Hollywood steps out
Encyclopedia
Hollywood Steps Out is a 1941 short Merrie Melodies
cartoon by Warner Brothers, directed by Tex Avery
. The cartoon features caricature
s of Hollywood
celebrities from the 1930s and early 1940s.
beat. The action takes place in the famed Ciro's
nightclub, where the Hollywood stars are having dinner - at $50 ($ today) a plate and "easy terms". The first stars seen are Claudette Colbert
, Don Ameche
and, at a table behind them, Adolphe Menjou
and Norma Shearer
, followed by Cary Grant
, seated alone. Grant talks to himself: “What a place! What a place! It’s as pretty as a picture. But if I ever told my favorite wife
the awful truth
I'd land right on the front page
. Yessireee Bobby.” (All these jokes are references to some of his films, except The Front Page
which does not star Grant, but was remade as His Girl Friday
in 1940, a film that does star him).
Then Greta Garbo
comes along selling "cigars, cigarettes, butts." Grant buys some, tossing a quarter
($ today) into her tray and asks her for a light. Garbo lifts her enormous foot on the table and strikes a match on the shoe, then lights Grant’s cigarette. Garbo is considered even today to have been an extremely beautiful woman, but she did have very large feet, and this was caricatured repeatedly in Warner Brothers cartoons of the era.
In the next scene Edward G. Robinson
asks Ann Sheridan
: "How’s the Oomph girl tonight?" Sheridan responds by uttering the word "Oomph" several times. Her final "Oomph" surprises Robinson. (Sheridan was a sex symbol known as the "Oomph" girl in those years.)
The camera then tracks past some tables: the first one has Henry Binder and Leon Schlesinger
sitting there as an in-joke
, while the soundtrack quotes "Merrily We Roll Along
" - the theme to the Merrie Melodies series. (Schlesinger was producer for the Looney Tunes
cartoons and Binder was his assistant.) The camera shows some other tables which are reserved for people: Bette Davis
, a large sofa for Kate Smith
(a well known singer at the time, noted for her ample girth), and the last table isn't reserved for movie actors at all, but for comic (and movie and radio) characters: Blondie
, Dagwood
, and Baby Dumpling, with a fire hydrant
for Daisy the dog.
Meanwhile, in the cloakroom
Johnny Weissmuller
has arrived. He leaves his overcoat behind to reveal his Tarzan
outfit - with the single addition of tuxedo collar and black tie. Sally Rand
(famous for her striptease acts and fan dance
), leaves her trademark feather "fans" behind and leaves presumably naked, as only her hands are seen and not her entire self-figure.The hatcheck girl is Paulette Goddard
.
In the next scene James Cagney
informs Humphrey Bogart
and George Raft
that they must prepare to do something risky. The trio, all known for their “tough guy” roles, get ready, turn, and start pitching pennies. Harpo Marx
, usually the prankster in the Marx Brothers
films, sticks some matches under Garbo's foot, then lights it. Garbo reacts very slowly and coolly to the pain in reference to her serene and cool acting style by slowly saying, "Ouuchhh." Then Clark Gable
spots a girl, whom he follows with his head turning around 180 degrees (Gable was known for his womanizing).
After this, Bing Crosby
announces the first act that evening. During his speech he is interrupted by a jockey
on a race horse (a reference to Crosby’s fondness for horse racing - he owned several race horses - and his lack of luck in that sport. Jokes about Crosby's horse racing passion would be referenced in other Warner Brothers cartoons as well, such as The Old Grey Hare
). Crosby then introduces the first musical number by conductor Leopold Stokowski
. Stokowski, seen with a snood
containing his long hair, prepares himself dramatically and seriously to conducting what looks to be a classical orchestral arrangement. However, it’s a conga that he conducts, moving rhythmically to the beat as he does so.
The beat “does something” to Dorothy Lamour
, who is seen sitting at a table with James Stewart
. She begs him to go dancing with her. Stewart starts stuttering and hesitating, but in the end agrees to follow her to the dance floor. (Stewart was known for his "shy guy" type roles.) When she moves her body to the beat he gets scared and runs away, leaving a sign reading Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
, the title of one of his best-known films at that time.
The next shot shows Gable again, moving to the beat and at the same time following the girl he saw earlier.
Tyrone Power
dances with Sonja Henie
(known for her ice skating movies), who is still wearing her ice skates. Frankenstein's monster
is dancing very stiffly and woodenly. The Three Stooges poke and smash each other in rhythm to the beat, a reference to their famous “poke in the eye” slapstick films. Oliver Hardy
dances with someone as well and is shown from the back. When he turns his face to the camera he is revealed to be dancing with two girls at the same time; a double reference to Hardy's "ladies man" routine within the Laurel and Hardy
series and also to his obesity. Cesar Romero
, known for his roles as a Latino lover, dances with Rita Hayworth
in another sendup or tease. The two are shown in the long shot to be dancing with almost spastic in-coordination. In reality, Hayworth and Romero were both considered to be excellent dancers.
