The Milky Way (1936)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Leo McCarey

Writers:

Lynn Root (play) and
Harry Clork (play) ...

Release Date:

7 February 1936 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

Timid milkman, Burleigh Sullivan (Lloyd), somehow knocks out a boxing champ in a brawl. The fighter's...

Plot Keywords:

Milkman | Boxing | Fixed Fight | Boxer | Insomnia

Cast

Harold Lloyd	...	Burleigh 'Tiger' Sullivan
Adolphe Menjou	...	Gabby Sloan (Speed's manager)
Verree Teasdale	...	Ann Westley
Helen Mack	...	Mae Sullivan (Burleigh's sister)
William Gargan	...	Speed McFarland (middleweight champ)
George Barbier	...	Wilbur Austin
Dorothy Wilson	...	Polly Pringle
Lionel Stander	...	Spider Schultz (Speed's bodyguard)
Charles Lane	...	Willard
Marjorie Gateson	...	Mrs. E. Winthrop Lemoyne

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless System)

Certification:

USA:Approved | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | Spain:T

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

The movie was originally planed as a vehicle for Jack Oakie, Gertrude Michael and Edward Everett Horton. When it was decided that it would be a Harold Lloyd picture instead, Horton was replaced by Adolphe Menjou. Instead of Helen Mack, originally Sally Blane was cast. Due to illness, Ida Lupino was replaced by Dorothy Wilson.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: As Ann Westley says, "This program is coming to you through the courtesy of Amalgamated Gas,", the word "amalgamated" does not match her lip movements and is clearly spoken by different voice. (approx. 24:55 into the film, NTSC)

Movie Connections:

Featured in Funny Side of Life (1963)

Soundtrack:

The Skaters Waltz (Les Patineurs)

One of the very best of the 30s comedies

I taped this movie when it was shown on TCM recently and I've rewatched it several times since, enjoying it more with each viewing. It's a hilarious and energetic movie, and the editing, framing, and compositions of characters are always fresh, funny, and cliché-free. I especially like how the film echoes Burleigh's "ducking" abilities by cleverly using "ducking" techniques, or ellipses, in various ways: in telling the story, by leaving out certain scenes and revealing them later; and even in framing (in one scene Adolph Menjou plays a scene hidden behind a tree branch, "ducking out" of the frame). This film is as good as The Awful Truth and to me has the same strange beauty of that wonderful film.