New Faces of 1937
(1937)
100 mins | Musical comedy | 2 July 1937
Cast:
Joe Penner, Milton Berle, Parkyakarkus [ More ]Director:
Leigh JasonWriters:
Nat Perrin, Philip G. Epstein, Irv S. Brecher , Harold Kusell, Harry Clork, Howard J. BrownCinematographer:
J. Roy HuntEditor:
George CroneProduction Designer:
Van Nest PolglaseProduction Company:
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.The working title of this was Young People. David Freedman, who died in Dec 1936, was a successful radio writer who worked extensively with Eddie Cantor. According to a Nov 1936 HR news item, Joseph Santley was first slated to direct the picture and went to New York with writer Nat Perrin to "comb nightclubs, cafes, radio programs, little theaters and amateur shows for promising unknowns." A Mar 1937 HR news item announced that RKO had signed Jimmy Dorsey and his orchestra to record music for the film, but the exact nature of their contribution to the production, if any, has not been determined. In the film, Eddie Rio, of The Rio Brothers, performs a pantomime of a woman taking a bath. According to MPAA/PCA files at the AMPAS Library, this skit caused the PCA to reject the picture on 15 Jun 1937 for "vulgarity." By 19 Jun 1937, however, the film was approved by the censor. The vaudeville team of Lowe, Hite & Stanley consisted of a dwarf, a normal-sized man and a "giant." In the film, they perform a tap dance number.
New Faces of 1937 marked the sound, feature-film debut of actor-comedian Milton Berle (1908-2002). At the time of this production, Berle was a regular performer on the CBS radio show Community Sing. According to Var, Tommy Mack was a featured player with Berle. Bert Gordon was a featured player on Eddie Cantor's radio program, which was sponsored by Texaco Oil. On Cantor's show, he portrayed the same "mad Russian" character that he played in this film. ...
The working title of this was Young People. David Freedman, who died in Dec 1936, was a successful radio writer who worked extensively with Eddie Cantor. According to a Nov 1936 HR news item, Joseph Santley was first slated to direct the picture and went to New York with writer Nat Perrin to "comb nightclubs, cafes, radio programs, little theaters and amateur shows for promising unknowns." A Mar 1937 HR news item announced that RKO had signed Jimmy Dorsey and his orchestra to record music for the film, but the exact nature of their contribution to the production, if any, has not been determined. In the film, Eddie Rio, of The Rio Brothers, performs a pantomime of a woman taking a bath. According to MPAA/PCA files at the AMPAS Library, this skit caused the PCA to reject the picture on 15 Jun 1937 for "vulgarity." By 19 Jun 1937, however, the film was approved by the censor. The vaudeville team of Lowe, Hite & Stanley consisted of a dwarf, a normal-sized man and a "giant." In the film, they perform a tap dance number.
New Faces of 1937 marked the sound, feature-film debut of actor-comedian Milton Berle (1908-2002). At the time of this production, Berle was a regular performer on the CBS radio show Community Sing. According to Var, Tommy Mack was a featured player with Berle. Bert Gordon was a featured player on Eddie Cantor's radio program, which was sponsored by Texaco Oil. On Cantor's show, he portrayed the same "mad Russian" character that he played in this film. Harry Einstein also became known on Cantor's show with his Greek character "Parkyakarkus," a stage name he eventually adopted as his own. In 1937, Joe Penner had his own show on radio, which was sponsored by Cocomalt. The Four Playboys performed on Ben Bernie's radio program, according to Var. HR production charts and news items add comic dancers Buster West and Melissa Mason to the cast, but their participation in the final film has not been confirmed.
Modern sources state that the reactions of the public as well as the distributors to the film, which was supposed to showcase RKO's new talent, were so negative that RKO cancelled plans to do a sequel called New Faces of 1938. Although not a direct remake, Mel Brooks's 1967 Embassy Pictures release, The Producers, which starred Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder, featured the same plot premise as used in this film (see AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1961-70; F6.3933).
After his latest musical revue flops, Broadway producer Robert Hunt reveals to his dim-witted assistant Parky how he made money by tricking four different backers into investing in the show for eighty-five per cent of the profits each. To assure a flop and therefore profits for himself, Hunt threw out all of the good numbers in the revue and replaced them with inferior ones. Now hounded by creditors, Hunt prepares to drop out of the business until chorus girl Patricia Harrington offers him $15,000 to produce her boyfriend Jimmy Thompson's show, "New Faces." Unable to resist the money, Hunt agrees and begins casting the worst acts in New York. When Elaine Dorset, the disgruntled star of his last revue, threatens to expose his fraud, however, Hunt suddenly "takes ill" and abandons the show to Wallington Wedge, a would-be producer who has already lost most of his money to Hunt. Unaware of Hunt's scheming, Wedge fires the bad performers, including Seymore Seymore, a sincere but untalented singing magician. Then to Jimmy and Patricia's delight, he casts a variety of outstanding performers, including Seymore's girl friend Suzy and, in the show's lead, Patricia. During rehearsals, however, Elaine informs Wedge of Hunt's plot and, intimating that Wedge will now be responsible to the backers, convinces him to re-think his strategy. Wedge, who has gone broke trying to make money in the stock market, consequently re-casts the show, further confusing Patricia and Jimmy. On the way to an Atlantic City preview, Patricia pleads with Wedge to change the revue's lineup once again, and in spite of the presence of the backers on the train, he relents. ...
After his latest musical revue flops, Broadway producer Robert Hunt reveals to his dim-witted assistant Parky how he made money by tricking four different backers into investing in the show for eighty-five per cent of the profits each. To assure a flop and therefore profits for himself, Hunt threw out all of the good numbers in the revue and replaced them with inferior ones. Now hounded by creditors, Hunt prepares to drop out of the business until chorus girl Patricia Harrington offers him $15,000 to produce her boyfriend Jimmy Thompson's show, "New Faces." Unable to resist the money, Hunt agrees and begins casting the worst acts in New York. When Elaine Dorset, the disgruntled star of his last revue, threatens to expose his fraud, however, Hunt suddenly "takes ill" and abandons the show to Wallington Wedge, a would-be producer who has already lost most of his money to Hunt. Unaware of Hunt's scheming, Wedge fires the bad performers, including Seymore Seymore, a sincere but untalented singing magician. Then to Jimmy and Patricia's delight, he casts a variety of outstanding performers, including Seymore's girl friend Suzy and, in the show's lead, Patricia. During rehearsals, however, Elaine informs Wedge of Hunt's plot and, intimating that Wedge will now be responsible to the backers, convinces him to re-think his strategy. Wedge, who has gone broke trying to make money in the stock market, consequently re-casts the show, further confusing Patricia and Jimmy. On the way to an Atlantic City preview, Patricia pleads with Wedge to change the revue's lineup once again, and in spite of the presence of the backers on the train, he relents. As the show unfolds, the backers gather backstage, where they eventually deduce Hunt's fraud. After a heated confrontation, Jimmy convinces the backers to divide the profits evenly, and everyone, including Seymore, whose impromptu number was the revue's surprise comedy hit, leaves satisfied.
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