The camera then cuts to Mickey Rooney
and Judy Garland
sitting at a table. The waiter brings an expensive bill, which shocks Rooney. He asks his “father”, Judge Hardy (Lewis Stone
), for a favor. In the next scene both are seen washing the dishes to the conga beat (this is a reference to the Andy Hardy
film series in which Rooney played the small town boy who always got into trouble with money and girls. Lewis Stone played the part of Andy’s father: Judge Hardy; Judy played Andy's girlfriend).
Gable is shown still following the girl. Then Crosby introduces the final act, again interrupted by the same jockey on his race horse. Sally Rand
(identified as "Sally Strand") performs the bubble dance
(it is never shown how she got a bubble in the first place, although it is impossible to get a bubble like the one shown in the short) to "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles
", a famous scene from her film Bolero
, in complete nudity, which is never seen although parts of her body get revealed.
Kay Kyser
(a well-known band leader at the time, nicknamed “The Professor” because he and his band were featured on radio's "The Kollege Of Musical Knowledge") is shown dressed in his "Professor" Square academic cap
. He is excited by the act and shouts out: “Students!” (his catchphrase on the radio show; whenever a contestant missed an answer, he called out to his audience for the correct answer) A group of people look, whistle in unison and exclaim: “Baby!” They are William Powell
, Spencer Tracy
, Gilbert Roland
and Errol Flynn
. Sitting down are Wallace Beery
and C. Aubrey Smith. Peter Lorre
, known for his portrayal of sinister and weird characters, says dreamingly: “I haven't seen such a beautiful bubble since I was a child.” This is a possible reference to Lorre's breakthrough film role in Europe, a movie titled "M"
, in which Lorre played a murderous child molester. Henry Fonda
enjoys the act too, but is pulled away by his mother. This is a reference to the popular radio show The Aldrich Family
which always opened with the cry: "Hen-RYYYYY! Henry Aldrich!" by the mother of the teenage title character, Henry Aldrich, who always replied, "Coming, Mother!" J. Edgar Hoover
says “Gee!” several times as a pun
to his function as G-man
. Boris Karloff
, Arthur Treacher
, Buster Keaton
and Mischa Auer
watch the spectacle without any emotion (typical for their film roles; all were known for playing dour, deadpan roles). Ned Sparks
, another famous movie "grouch" asks them if they are having a good time. They all respond dryly: “Yes.” Jerry Colonna reacts in excitement to the act and utters his catchphrases “Guess who?”, and the camera reveals an invisible character next to him: “Yehudi!” (“Who’s Yehudi?” was a catch phrase
Colonna was famous for, referring to a violinist he could never find, hence an "invisible man".) The camera zooms back to Strand lifting up her bubble, whereupon the camera follows the bubble with Sally out of sight, thus never revealing the nude dancer, and the bubble comes back down again and Sally catches it and she is once again holding the bubble in front of her.
Finally Harpo Marx
shoots the bubble with a slingshot. The bubble explodes and Sally Rand is shown wearing a barrel
underneath. She reacts with shock, and the curtains close to signify the end of the dance. The conga stops and the cartoon cuts to Gable who has finally caught the girl he was chasing, insisting she kiss him. "She" turns out to be Groucho Marx
in drag -- "Well, fancy meeting you here!"
(as a cigarette girl
) offers Cary Grant
a cigarette and lights it with the sole of her large high heeled shoe and another where Harpo Marx
puts a row of matches under Garbo's shoe and lights them, giving her a hotfoot, only to have her slowly react to the pain. http://looney.goldenagecartoons.com/ltcuts/h/
Merrie Melodies
Merrie Melodies is the name of a series of animated cartoons distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures between 1931 and 1969.Originally produced by Harman-Ising Pictures, Merrie Melodies were produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions from 1933 to 1944. Schlesinger sold his studio to Warner Bros. in 1944,...
cartoon by Warner Brothers, directed by Tex Avery
Tex Avery
Frederick Bean "Fred/Tex" Avery was an American animator, cartoonist, voice actor and director, famous for producing animated cartoons during The Golden Age of Hollywood animation. He did his most significant work for the Warner Bros...
. The cartoon features caricature
Caricature
A caricature is a portrait that exaggerates or distorts the essence of a person or thing to create an easily identifiable visual likeness. In literature, a caricature is a description of a person using exaggeration of some characteristics and oversimplification of others.Caricatures can be...
s of Hollywood
Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
Hollywood is a famous district in Los Angeles, California, United States situated west-northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Due to its fame and cultural identity as the historical center of movie studios and movie stars, the word Hollywood is often used as a metonym of American cinema...
celebrities from the 1930s and early 1940s.
