Wonderland Burlesque's Let's All Go To The Movies: Comics In Hollywood

Wonderland Burlesque's

Let's All Go To The Movies:

Comics In Hollywood

Today, we take a look at six classic films starring renowned comics. Be it vaudeville, the stage or the big screen, these comedians all go Hollywood in a big way.

Yes, they'll do anything for a laugh.

So, sit back, relax, and enjoy these tidbits about these big hits, guaranteed to bring a smile to your face.

Let's dig in...

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The Princess And The Pirate

(1944)

A princess is travelling incognito to elope with her true love instead of marrying the man her father has betrothed her to. On the high seas, her ship is attacked by pirates who know her identity. They plan to kidnap her and hold her for a king's ransom. Little do the cutthroats know that she will be rescued by that unlikeliest of knights - an timid actor who just happens to have the cabin next to hers - who will lead them all on a merry and madcap chase.

Based on a story by Sy Bartlett, this comedy was directed by David Butler and stars Bob Hope and Virginia Mayo.

Actress Lenore Aubert wanted and campaigned for the starring role in this movie and was under contract to Samuel Goldwyn at the time. However, Goldwyn felt Virginia Mayo was right for the part.

Samuel Goldwyn paid Paramount $133,500 to borrow Bob Hope for twelve weeks. During that time, Hope made this film and They Got Me Covered (1943). As part of the deal, Paramount also got the services of Goldwyn contract player Gary Cooper for the lead in For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943).

After Bob Hope didn't get the girl his character jokingly proclaimed "This is the last film I do for Goldwyn", and in actuality it was. He never worked for Samuel Goldwyn again.

This film received Academy Award nominations for Best Art Direction and Best Music Score. David Rose was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Score, while Ernst Fegté and Howard Bristol were nominated for Best Art Direction.

At the end, when Bing Crosby makes his customary cameo, the last line he delivers, to Hope, is "Oh, go sell your rack shellac." This was a reference to Pepsodent Toothpaste, which sponsored Hope's popular radio show, The Pepsodent Hour, from 1938 to 1948.

There are several passing musical references to Bob Hope's theme song, Thanks for the Memory; jokes about his friend Bing Crosby; and his prior movie, The Road to Morocco.

Virginia Mayo was in a series of popular comedy films with Danny Kaye and was Warner Bros. biggest box-office draw in the late 1940s. She also co-starred in the 1946 Oscar-winning movie The Best Years of Our Lives.

Virginia Mayo

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That's The Spirit

(1945)

A vaudeville performer returns from the dead to help his wife and daughter, who are being harassed by a greedy banker.

Released on June 1, 1945, by Universal Pictures, this comedy was directed by Charles Lamont and stars Peggy Ryan, Jack Oakie, June Vincent, Gene Lockhart, Johnny Coy, Andy Devine, Arthur Treacher, Irene Ryan and Buster Keaton.

Jack Oakie starred mostly in films, but also worked on stage, radio and television. He is most remembered for his portrayal of Napaloni in Chaplin's The Great Dictator (1940). He received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his work on that film.

In 1940, Oakie and his wife acquired the former Marwyck estate belonging to actress Barbara Stanwyck. Stanwyck had commissioned the original residence designed by Paul Williams. Oakie planted a citrus orchard and bred Afghan Hounds, at one time having up to 100 dogs on the property.

Peggy Ryan was best known for her musicals with Gloria Jean and Donald O'Connor. The three teens did five such pictures together. After that, she was frequently paired with Jack Oakie or Abbott and Costello. 

Buster Keaton remains one of the most fascinating untold stories in Hollywood. He ended his own career as a leading man due to a fight with Louis B. Mayer over Keaton's love of a good party. Mayer fired Keaton and even though Irving Thalberg got Mayer to greenlight a parody of Grand Hotel which Keaton had proposed, Keaton refused to do it because Mayer would not apologize for throwing all his drinking buddies and their girlfriends out of his studio dressing room. 

