Twenty Million Sweethearts (1934)

Director:

Ray Enright

Writers:

Paul Finder Moss (story) &
Jerry Wald (story) ...

Release Date:

26 May 1934 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Musical

Plot:

Unscrupulous agent Pat O'Brien makes singing waiter Dick Powell a big radio star while Ginger Rogers, who has lost her own radio show, helps Powell.

Plot Keywords:

Radio | Waiter | Talent Scout | New York City | Restaurant

US TV Schedule:

Tue. Nov. 17

10:15 AM

TCM

Cast

Pat O'Brien	...	Russell Edward 'Rush' Blake
Dick Powell	...	Buddy Clayton
Ginger Rogers	...	Peggy Cornell
Ted Fio Rito	...	Himself - Bandleader and Pianist
Allen Jenkins	...	'Uncle' Pete
Grant Mitchell	...	Chester A. Sharpe
Joseph Cawthorn	...	Mr. Herbert 'Herbie' Brokman (as Joseph Cawthorne)
Joan Wheeler	...	Marge, the Receptionist
Henry O'Neill	...	Lemuel Tappan
Johnny Arthur	...	Norma Hanson's Secretary
Jimmy Hollywood	...	One of The Three Radio Rogues) (voice) (as Jim Hollingwood)
Eddie Bartell	...	One of The Three Radio Rogues (voice)
Henry Taylor	...	One of The Three Radio Rogues (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
The Mills Brothers		(as The Four Mills Brothers)
Ted Fio Rito Orchestra	...	Themselves (as Ted Fio Rito and His Band)
The Radio Rogues		(as The Three Radio Rogues)

Also Known As:

Hot Air (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono | Vitaphone

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #2637)

Company:

First National Pictures

Movie Connections:

Featured in Carnal Knowledge (1971)

Soundtrack:

Carolina Moon

Blah Warners musical

When Lee Tracy plays a promoter who gets fired but tries to promote a nobody anyhow, that's chutzpa; when Pat O'Brien is in the role, it just seems like failure with bluster. If Tracy tried to break up the happy couple it would be playing the "game" too far, and he'd really regret it later. O'Brien just seems like a heel, and there's no sense of his remorse even when he belatedly fixes things up. RKO's similar PROFESSIONAL SWEETHEART, also with Ginger Rogers and made the year prior, is a much better, much funnier film, although even it doesn't have the timing and ensemble playing of the very best Warners films. Unfortunately, TWENTY MILLION SWEETHEARTS isn't one of the best Warners films by a long shot; it's too long, too flabby, not smartly written, and with a weaker cast than the RKO film (Cawthorne is not Ratoff). The story has Powell singing several songs more than once, and he sings them all the way through each time. And they're not great songs. The Mills Brothers are great, but their two numbers are placed back-to-back (perhaps to more easily excise them in the South). And the plot doesn't really make much sense. One has to assume that this was made LATE in 1934, after the stringent implementation of the Production Code. (But Ginger is splendid anyhow.)