Plot
A large bird's-eye view of a city is shown with beams of light moving to a congaConga
The conga, or more properly the tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed Cuban drum with African antecedents. It is thought to be derived from the Makuta drums or similar drums associated with Afro-Cubans of Central African descent. A person who plays conga is called a conguero...
beat. The action takes place in the famed Ciro's
Ciro's
Ciro's was a nightclub in West Hollywood, California, at 8433 Sunset Boulevard, on the Sunset Strip, opened in January 1940, by entrepreneur William Wilkerson. Herman Hover took over management of Ciro's in 1942 until it closed its doors in 1957...
nightclub, where the Hollywood stars are having dinner - at $50 ($ today) a plate and "easy terms". The first stars seen are Claudette Colbert
Claudette Colbert
Claudette Colbert was a French-born American-based actress of stage and film.Born in Paris, France and raised in New York City, Colbert began her career in Broadway productions during the 1920s, progressing to film with the advent of talking pictures...
, Don Ameche
Don Ameche
Don Ameche was an Academy Award winning American actor with a career spanning almost sixty years.-Personal life:...
and, at a table behind them, Adolphe Menjou
Adolphe Menjou
Adolphe Jean Menjou was an American actor. His career spanned both silent films and talkies, appearing in such films as The Sheik, A Woman of Paris, Morocco, and A Star is Born...
and Norma Shearer
Norma Shearer
Edith Norma Shearer was a Canadian-American actress. Shearer was one of the most popular actresses in North America from the mid-1920s through the 1930s...
, followed by Cary Grant
Cary Grant
Archibald Alexander Leach , better known by his stage name Cary Grant, was an English actor who later took U.S. citizenship...
, seated alone. Grant talks to himself: “What a place! What a place! It’s as pretty as a picture. But if I ever told my favorite wife
My Favorite Wife
My Favorite Wife is a 1940 screwball comedy produced and co-written by Leo McCarey and directed by Garson Kanin. The movie stars Irene Dunne as a woman who returns to her husband and children after being shipwrecked on a tropical island for several years, and Cary Grant as her husband...
the awful truth
The Awful Truth
The Awful Truth is a 1937 screwball comedy film starring Irene Dunne and Cary Grant. The plot concerns the machinations of a soon-to-be-divorced couple, played by Dunne and Grant, who go to great lengths to try to ruin each other's romantic escapades...
I'd land right on the front page
The Front Page (1931 film)
The Front Page is a 1931 American comedy film, directed by Lewis Milestone and starring Adolphe Menjou and Pat O'Brien. Based on a Broadway play of the same name, the film was produced by Howard Hughes, written by Bartlett Cormack and Charles Lederer, and distributed by United Artists. The...
. Yessireee Bobby.” (All these jokes are references to some of his films, except The Front Page
The Front Page (1931 film)
The Front Page is a 1931 American comedy film, directed by Lewis Milestone and starring Adolphe Menjou and Pat O'Brien. Based on a Broadway play of the same name, the film was produced by Howard Hughes, written by Bartlett Cormack and Charles Lederer, and distributed by United Artists. The...
which does not star Grant, but was remade as His Girl Friday
His Girl Friday
His Girl Friday is a 1940 American screwball comedy film directed by Howard Hawks, an adaptation by Charles Lederer, Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur of the play The Front Page by Hecht and MacArthur...
in 1940, a film that does star him).
Then Greta Garbo
Greta Garbo
Greta Garbo , born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson, was a Swedish film actress. Garbo was an international star and icon during Hollywood's silent and classic periods. Many of Garbo's films were sensational hits, and all but three were profitable...
comes along selling "cigars, cigarettes, butts." Grant buys some, tossing a quarter
Quarter (United States coin)
A quarter dollar, commonly shortened to quarter, is a coin worth ¼ of a United States dollar, or 25 cents. The quarter has been produced since 1796. The choice of 25¢ as a denomination, as opposed to 20¢ which is more common in other parts of the world, originated with the practice of dividing...
($ today) into her tray and asks her for a light. Garbo lifts her enormous foot on the table and strikes a match on the shoe, then lights Grant’s cigarette. Garbo is considered even today to have been an extremely beautiful woman, but she did have very large feet, and this was caricatured repeatedly in Warner Brothers cartoons of the era.
In the next scene Edward G. Robinson
Edward G. Robinson
Edward G. Robinson was a Romanian-born American actor. A popular star during Hollywood's Golden Age, he is best remembered for his roles as gangsters, such as Rico in his star-making film Little Caesar and as Rocco in Key Largo...
asks Ann Sheridan
Ann Sheridan
-Life and career:Born Clara Lou Sheridan in Denton, Texas on February 21, 1915, she was a student at the University of North Texas when her sister sent a photograph of her to Paramount Pictures. She subsequently entered and won a beauty contest, with part of her prize being a bit part in a...
: "How’s the Oomph girl tonight?" Sheridan responds by uttering the word "Oomph" several times. Her final "Oomph" surprises Robinson. (Sheridan was a sex symbol known as the "Oomph" girl in those years.)
The camera then tracks past some tables: the first one has Henry Binder and Leon Schlesinger
Leon Schlesinger
Leon Schlesinger was an American film producer, most noted for founding Leon Schlesinger Productions, which later became the Warner Bros. Cartoons studio, during the golden age of Hollywood animation.-Early life and career:...
sitting there as an in-joke
In-joke
An in-joke, also known as an inside joke or in joke, is a joke whose humour is clear only to people who are in a particular social group, occupation, or other community of common understanding...
