Second Fiddle (1939 film)
Encyclopedia
Second Fiddle is a 1939 American
musical
romance film
directed by Sidney Lanfield
and starring Sonja Henie
, Tyrone Power
, Rudy Vallee
and Lyle Talbot
. The score was composed by Irving Berlin
. A Hollywood publicity agent falls in love with a new actress he helped to discover. The film parodies the extensive search for an actress to play Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind
. It is sometimes known as Irving Berlin's Second Fiddle.
he discovers Trudi Hovland a schoolteacher who is perfect for the part. After he tacking her back to Los Angeles
she manages to secure the role. In an effort to boost their popularity, Jimmy organises a fake romance between Trudi and another Hollywood star, Roger Maxwell. He neglects to tell Trudi that Roger is already romantically involved with another actress and is only interested in publicity.
Problems begin to arise when Trudi, unaware that the romance is fake, falls in love with Roger just as Jimmy begins to realise that he has feelings for Trudi himself. He pours his efforts into writing her poems and songs, purportedly from Roger. When she finally discovers that the romance is a fake she flees back home to Minnesota. She misses the premiere
of her film, which proves to be a runaway hit. Jimmy travels out to see her, hoping to secure her forgiveness and tell her about his own feelings. To his horror he discovers she has gone off on a road trip to get married on the rebound to a local she isn't really in love with. He hurries after her to prevent the wedding, but seemingly arrives too late.
Cinema of the United States
The cinema of the United States, also known as Hollywood, has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. Its history is sometimes separated into four main periods: the silent film era, classical Hollywood cinema, New Hollywood, and the contemporary period...
musical
Musical film
The musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, though in some cases they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate...
romance film
Romance film
Romance films are love stories that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate involvement of the main characters and the journey that their love takes through courtship or marriage. Romance films make the love story or the search for love the main plot focus...
directed by Sidney Lanfield
Sidney Lanfield
Sidney Lanfield was a film director known for directing comedy films and later television programs.The one-time musician's first directing job was for the Fox Film Corporation in 1930; he went on to direct a number of films for 20th Century Fox...
and starring 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...
, 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,...
, Rudy Vallee
Rudy Vallée
Rudy Vallée was an American singer, actor, bandleader, and entertainer.-Early life:Born Hubert Prior Vallée in Island Pond, Vermont, the son of Charles Alphonse and Catherine Lynch Vallée...
and Lyle Talbot
Lyle Talbot
Lyle Talbot , born Lisle Henderson, was an American actor on stage and screen, best known for his long career in movies from 1931 to 1960 and for his frequent appearances on TV in the 1950s and '60s, including his decade-long role as Joe Randolph on television's The Adventures of Ozzie and...
. The score was composed by Irving Berlin
Irving Berlin
Irving Berlin was an American composer and lyricist of Jewish heritage, widely considered one of the greatest songwriters in American history.His first hit song, "Alexander's Ragtime Band", became world famous...
. A Hollywood publicity agent falls in love with a new actress he helped to discover. The film parodies the extensive search for an actress to play Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind
Gone with the Wind (film)
Gone with the Wind is a 1939 American historical epic film adapted from Margaret Mitchell's Pulitzer-winning 1936 novel of the same name. It was produced by David O. Selznick and directed by Victor Fleming from a screenplay by Sidney Howard...
. It is sometimes known as Irving Berlin's Second Fiddle.
Plot
Jimmy Sutton, the publicity agent of a major Hollywood studios, is taking part in the endless search to find an actress to star in the adaptation of a best-selling novel Girl of the North. In MinnesotaMinnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
he discovers Trudi Hovland a schoolteacher who is perfect for the part. After he tacking her back to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
she manages to secure the role. In an effort to boost their popularity, Jimmy organises a fake romance between Trudi and another Hollywood star, Roger Maxwell. He neglects to tell Trudi that Roger is already romantically involved with another actress and is only interested in publicity.
Problems begin to arise when Trudi, unaware that the romance is fake, falls in love with Roger just as Jimmy begins to realise that he has feelings for Trudi himself. He pours his efforts into writing her poems and songs, purportedly from Roger. When she finally discovers that the romance is a fake she flees back home to Minnesota. She misses the premiere
Premiere
A premiere is generally "a first performance". This can refer to plays, films, television programs, operas, symphonies, ballets and so on. Premieres for theatrical, musical and other cultural presentations can become extravagant affairs, attracting large numbers of socialites and much media...
of her film, which proves to be a runaway hit. Jimmy travels out to see her, hoping to secure her forgiveness and tell her about his own feelings. To his horror he discovers she has gone off on a road trip to get married on the rebound to a local she isn't really in love with. He hurries after her to prevent the wedding, but seemingly arrives too late.
Cast
- Sonja HenieSonja HenieSonja 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...
- Trudi Hovland - Tyrone PowerTyrone PowerTyrone 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,...
- Jimmy Sutton - Rudy ValleeRudy ValléeRudy Vallée was an American singer, actor, bandleader, and entertainer.-Early life:Born Hubert Prior Vallée in Island Pond, Vermont, the son of Charles Alphonse and Catherine Lynch Vallée...
- Roger Maxwell - Edna May OliverEdna May OliverEdna May Oliver was an American stage and film actress. During the 1930s, she was one of the best-known character actresses in American films, often playing tart-tongued spinsters.-Early life:...
- Aunt Phoebe - Mary HealyMary HealyMary Healy is a retired American actress, singer, and variety entertainer born in New Orleans, Louisiana. The former Miss New Orleans beauty pageant winner, whose first major screen role was in Second Fiddle , was married to fellow entertainer Peter Lind Hayes from 1940 until his death in 1998...
- Jean Varick - Lyle TalbotLyle TalbotLyle Talbot , born Lisle Henderson, was an American actor on stage and screen, best known for his long career in movies from 1931 to 1960 and for his frequent appearances on TV in the 1950s and '60s, including his decade-long role as Joe Randolph on television's The Adventures of Ozzie and...
- Willie Hogger - Alan DinehartAlan DinehartAlan Mason Dinehart was an American Broadway actor, director, writer, stage manager and later, a Character actor and supporting player featured in at least 88 films between 1931 and 1944...
- George 'Whit' Whitney - Minna GombellMinna GombellMinna Gombell was an American film actress of the 1930s and 1940s.She had a very successful stage career from 1912 before being signed by Fox film company in the late twenties. Her first film was Doctor's Wives in which she played under the name of Nancy Gardner, a name given to her by Fox...
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