Kid Millions (1934)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Roy Del Ruth

Writers:

Nunnally Johnson (screenplay)
Nunnally Johnson (story)

Release Date:

10 November 1934 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Musical

Tagline:

HE HAD PLENTY OF DOLLARS AND NO SENSE! (original print ad - all caps)

Plot:

A musical comedy about a Brooklyn boy (Eddie Cantor) who inherits a fortune from his archaeologist father, but has to go to Egypt to claim it.

Plot Keywords:

Egypt | Singer | Attempted Murder | Princess | Beautiful Woman

Cast

Eddie Cantor	...	Eddie Wilson Jr.
Ann Sothern	...	Joan Larrabee
Ethel Merman	...	Dot Clark
George Murphy	...	Jerry Lane
Berton Churchill	...	Col. Harrison Larrabee
Warren Hymer	...	Louie the Lug
Paul Harvey	...	Shiek Mulhulla
Jesse Block	...	Ben Ali
Eve Sully	...	Princess Fanya
Otto Hoffman	...	Khoot
Stanley Fields	...	Oscar Wilson
Edgar Kennedy	...	Herman Wilson
Jack Kennedy	...	Pop Wilson
John Kelly	...	Adolph Wilson
Doris Davenport	...	Nora ak 'Toots'

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (3-strip Technicolor) | Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #321)

Filming Locations:

Calabasas, California, USA

Company:

Samuel Goldwyn Company, The

Quotes:

Princess Fanya: Do something! Do something!
Eddie Wilson Jr.: Look out, lady, he'll bite you!
Princess Fanya: If he bites me, I'll bite him back!
Eddie Wilson Jr.: He wants the frankfurter!
Princess Fanya: Let him buy his own frankfurter!

Movie Connections:

References Ever Since Eve (1934)

Soundtrack:

Harem Dance

The Best of the Goldwyn-Cantor films

All of the films Eddie Cantor made for Goldwyn in the 1930s are hysterically funny. Why do I feel that this one is the best? It is the most well balanced of them all. Cantor's songs "When My Ship Comes In", "Okay, Toots", and "An Earful of Music" are beautifully crafted songs of the veteran song writers Walter Donaldson and Gus Kahn. The Irving Berlin number "Mandy" is given one of its best all out performances in a film. But this is not all. Cantor has the best supporting team he has ever had in the movies. Ann Southern and George Murphy are the perfect "young lovers". Unlike the romantic leads in other musical comedies of the period, they are not boring or cloying. Southern sings well and has a flair for comedy. Murphy's dancing can only be topped by Astaire and Kelly. The comic villains are played by Ethel Merman and Warren Hymer. Merman had proven herself as a singing comedienne on the stage, but Hollywood had no idea how to handle her. In this film, they got it right. Compare this to "Strike Me Pink", where Merman is cast as the female romantic lead. It just doesn't work! Of course, "Kid Millions" provides Merman with a few opportunities to show off her musical talents as well her comedic talents. I don't know much about Warren Hymer, but he is a fine character comedian and he does not steal the spotlight from Cantor. Doris Davenport is cast as the ingenue and romantic interest for Cantor. She is perfect and stays out of the comedian's way. It is the superior supporting cast and superior musical numbers which make this Cantor's best Goldwyn film. Some say "Roman Scandals" is funnier, but it is all Cantor. Cantor's biggest hit songs were in "Whoopee!", but this early Technicolor film is stage bound. Speaking of Technicolor, "Kid Millions" has a great Technicolor finale, "Ice Cream Fantasy", and if you look close, you will see the kids of Hal Roach's "Our Gang" shorts in a cameo. For those not acquainted with the musical and comedy abilities of Eddie Cantor, "Kid Millions" is a good "first" movie. It moves like lightning and is highly entertaining.