, while the soundtrack quotes "Merrily We Roll Along
Merrily We Roll Along (song)
"Merrily We Roll Along" is a song loosely based on the 1847 song "Goodnight, Ladies" by E. P. Christy. Written by Charlie Tobias, Murray Mencher, and Eddie Cantor in 1935, and used in the Warner Bros cartoon Billboard Frolics that same year, it is best known as the theme of Warner Bros.' Merrie...
" - the theme to the Merrie Melodies series. (Schlesinger was producer for the Looney Tunes
Looney Tunes
Looney Tunes is a Warner Bros. animated cartoon series. It preceded the Merrie Melodies series and was Warner Bros.'s first animated theatrical series. Since its first official release, 1930's Sinkin' in the Bathtub, the series has become a worldwide media franchise, spawning several television...
cartoons and Binder was his assistant.) The camera shows some other tables which are reserved for people: Bette Davis
Bette Davis
Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis was an American actress of film, television and theater. Noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic characters, she was highly regarded for her performances in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional...
, a large sofa for Kate Smith
Kate Smith
Kathryn Elizabeth "Kate" Smith was an American Popular singer, best known for her rendition of Irving Berlin's "God Bless America". Smith had a radio, television, and recording career spanning five decades, which reached its pinnacle in the 1940s.Smith was born in Greenville, Virginia...
(a well known singer at the time, noted for her ample girth), and the last table isn't reserved for movie actors at all, but for comic (and movie and radio) characters: Blondie
Blondie (comic strip)
Blondie is an American comic strip created by cartoonist Chic Young. Distributed by King Features Syndicate, the strip has been published in newspapers since September 8, 1930...
, Dagwood
Dagwood Bumstead
Dagwood Bumstead is a main character in comic artist Chic Young's long-running comic strip Blondie. He first appeared sometime prior to 17 February 1933....
, and Baby Dumpling, with a fire hydrant
Fire hydrant
A fire hydrant , is an active fire protection measure, and a source of water provided in most urban, suburban and rural areas with municipal water service to enable firefighters to tap into the municipal water...
for Daisy the dog.
Meanwhile, in the cloakroom
Cloakroom
A cloakroom, or sometimes coatroom, is a room for people to hang their cloaks. They are typically found inside large buildings, such as gymnasiums, schools, churches or meeting halls....
Johnny Weissmuller
Johnny Weissmuller
Johnny Weissmuller was an Austro-Hungarian-born American swimmer and actor best known for playing Tarzan in movies. Weissmuller was one of the world's best swimmers in the 1920s, winning five Olympic gold medals and one bronze medal. He won fifty-two US National Championships and set sixty-seven...
has arrived. He leaves his overcoat behind to reveal his Tarzan
Tarzan
Tarzan is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungles by the Mangani "great apes"; he later experiences civilization only to largely reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adventurer...
outfit - with the single addition of tuxedo collar and black tie. Sally Rand
Sally Rand
Sally Rand was a burlesque dancer and actress, most noted for her ostrich feather fan dance and balloon bubble dance. She also performed under the name Billie Beck.-Early life and career:...
(famous for her striptease acts and fan dance
Fan dance
A fan dance is a dance performed with one or more fans. This form has been adapted in various countries. The Korean fan dance, for example, evolved from Joseon Dynasty court dances and remains a popular form of traditional Korean dance. The Spanish or Portuguese flamenco makes dramatic use of fans...
), leaves her trademark feather "fans" behind and leaves presumably naked, as only her hands are seen and not her entire self-figure.The hatcheck girl is Paulette Goddard
Paulette Goddard
Paulette Goddard was an American film and theatre actress. A former child fashion model and in several Broadway productions as Ziegfeld Girl, she was a major star of the Paramount Studio in the 1940s. She was married to several notable men, including Charlie Chaplin, Burgess Meredith, and Erich...
.
In the next scene James Cagney
James Cagney
James Francis Cagney, Jr. was an American actor, first on stage, then in film, where he had his greatest impact. Although he won acclaim and major awards for a wide variety of performances, he is best remembered for playing "tough guys." In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked him eighth...
informs Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey DeForest Bogart was an American actor. He is widely regarded as a cultural icon.The American Film Institute ranked Bogart as the greatest male star in the history of American cinema....
and George Raft
George Raft
George Raft was an American film actor and dancer identified with portrayals of gangsters in crime melodramas of the 1930s and 1940s...
that they must prepare to do something risky. The trio, all known for their “tough guy” roles, get ready, turn, and start pitching pennies. Harpo Marx
Harpo Marx
Adolph "Harpo" Marx was an American comedian and film star. He was the second oldest of the Marx Brothers. His comic style was influenced by clown and pantomime traditions. He wore a curly reddish wig, and never spoke during performances...