Peggy Ryan

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Merton Of The Movies

(1947)

In 1915, Merton, a Kansas theater usher is a rabid silent-movie fan. When he brings Mammoth Studios free publicity by imitating star one of their leading man's heroics, they bring him to Hollywood to generate another headline. Convinced  he'll get a movie contract, Merton is quickly disillusioned. Still, he haunts the casting offices, where he meets and is consoled by a beautiful bit player and stunt-woman. And when Merton finally gets his big break? Well, it's not quite what he envisioned, but that's show biz!

Based on the 1922 novel of the same name written by Harry Leon Wilson, and the play of the same name written by George S. Kaufmann and Marc Connelly, this comedy had previously been adapted as a 1924 silent film of the same name and  the 1932 film Make Me a Star. This version stars Red Skelton, Virginia O'Brien, Gloria Graham, and James Ames and was directed by choreographer Robert Alton.

This was Robert Alton's directorial debut.

Due to negative reception from sneak preview audiences, extensive reshoots were required before a widespread release.

This was Virginia O'Brien's final starring role and the last film she made for MGM. After this she had small roles in two later films but otherwise retired from the screen.

According to MGM records the movie earned $1,274,000 in the US and Canada and $438,000 elsewhere, making a loss to the studio of $367,000.

This film was made into a comic book in 1947: Fiction House Movie Comics #4.

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The Great Rupert

(1950)

AKA: The Christmas Wish

With Christmas Eve just around the corner, a song-and-dance performer, whose glory days are behind him, finds himself forced to part ways with his extraordinary, indispensable, kilt-wearing companion Rupert, the squirrel. In addition, another struggling vaudevillian, moves into a cold flat belonging to a miserly landlord  with his family. When an unexpected Christmas miracle takes place, the family gets a taste of the good life thanks to the godsent gift. But that's also when the police start to suspect foul play. Does stealthy Rupert the squirrel have something to do with their newfound happiness?

Based on a story written by Ted Allan which had been published as a children's book under the title Willie the Squowse, this comedy family film stars Jimmy Durante, Tom Drake and Terry Moore. It was produced by George Pal and directed by Irving Pichel.

This was the first feature-length film for producer George Pal. The stop-motion animation used in creating the illusion of a dancing squirrel was so realistic that Pal received many inquiries as to where he got a squirrel that was trained to dance.

Jimmy Durante was actually a last-minute addition to the cast. As a result, Terry Moore's billing was dropped from first to second. The script was also modified to allow for Durante-style patter and songs.

The film was shot in 1948 but not released until 1950. It was later re-released as a holiday film as A Christmas Wish.

Terry Moore's career was so hectic during this period that she claims that she didn't see this film until over 35 years later when Margie Little, Jimmy Durante's widow, ran a private print for her.

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Silent Movie

(1976)

A trio of  aspiring filmmakers go to a financially troubled studio with an idea for a silent movie. In an effort to make the movie more marketable, they attempt to recruit a number of big name stars to appear, while the studio's creditors attempt to thwart them. The film contains a single word of dialogue, spoken by an unlikely source.

Released by 20th Century Fox in the summer of 1976, this satirical comedy was co-written, directed by and stars Mel Brooks, The ensemble cast includes Dom DeLuise, Marty Feldman, Bernadette Peters, and Sid Caesar, with cameos by Anne Bancroft, Liza Minnelli, Burt Reynolds, James Caan, Marcel Marceau, and Paul Newman as themselves.

While a huge box office hit, the film received mostly mixed reviews. Roger Ebert gave the film a four-star review and called it "not only funny, but fun." He cited as positive elements the ability of Brooks to do anything for a laugh and the world of his films where everything is possible. He stated that Brooks took "a considerable stylistic risk" which he managed to pull off "triumphantly". He considered the film equal in comedic ability to Blazing Saddles (1974), superior to Young Frankenstein (1974), and inferior to The Producers (1968)

It received three Golden Globe nominations: Best Picture – Comedy or Musical, Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical (Mel Brooks) and Best Supporting Actor Marty Feldman.

 

The film is produced in the manner of a 20th-century silent film with intertitles instead of spoken dialogue; the soundtrack consists almost entirely of accompanying music and sound effects. It is an affectionate parody of slapstick comedies, including those of Charlie Chaplin, Mack Sennett, and Buster Keaton.

