Pigskin Parade (1936)

Director:

David Butler

Writers:

William M. Conselman (writer)
Mark Kelly (story)

Release Date:

23 October 1936 (USA)

Genre:

Musical | Sport

Tagline:

With a cast picked for entertainment!

Plot:

Bessie and Winston "Slug" Winters are married coaches whose mission is to whip their college football team into shape...

Plot Keywords:

American Football

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Stuart Erwin	...	Amos Dodd
Patsy Kelly	...	Bessie Winters
Jack Haley	...	Winston 'Slug' Winters
Johnny Downs	...	Chip Carson
Betty Grable	...	Laura Watson
Arline Judge	...	Sally Saxon
Dixie Dunbar	...	Ginger Jones
Judy Garland	...	Sairy Dodd
Fred Kohler Jr.	...	Biff Bentley
Grady Sutton	...	Mortimer Higgins
Elisha Cook Jr.	...	Herbert Terwilliger Van Dyck
Edward J. Nugent	...	Sparks (as Eddie Nugent)
Julius Tannen	...	Dr. Burke
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Charles Adler	...	Member - The Yacht Club Boys (as The Yacht Club Boys)
Emma Dunn	...	Mrs. Van Dyke (scenes deleted)
June Gale		(as June Levant)
George Kelly	...	Member - The Yacht Club Boys (as The Yacht Club Boys)
James V. Kern	...	Member - The Yacht Club Boys (as The Yacht Club Boys)
Billy Mann	...	Member - The Yacht Club Boys (as The Yacht Club Boys)
Tony Martin	...	Tommy Barker (as Anthony Martin)
Jed Prouty	...	Mr. Van Dyke (scenes deleted)
Charles Waldron Jr.
The Yacht Club Boys	...	Themselves

Also Known As:

Harmony Parade (UK)

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #7705)

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum - 3911 S. Figueroa Street, Exposition Park, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

"It's Love I'm After" (music by Lew Pollack, lyrics by Sidney D. Mitchell), a duet by Betty Grable and 'Johnny Downs (I)' , was cut from the movie, so that only Judy Garland's rendition is heard in the released film. Both versions are contained on an LP from Curtain Calls, simply called "Betty Grable."

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Biography: Betty Grable: Behind the Pin-up" (1995)

Soundtrack:

Woo! Woo!

Judy Garland's Debut is Bubbly, Uproarious Fun

"Pigskin Parade" is a thoroughly enjoyable college football musical - the kind of fluffy, unpretentious froths 20th Century Fox usually done well. It recounts the events leading to a big charity football game between Texas State University and Yale.

Sure at times it's silly and corny; but when you come across an innocent and charming cast that includes Judy Garland (in her debut!), Betty Grable, Stuart Erwin, Arline Judd, Jack Haley, Patsy Kelly, Alan Ladd, Tony Martin, Elisha Cook Jr, plus those enchanting musical numbers, any flaw or implausibility has to forgiven.

The teaming of Jack Haley and Patsy Kelly as the married coaches guiding TSU at the Yale Bowl is itself fun to watch. You should see Haley's reaction when he finds out his wife has injured the team's star player! Stuart Erwin as the dour hillbilly tosser Amos Dodd later turned ace footballer is hilarious!

Judy Garland, on loan from MGM, looks very young in her role, three years before she starred again with Jack Haley in "The Wizard of Oz".

The young, up-and-coming Betty Grable, with her carefree enthusiasm, was a delight to watch again after she starred in another frothy campus musical "Old Man Rhythm"(1935). This is one her earliest roles and she handles it in a bouncy, exuberant manner like most of her best roles.

David Butler's direction is unpretentiously fluid, breezily mixing slapstick and highly uproarious songs/numbers. My favorites are "The Balboa", "It's Love I'm After", "You Say the Darndest Things" and "We're Glad to Be In College".

Watch it and Enjoy.