, usually the prankster in the Marx Brothers
Marx Brothers
The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act, originally from New York City, that enjoyed success in Vaudeville, Broadway, and motion pictures from the early 1900s to around 1950...
films, sticks some matches under Garbo's foot, then lights it. Garbo reacts very slowly and coolly to the pain in reference to her serene and cool acting style by slowly saying, "Ouuchhh." Then Clark Gable
Clark Gable
William Clark Gable , known as Clark Gable, was an American film actor most famous for his role as Rhett Butler in the 1939 Civil War epic film Gone with the Wind, in which he starred with Vivien Leigh...
spots a girl, whom he follows with his head turning around 180 degrees (Gable was known for his womanizing).
After this, Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
announces the first act that evening. During his speech he is interrupted by a jockey
Jockey
A jockey is an athlete who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing.-Etymology:...
on a race horse (a reference to Crosby’s fondness for horse racing - he owned several race horses - and his lack of luck in that sport. Jokes about Crosby's horse racing passion would be referenced in other Warner Brothers cartoons as well, such as The Old Grey Hare
The Old Grey Hare
The Old Grey Hare is a 1944 Warner Bros. cartoon in the Merrie Melodies series, directed by Bob Clampett, written by Michael Sasanoff, music by Carl W. Stalling. Starring an older and young Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd The Old Grey Hare is a 1944 Warner Bros. cartoon in the Merrie Melodies series,...
). Crosby then introduces the first musical number by conductor Leopold Stokowski
Leopold Stokowski
Leopold Anthony Stokowski was a British-born, naturalised American orchestral conductor, well known for his free-hand performing style that spurned the traditional baton and for obtaining a characteristically sumptuous sound from many of the great orchestras he conducted.In America, Stokowski...
. Stokowski, seen with a snood
Snood (headgear)
A snood is historically a type of European female headgear, or in modern times a tubular neck scarf. In the most common form the headgear resembles a close-fitting hood worn over the back of the head...
containing his long hair, prepares himself dramatically and seriously to conducting what looks to be a classical orchestral arrangement. However, it’s a conga that he conducts, moving rhythmically to the beat as he does so.
The beat “does something” to Dorothy Lamour
Dorothy Lamour
Dorothy Lamour was an American film actress. She is best remembered for appearing in the Road to... movies, a series of successful comedies starring Bing Crosby and Bob Hope .-Early life:Lamour was born Mary Leta Dorothy Slaton in New Orleans, Louisiana, the daughter of Carmen Louise Dorothy...
, who is seen sitting at a table with James Stewart
James Stewart (actor)
James Maitland Stewart was an American film and stage actor, known for his distinctive voice and his everyman persona. Over the course of his career, he starred in many films widely considered classics and was nominated for five Academy Awards, winning one in competition and receiving one Lifetime...
. She begs him to go dancing with her. Stewart starts stuttering and hesitating, but in the end agrees to follow her to the dance floor. (Stewart was known for his "shy guy" type roles.) When she moves her body to the beat he gets scared and runs away, leaving a sign reading Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is a 1939 American drama film starring Jean Arthur and James Stewart about one man's effect on American politics. It was directed by Frank Capra and written by Sidney Buchman, based on Lewis R. Foster's unpublished story. Mr...
, the title of one of his best-known films at that time.
The next shot shows Gable again, moving to the beat and at the same time following the girl he saw earlier.
Tyrone Power
Tyrone Power
Tyrone Edmund Power, Jr. , usually credited as Tyrone Power and known sometimes as Ty Power, was an American film and stage actor who appeared in dozens of films from the 1930s to the 1950s, often in swashbuckler roles or romantic leads such as in The Mark of Zorro, Blood and Sand, The Black Swan,...
dances with Sonja Henie
Sonja Henie
Sonja Henie was a Norwegian figure skater and film star. She was a three-time Olympic Champion in Ladies Singles, a ten-time World Champion and a six-time European Champion . Henie won more Olympic and World titles than any other ladies figure skater...
(known for her ice skating movies), who is still wearing her ice skates. Frankenstein's monster
Frankenstein's monster
Frankenstein's monster is a fictional character that first appeared in Mary Shelley's novel, Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus. The creature is often erroneously referred to as "Frankenstein", but in the novel the creature has no name...
is dancing very stiffly and woodenly. The Three Stooges poke and smash each other in rhythm to the beat, a reference to their famous “poke in the eye” slapstick films. Oliver Hardy
Oliver Hardy
Oliver Hardy was an American comic actor famous as one half of Laurel and Hardy, the classic double act that began in the era of silent films and lasted nearly 30 years, from 1927 to 1955.-Early life:...
dances with someone as well and is shown from the back. When he turns his face to the camera he is revealed to be dancing with two girls at the same time; a double reference to Hardy's "ladies man" routine within the Laurel and Hardy
Laurel and Hardy
Laurel and Hardy were one of the most popular and critically acclaimed comedy double acts of the early Classical Hollywood era of American cinema...
series and also to his obesity. Cesar Romero
Cesar Romero
Cesar Julio Romero, Jr. was an American film and television actor who was active in film, radio, and television for almost sixty years...
