International House (1933)

Director:

A. Edward Sutherland

Writers:

Francis Martin (screenplay) and
Walter DeLeon (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

27 May 1933 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

Grand Hotel of comedy

Plot:

Assorted wacky characters converge on a Chinese hotel to bid on a new invention...television.

Plot Keywords:

Hotel | Professor | China | Television | Peeping Tom

Cast

Peggy Hopkins Joyce	...	Peggy Hopkins Joyce
W.C. Fields	...	Professor Quail
Rudy Vallee	...	Himself
Stuart Erwin	...	Tommy Nash
George Burns	...	Doctor Burns
Gracie Allen	...	Nurse Allen
Sari Maritza	...	Carol Fortescue
F. Chase Taylor	...	Colonel Stoopnagle (as Colonel Stoopnagle)
Budd Hulick	...	Budd (as Budd)
Cab Calloway	...	Himself
Bela Lugosi	...	General Petronovich
Rose Marie	...	Herself (as Baby Rose Marie)
Franklin Pangborn	...	Hotel Manager
Edmund Breese	...	Doctor Wong
Lumsden Hare	...	Sir Mortimer Fortescue
Sterling Holloway	...	Sailor
Lona Andre	...	Chorus Queen
Harrison Greene	...	Herr Von Baden
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Norman Ainsley	...	Ticket Clerk (uncredited)
Clem Beauchamp	...	Newsreel Cameraman (uncredited)
Bo Ching	...	Hotel Bell-hop (uncredited)
Wong Chung	...	Health Inspector (uncredited)
Carrie Daumery	...	Hotel Guest (uncredited)
Ethan Laidlaw	...	General's Henchman (uncredited)
Etta Lee	...	Peggy's Maid (uncredited)
Bo Ling	...	Cigar Counter Clerk (uncredited)
Al Morgan	...	Bass Player in Cab Calloway's Band (uncredited)
Frank O'Connor	...	Telegram Clerk (uncredited)
Cyril Ring	...	Mr. Brown - Assistant Hotel Manager (uncredited)
Henry Sedley	...	Serge Borsky (uncredited)
Mary Jane Sloan	...	Sugar Bowl (uncredited)
Edwin Stanley	...	Mr. Rollins - Electric Company Boss (uncredited)
Louis Vincenot	...	Mr. Brown - Hotel Clerk (uncredited)
James Wong	...	Inspector Sun (uncredited)
Ernest Wood	...	Newsreel Reporter (uncredited)
Gwen Zetter	...	Tea Pot (uncredited)

Directed by
A. Edward Sutherland		(as Edward Sutherland)

Writing credits
Francis Martin		(screenplay) and
Walter DeLeon		(screenplay)
Neil Brant		(from a story by) and
Louis E. Heifetz		(from a story by)

Produced by
Emanuel Cohen	....	executive producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Howard Jackson		(uncredited)
John Leipold		(uncredited)
Ralph Rainger		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Ernest Haller		(photographed by)

Costume Design by
Travis Banton		(uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Farciot Edouart	....	special photographic effects (uncredited)
Loyal Griggs	....	special photographic effects staff (uncredited)
Al Myers	....	special photographic effects staff (uncredited)
Dewey Wrigley	....	special photographic effects staff (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Guy Bennett	....	second camera (uncredited)
Ellsworth Fredericks	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
Thomas Morris	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
Guy Newhard	....	second camera (uncredited)

Music Department
Ralph Rainger	....	music & lyrics by
Leo Robin	....	music & lyrics by

Production Companies

• Paramount Pictures (presents) (as Paramount Productions, Inc,)

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (1933) (USA) (theatrical) (as Paramount Productions, Inc,)
• MCA/Universal Pictures (1958) (USA) (TV)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (USA) (VHS)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (USA) (laserdisc)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

68 min (copyright length)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Certification:

USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | USA:TV-G (TV rating)

Filming Locations:

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Ruth Etting was originally proposed to sing in this film. Her spot was taken by "Baby" Rose Marie.

Goofs:

Boom mic visible: During the scene where Prof. Henry R. Quail is by his auto gyro talking to Doctor Wong and Peggy Hopkins Joyce, you can see the shadow of the boom mic moving above their heads. The boom mic then hits something, presumably the auto gyro, making a noise which makes Prof. Henry R. Quail and Peggy Joyce look up.

Quotes:

Nurse Allen:[on phone] No, the doctor isn't in just now. Oh, he won't be back for a long, long time. He went out on one of those eternity cases.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage (1983)

Soundtrack:

She Was a China Tea-cup and He Was Just a Mug

Kudos to wmorrow59 and lugonian

I'm just impressed that anybody could write as *much* about a trifle like this movie, and do it so well.

The movie certainly gives you a sense of how fleeting fame can be. I got the impression that Peggy Hopkins Joyce and Sari Maritza were household words at the time, and that "Stoopnocracy is Peachy" was the catchphrase on everybody's lips. (Who the hell WERE those guys?!)

Baby Rose Marie of course grew up to be Rose Marie on The Dick Van Dyke Show and every TV game show in the 70s. I didn't know she'd been a child star, & despite the obvious singing talent, I just found the whole thing a little creepy. It reminded me of Thomas Pynchon's Baby Igor in "The Crying of Lot 49."

I kept waiting for Franklin Pangborn to go "Yeeee-eeee-sssss?....Ooooh!"

Fields steals every scene, of course, but if you want him, I wouldn't start here. Go to the Criterion "Six Short Films" DVD, for Godfrey Daniels' sake!