Sunkist Stars at Palm Springs (1936)

Winners of the Lucky Stars National Dance Contest - one woman from each of the United States - are welcomed to Palm Springs. Palm Springs being the desert playground for the movie stars, ... See full summary »

Director:

Roy Rowland

Writer:

John W. Krafft (dialogue)

Stars:

Edmund Lowe, The Fanchonettes, Downey Sisters

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Edmund Lowe	...	Himself
The Fanchonettes	...	Themselves
Downey Sisters	...	Themselves
Peter Lind Hayes	...	Mr. Mike (voice)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Robert Benchley	...	Bob Benchley (as Bob Benchley)
Jackie Coogan	...	Himself
Frankie Darro	...	Himself
Dick Foran	...	Himself
Betty Furness	...	Herself
Betty Grable	...	Herself
Walter Huston	...	Himself
Buster Keaton	...	Himself
Fuzzy Knight	...	Himself
Frances Langford	...	Herself
Guy Standing	...	Himself (as Sir Guy Standing)

Storyline

Winners of the Lucky Stars National Dance Contest - one woman from each of the United States - are welcomed to Palm Springs. Palm Springs being the desert playground for the movie stars, the women are introduced to the cavalcade of stars vacationing in Palm Springs at the time. The stars are doing a multitude of recreational activities. One of those stars is Frances Langford, fresh from Broadway, who serenades all those watching with some Broadway related songs. With assistance from Jackie Coogan and Betty Grable, the contest winners do a series of dances to American songs. They then get a chance to interact with the stars, all in the name of fun.

---

Plot Keywords:

dance | voice impressionist | dancing | all girl orchestra | ventriloquist | 

---

Genres:

Short | Music

---

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 August 1936 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Palm Springs, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

20 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In this MGM Technicolor short, two of the songs by composer Nacio Herb Brown and lyricist Arthur Freed - "Broadway Melody" and "You Are My Lucky Star" - were to appear again in Singin' in the Rain. Arthur Freed was the head of the musical unit at the studio and his songs were used again and again in MGM pictures.

---

Connections

Featured in Added Attractions: The Hollywood Shorts Story (2002)

---

Soundtracks

"Semper Fidelis"
Music by John Philip Sousa
Played by a brass band

User Reviews

Sunkist Stars at Palm Springs was another interesting rarity I found on YouTube

This is another 3-Strip Technicolor short from the '30s provided by M-G-M that I just watched on YouTube. Some good musical performances by Francis Langford and Fuzzy Knight (though I found his comedy lame). There's also an appearance by the grown up Jackie Coogan and his then-wife, the young and about-to-emerge star Betty Grable (though her big break wouldn't come until she signed with 20th Century-Fox) as they dance a little with some female dancers. However, Coogan and Grable are on the ground while those dancers are on the roof of some villa. Poolside, we see Johnny Weissmuller playing with some inflatable ducks while Buster Keaton falls from his floating raft (the only moderately amusing thing in this short). Betty Furness and Walter Huston are at a table playing with an egg in a bottle. All of this is emceed by "Mike" (a giant microphone with an expressive face on it) doing impressions (perhaps the creepiest thing I've seen here). And the entire audience is some beauty contest winners from each state (my home state of Louisiana is among the represented that is depicted on screen). Nothing else to add except this was an interesting if bland short that should whet your curiosity of past stars and the early use of Technicolor.