolm pretends to be suicidal, so Martha agrees to reopen the club. When she discovers her brother's latest deception, however, she attempts to close it once again. Martha's plans are thwarted by the absentminded Malcolm, who learns that he is now fifty-two years old and, according to his parent's will, has already inherited the hall. The club is a big success, and Martha receives many mistaken congratulations from society friends who are in attendance. Malcolm is then granted his full inheritance, and Carol and Billy are finally united.

Less

Legend
Viewed by AFI
Partially Viewed
Offscreen Credit
Name Occurs Before Title
AFI Life Achievement Award

TOP SEARCHES

Psycho

Actor Vaughn Taylor's surname is misspelled "Tayler" in the onscreen credits. Several Jun and Jul 1959 HR news items erroneously refer to the film as Psyche. ... >>

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

According to HR news items, "The Gentleman from Montana" (an unpublished story by Lewis R. Foster, alternately called "The Gentleman from Wyoming" by both contemporary and modern ... >>

2001: A Space Odyssey

Opening credits precede a title card that reads: "The Dawn of Man."
       In an interview in the 16 Jan 1966 NYT, writer-director-producer Stanley Kubrick discussed ... >>

The American Film Institute is grateful to Sir Paul Getty KBE and the Sir Paul Getty KBE Estate for their dedication to the art of the moving image and their support for the AFI Catalog of Feature Films and without whose support AFI would not have been able to achieve this historical landmark in this epic scholarly endeavor.