George White's Scandals (1934)

Opening with a credit line that reads "Entire production conceived, created and directed by George White," a film evolves where the only plot line is a thin backstage romance between Jimmy ... See full summary »

Directors:

Thornton Freeland, Harry Lachman,

Writers:

George White (story), Jack Yellen,

Stars:

Rudy Vallee, Jimmy Durante, Alice Faye

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Rudy Vallee	...	Jimmy Martin
Jimmy Durante	...	Happy McGillicuddy
Alice Faye	...	Kitty Donnelly / Mona Vale
Adrienne Ames	...	Barbara Loraine
Gregory Ratoff	...	Nicholas Mitwoch
Cliff Edwards	...	Stew Hart
Dixie Dunbar	...	Patsy Day
George White	...	Himself
Gertrude Michael	...	Miss Lee
Warren Hymer	...	Pete Pandos - Greek Wrestler
Thomas E. Jackson	...	Al Burke (as Tom Jackson)
Armand Kaliz	...	Count Dekker
Roger Gray	...	Sailor Brown
William Bailey	...	Harold Bestry
George Irving	...	John R. Loraine

Storyline

Opening with a credit line that reads "Entire production conceived, created and directed by George White," a film evolves where the only plot line is a thin backstage romance between Jimmy Martin and Kitty Donnelly in and around a dozen or more sketches, revues, black-outs and singing and dancing turns. Made before the birth of the production code, reviewers of the day found much to object about in the implications of Alice Faye's "Nasty Man" song with the Meglin Kiddies, and the dog action in the "Your Dog Loves My Dog" number by Vallee, Faye, Jimmy Durante and Dixie Dunbar. The geometric dance arrangements used in the Vallee, Durante and Cliff Edwards "Every Day Is Father's Day" was not cause for Busby Berkeley to lose any sleep.

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Plot Keywords:

singing | dance | song | dancing | daydream | 

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Genres:

Musical

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 March 1934 (USA)

Also Known As:

Fox-revyn

Filming Locations:

New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fox Film Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

80 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Eighteen-year-old Alice Faye, the female vocalist with Rudy Vallee and His Connecticut Yankees, was slated to make her screen debut in a featured spot. Then in a Hollywood fantasy come to life, Lilian Harvey, a musical favorite of European moviegoers, decided that the female lead was rather secondary and withdrew from the film. Enter Alice, at Rudy Vallee's suggestion, to fill Miss Harvey's shoes. Billed third after Mr. Vallee and Jimmy Durante, Miss Faye was bestowed with a saucy hit song, "Nasty Man" (music by Ray Henderson, lyrics by Irving Caesar and Jack Yellen), followed quickly by a movie contract with Fox.

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Crazy Credits

Entire production conceived, created and directed by George White.

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Connections

Referenced in Thou Shalt Not: Sex, Sin and Censorship in Pre-Code Hollywood (2008)

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Soundtracks

"Cabin in the Cotton and The Cotton in the Cabin"
Words and Music by Irving Caesar
Performed by Jimmy Durante (in blackface)

User Reviews

Alice Faye's Rousing Debut

The ineffable Alice Faye made her film debut in this rousing backstage extravaganza, an interesting assembly of Broadway revue, comic sketches, songs, and dancing, in which she played an aspiring singer Kitty Donnelly and her romance with Rudy Valle. Although the movie is loaded with big-scale Busby Berkeley-inspired production numbers, its chief virtue is to watch and be mesmerized by Faye's glorious singing, her distinctive contralto voice.

This is the movie where Faye sings "Oh, You Nasty Man" -- one of her most cheerfully lurid (though not necessarily the best), songs. Other songs and numbers include "So Nice", "Every Day's a Father's Day", "Following in the Mother's Footsteps", "Sweet and Simple", "Picking Cotton", and "The Man on the Flying Trapeze".

Audiences applauded Faye's vivacity, and the movie made her an instant musical star. Up until her 1936 musical, "Sing, Baby, Baby", Faye really looked like a Jean Harlow-ish platinum blonde with pencil eyelashes. A year later she starred in a follow-up, "George White's 1935 Scandals" - also worth seeking out, if only for Faye's singing.