, known for his roles as a Latino lover, dances with Rita Hayworth
Rita Hayworth
Rita Hayworth was an American film actress and dancer who attained fame during the 1940s as one of the era's top stars...
in another sendup or tease. The two are shown in the long shot to be dancing with almost spastic in-coordination. In reality, Hayworth and Romero were both considered to be excellent dancers.
The camera then cuts to Mickey Rooney
Mickey Rooney
Mickey Rooney is an American film actor and entertainer whose film, television, and stage appearances span nearly his entire lifetime. He has won multiple awards, including an Honorary Academy Award, a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award...
and Judy Garland
Judy Garland
Judy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years and for her renowned contralto voice, she attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage...
sitting at a table. The waiter brings an expensive bill, which shocks Rooney. He asks his “father”, Judge Hardy (Lewis Stone
Lewis Stone
Lewis Shepard Stone was an American actor.Born in Worcester, Massachusetts, son of Bertrand Stone and Philena Heald Ball. Stone's hair grew gray by the time he was twenty. He fought in the Spanish-American War, then returned to a career as a writer. He soon began acting...
), for a favor. In the next scene both are seen washing the dishes to the conga beat (this is a reference to the Andy Hardy
Andy Hardy
Andy Hardy was a fictional character played by Mickey Rooney in an MGM film series from 1937 to 1958. Spanning over 20 years, the 16 movies were based on characters in the play Skidding by Aurania Rouverol....
film series in which Rooney played the small town boy who always got into trouble with money and girls. Lewis Stone played the part of Andy’s father: Judge Hardy; Judy played Andy's girlfriend).
Gable is shown still following the girl. Then Crosby introduces the final act, again interrupted by the same jockey on his race horse. Sally Rand
Sally Rand
Sally Rand was a burlesque dancer and actress, most noted for her ostrich feather fan dance and balloon bubble dance. She also performed under the name Billie Beck.-Early life and career:...
(identified as "Sally Strand") performs the bubble dance
Bubble dance
The bubble dance is an erotic dance developed by Sally Rand. This was an alternative to the striptease, with some similarities to fan dancing. The dancer dances with a huge bubble to make some interesting poses....
(it is never shown how she got a bubble in the first place, although it is impossible to get a bubble like the one shown in the short) to "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles
I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles
"I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles" is a popular song which debuted in 1918 and was first published in 1919.-Creation:The music was written by John Kellette. The lyrics are credited to "Jaan Kenbrovin", actually a collective pseudonym for the writers James Kendis, James Brockman and Nat Vincent...
", a famous scene from her film Bolero
Bolero (1934 film)
Bolero is a musical drama film starring George Raft and Carole Lombard. The movie was a rare chance for Raft to star and to play a dancer, which had been his profession in New York City, rather than a gangster. The film takes its title from the Maurice Ravel composition Boléro .-Plot:The film...
, in complete nudity, which is never seen although parts of her body get revealed.
Kay Kyser
Kay Kyser
James Kern Kyser was a popular bandleader and radio personality of the 1930s and 1940s.-Early years:He was born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, the son of pharmacists Paul Bynum Kyser and Emily Royster Kyser. Editor Vermont C. Royster was his cousin...
(a well-known band leader at the time, nicknamed “The Professor” because he and his band were featured on radio's "The Kollege Of Musical Knowledge") is shown dressed in his "Professor" Square academic cap
Square academic cap
The square academic cap, graduate cap, or mortarboard or Oxford cap, is an item of academic head dress consisting of a horizontal square board fixed upon a skull-cap, with a tassel attached to the center...
. He is excited by the act and shouts out: “Students!” (his catchphrase on the radio show; whenever a contestant missed an answer, he called out to his audience for the correct answer) A group of people look, whistle in unison and exclaim: “Baby!” They are William Powell
William Powell
William Horatio Powell was an American actor.A major star at MGM, he was paired with Myrna Loy in 14 films, including the popular Thin Man series in which Powell and Loy played Nick and Nora Charles...
, Spencer Tracy
Spencer Tracy
Spencer Bonaventure Tracy was an American theatrical and film actor, who appeared in 75 films from 1930 to 1967. Tracy was one of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, ranking among the top ten box office draws for almost every year from 1938 to 1951...
, Gilbert Roland
Gilbert Roland
Gilbert Roland was a Mexican-born American film actor.He was born Luis Antonio Dámaso de Alonso in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico and originally intended to become a bullfighter like his father. When the family moved to the United States, however, he became interested in acting when he was...
and Errol Flynn
Errol Flynn
Errol Leslie Flynn was an Australian-born actor. He was known for his romantic swashbuckler roles in Hollywood films, being a legend and his flamboyant lifestyle.-Early life:...
. Sitting down are Wallace Beery
Wallace Beery
Wallace Fitzgerald Beery was an American actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Bill in Min and Bill opposite Marie Dressler, as Long John Silver in Treasure Island, as Pancho Villa in Viva Villa!, and his titular role in The Champ, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor...
and C. Aubrey Smith. Peter Lorre
Peter Lorre
Peter Lorre was an Austrian-American actor frequently typecast as a sinister foreigner.He caused an international sensation in 1931 with his portrayal of a serial killer who preys on little girls in the German film M...