Six big stars are signed to make the movie: Burt Reynolds, James Caan, Liza Minnelli, Marcel Marceau, Anne Bancroft, and Paul Newman. Brooks claimed that he was able to get all of the big star cameos for under three hundred dollars a day, far below their normal salaries.

This was the first silent film since Charlie Chaplin's Modern Times (1936).

Brooks and his writers concocted a sight gag they loved, in which the customers at a seafood restaurant would be human-sized lobsters, who pick terrified humans out of an aquarium to be cooked for dinner. However, the gag bombed at sneak previews, and was deleted.

The first of Brooks' films in which he plays the lead role.

Marcel Marceau, the famous mime, has the only speaking line in this movie: "Non!" (when refusing a role in the silent film). As a result, the movie has been listed in the Guinness Book Of World Records as having the fewest spoken lines of any sound movie.

According to Carl Reiner's book, My Anecdotal Life, he taught Anne Bancroft how to cross her eyes one at a time. She does this in her scene with Marty Feldman, and again during the credits.

The movie features the first onscreen pairing of Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft, who dance a tango together. The couple were married from 1964 until Bancroft's death in 2005.

The running gag with all the Coke products is a reference to Mel Brooks' wife and guest star in the movie, Anne Bancroft. In 1963, Bancroft was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for The Miracle Worker (1962), but was appearing on Broadway in Mother Courage and Her Children, (with Gene Wilder) and couldn't attend the awards ceremony. Joan Crawford convinced Bancroft to let her accept the Oscar on her behalf, so she (Crawford) could upstage Bette Davis, her despised co-star in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962), who was also nominated. Crawford, a longtime member of the Board of Directors for Pepsi Co., had never thanked Bancroft for allowing her to do that and hard feelings existed between the two actresses for years afterwards.

Alan Alda recalled being at the film's premiere. He laughed loudly and frequently and went up to Brooks and Bancroft after the screening to tell them how much he enjoyed the film, at which point Bancroft turned to her husband and said, "See Mel, I told you there would be some idiot who would think this film is funny."

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World's Greatest Lover

(1977)

In early 1920s Hollywood, a high-powered studio head who surrounds himself with yes men, wants his movie studio to be the greatest in town by making a movie called The World's Greatest Lover and finding that next star to outshine Rudolph Valentino as the renowned screen lover of his time. A mild-mannered, somewhat hapless would-be actor dreams of being such a movie star; he daydreams about it so much that he is unable to hold down a job at various  bakeries. With his supportive but highly hysterical wife by his side, the would-be actor, using the stage name Rudy Valentine, pulls up stakes from Milwaukee and heads to Hollywood to try out for the lead in The World's Greatest Lover. He ends up getting a screen test  - just like the thousands of other hopefuls flooding Hollywood hoping to win the part. His wife, who loves the movies herself but is naïve due to her lack of exposure to the real world, has ulterior motives for going to Hollywood. In the end, both his wife and the real Valentino himself will have a huge impact one Rudy's quest in Hollywood.

This comedy film directed, written by and stars Gene Wilder, with Carol Kane and Dom DeLuise.

Gene Wilder conceived the idea for this movie during late 1975 when Wilder said to his friend, Production Designer Terence Marsh, that he would like to play Rudolph Valentino's double, with Valentino playing a silent secondary supporting role to his stand-in leading character. Marsh loved the concept, and Wilder proceeded to develop the picture.

Wilder performed five duties on this picture; he was director, producer, screenwriter, songwriter, and lead actor. This would be Wilder's only picture as a producer, and his second directorial effort after The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother (1975).

The film was freely adapted from Federico Fellini's The White Sheik (1952)). The film carries a credit to Federico Fellini 'for encouragement at the right time'.

Carol Kane was made up to resemble silent film star Zasu Pitts. Kane also appeared in another movie about the silent era released in the same year. That movie was Ken Russell's Valentino (1977).

Despite the negative critical reception, the film was a commercial success. Produced on a budget of $4.8 million, the film grossed $21 million at the box office. Roger Ebert, in particular, bemoaned the fact that Wilder had his heart seat on becoming a director, for that meant he would not be appearing in better films, like those of Mel Brooks.

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And that's all for now.

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