, known for his portrayal of sinister and weird characters, says dreamingly: “I haven't seen such a beautiful bubble since I was a child.” This is a possible reference to Lorre's breakthrough film role in Europe, a movie titled "M"
M (1931 film)
M is a 1931 German drama-thriller directed by Fritz Lang and written by Lang and his wife Thea von Harbou. It was Lang's first sound film, although he had directed more than a dozen films previously....
, in which Lorre played a murderous child molester. Henry Fonda
Henry Fonda
Henry Jaynes Fonda was an American film and stage actor.Fonda made his mark early as a Broadway actor. He also appeared in 1938 in plays performed in White Plains, New York, with Joan Tompkins...
enjoys the act too, but is pulled away by his mother. This is a reference to the popular radio show The Aldrich Family
The Aldrich Family
The Aldrich Family, a popular radio teenage situation comedy , was also presented in films, television and comic books. In the radio series' well-remembered weekly opening exchange, awkward teen Henry's mother called, "Hen-reeeeeeeeeeeee! Hen-ree Al-drich!", and he responded with a breaking...
which always opened with the cry: "Hen-RYYYYY! Henry Aldrich!" by the mother of the teenage title character, Henry Aldrich, who always replied, "Coming, Mother!" J. Edgar Hoover
J. Edgar Hoover
John Edgar Hoover was the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the United States. Appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation—predecessor to the FBI—in 1924, he was instrumental in founding the FBI in 1935, where he remained director until his death in 1972...
says “Gee!” several times as a pun
Pun
The pun, also called paronomasia, is a form of word play which suggests two or more meanings, by exploiting multiple meanings of words, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use and abuse of homophonic,...
to his function as G-man
G-Man (slang)
G-Man is a slang term for Special agents of the United States Government. It is specifically used as a term for a Federal Bureau of Investigation agent....
. Boris Karloff
Boris Karloff
William Henry Pratt , better known by his stage name Boris Karloff, was an English actor.Karloff is best remembered for his roles in horror films and his portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in Frankenstein , Bride of Frankenstein , and Son of Frankenstein...
, Arthur Treacher
Arthur Treacher
Arthur Veary Treacher was an English actor born in Brighton, East Sussex, England.Treacher was a veteran of World War I. After the war, he established a stage career and in 1928, he went to America as part of a musical-comedy revue called Great Temptations...
, Buster Keaton
Buster Keaton
Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton was an American comic actor, filmmaker, producer and writer. He was best known for his silent films, in which his trademark was physical comedy with a consistently stoic, deadpan expression, earning him the nickname "The Great Stone Face".Keaton was recognized as the...
and Mischa Auer
Mischa Auer
Mischa Auer was a Russian-born American actor.-Early life:Auer was born Mikhail Semyonovich Unskovsky in St. Petersburg, Russia...
watch the spectacle without any emotion (typical for their film roles; all were known for playing dour, deadpan roles). Ned Sparks
Ned Sparks
Ned Sparks was a Canadian character actor. Sparks was well known for his deadpan expression and deep, gravelly voice.-Early life and career:...
, another famous movie "grouch" asks them if they are having a good time. They all respond dryly: “Yes.” Jerry Colonna reacts in excitement to the act and utters his catchphrases “Guess who?”, and the camera reveals an invisible character next to him: “Yehudi!” (“Who’s Yehudi?” was a catch phrase
Catch phrase
A catchphrase is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through a variety of mass media , as well as word of mouth...
Colonna was famous for, referring to a violinist he could never find, hence an "invisible man".) The camera zooms back to Strand lifting up her bubble, whereupon the camera follows the bubble with Sally out of sight, thus never revealing the nude dancer, and the bubble comes back down again and Sally catches it and she is once again holding the bubble in front of her.
Finally Harpo Marx
Harpo Marx
Adolph "Harpo" Marx was an American comedian and film star. He was the second oldest of the Marx Brothers. His comic style was influenced by clown and pantomime traditions. He wore a curly reddish wig, and never spoke during performances...
shoots the bubble with a slingshot. The bubble explodes and Sally Rand is shown wearing a barrel
Barrel
A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container, traditionally made of vertical wooden staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. Traditionally, the barrel was a standard size of measure referring to a set capacity or weight of a given commodity. A small barrel is called a keg.For example, a...
underneath. She reacts with shock, and the curtains close to signify the end of the dance. The conga stops and the cartoon cuts to Gable who has finally caught the girl he was chasing, insisting she kiss him. "She" turns out to be Groucho Marx
Groucho Marx
Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx was an American comedian and film star famed as a master of wit. His rapid-fire delivery of innuendo-laden patter earned him many admirers. He made 13 feature films with his siblings the Marx Brothers, of whom he was the third-born...
in drag -- "Well, fancy meeting you here!"
Censorship
When aired on The WB!, two scenes are cut: one where Greta GarboGreta Garbo
Greta Garbo , born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson, was a Swedish film actress. Garbo was an international star and icon during Hollywood's silent and classic periods. Many of Garbo's films were sensational hits, and all but three were profitable...
(as a cigarette girl
Cigarette girl
Cigarette girl or Cigarette Girl may refer to:*Cigarette girl , someone who sells or provides cigarettes in a casino*Cigarette Girl, a 2009 film*Cigarette Girl *The Cigarette Girl from the Future, an album by Beauty Pill...
) offers Cary Grant
Cary Grant
Archibald Alexander Leach , better known by his stage name Cary Grant, was an English actor who later took U.S. citizenship...
a cigarette and lights it with the sole of her large high heeled shoe and another where Harpo Marx
Harpo Marx
Adolph "Harpo" Marx was an American comedian and film star. He was the second oldest of the Marx Brothers. His comic style was influenced by clown and pantomime traditions. He wore a curly reddish wig, and never spoke during performances...
puts a row of matches under Garbo's shoe and lights them, giving her a hotfoot, only to have her slowly react to the pain. http://looney.goldenagecartoons.com/ltcuts/h/
Production notes
- When announced for the bubble dance Rand is called “Strand” by Crosby, presumably to avoid infringement. Rand refused permission to copy her dance act.
- In one showing of the short, there are actually variants as to how the cartoons runs. In some versions, Cary Grant would say "...I'd land it," but in other versions he would say "...I'd land right on the front page." In the latter version, this is also the version where it shows a more revealing, erotic bubble dance by Sally Strand. If one slows the part where she lifts her bubble up, one can see much more of her nudity than is shown in the former case. The bubble also immediately comes down after going up a certain distance rather than to the left first before coming down. The short is also in high-quality definition as well in this case.
- This is one of the few Warner Bros. cartoons featuring an all humanHumanHumans are the only living species in the Homo genus...
cast, apart from the horse. - Mickey RooneyMickey RooneyMickey Rooney is an American film actor and entertainer whose film, television, and stage appearances span nearly his entire lifetime. He has won multiple awards, including an Honorary Academy Award, a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award...
(age 90) is the only one of the forty-six stars caricatured still living. To most modern day viewers, quite a lot of stars caricatured in the cartoon are quite obscure now. Even with the more recognizable faces the jokes aren't always that clear now as they were in 1941. - Kent RogersKent RogersKent Rogers was a Hollywood impressionist who appeared in several live-action shorts and features and a voice actor for Warner Bros..-Career:...
voiced all of the male celebrities except for Jerry Colonna who was performed by Mel BlancMel BlancMelvin Jerome "Mel" Blanc was an American voice actor and comedian. Although he began his nearly six-decade-long career performing in radio commercials, Blanc is best remembered for his work with Warner Bros...
. Rogers was a gifted impressionist, and only 19 years old when the cartoon was made. In July 1944, he was killed in Pensacola, FloridaPensacola, FloridaPensacola is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle and the county seat of Escambia County, Florida, United States of America. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 56,255 and as of 2009, the estimated population was 53,752...
, during a Navy training flight.
See also
- Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies filmography (1940–1949)
- Mickey's Gala PremiereMickey's Gala PremiereMickey's Gala Premier is a Walt Disney cartoon produced in 1933, directed by Burt Gillett. It features several famous Hollywood film actors from the 1930s.Some sources claim this cartoon is called "Mickey's Gala Premiere"...
- Mickey's Polo TeamMickey's Polo TeamMickey's Polo Team is a short animated film, directed by David Hand and first released on January 4, 1936. The short featured a game of polo between four of Disney's animated characters and four animated caricatures of noted film actors...
- Mother Goose Goes HollywoodMother Goose Goes HollywoodMother Goose Goes Hollywood is an 1938 Walt Disney animated short featuring parodies of Mother Goose nursery rhymes and caricatures of Hollywood celebrities from the 1930s. It is the 73rd of the series....
- The Autograph HoundThe Autograph HoundThe Autograph Hound is a 1939 American Donald Duck cartoon which features Donald Duck as an autograph hunter in Hollywood. Many celebrities from the 1930s are featured. This is the first cartoon where Donald Duck is featured in his blue sailor hat....
- Hollywood DaffyHollywood DaffyHollywood Daffy is a 1946 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon, directed by an uncredited Friz Freleng , written by Michael Maltese, and starring Daffy Duck.-Plot:...
- Slick HareSlick Hare"Slick Hare" is a 1947 Merrie Melodies Bugs Bunny cartoon, directed by Friz Freleng. It parodies the Mocambo nightclub in Los Angeles—in the cartoon referred to as "The Mocrumbo". Mel Blanc voices Bugs and an impression of Humphrey Bogart, while Arthur Q. Bryan voices Elmer Fudd...
- What's Cookin' Doc?What's Cookin' Doc?What's Cookin' Doc? is a 1944 Warner Bros. cartoon in the Merrie Melodies series, directed by Bob Clampett and starring Bugs Bunny. The title is a variant on Bugs' catch-phrase "What's up Doc?". It also hints at one of the scenes in the picture....
External links
- http://classiccartoons.blogspot.com/2006/02/whos-that-guy-hollywood-steps-out.html