Varsity Show (1937)

Director:

William Keighley

Writers:

Jerry Wald (screen play) and
Richard Macaulay (screen play) ...
(more)

Release Date:

4 September 1937 (USA)

Genre:

Musical

Tagline:

See college life in the RAH!

Plot:

Winfield College students who are trying to put together the annual varsity show come into conflict with their faculty adviser...

Plot Keywords:

Professor | College | College Student | Mayor | Dancer

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Dick Powell	...	Charles 'Chuck' Daly
Fred Waring and His Pennsylvanians
Ted Healy	...	William Williams
Rosemary Lane	...	Barbara 'Babs' Steward
Priscilla Lane	...	Betty Bradley
Walter Catlett	...	Professor Sylvester Biddle
Johnnie Davis	...	Buzz Bolton (as Johnny Davis)
Ford Washington Lee	...	Buck (as Buck)
John William Sublett	...	Bubbles (as Bubbles)
Fred Waring	...	Ernie Mason
Sterling Holloway	...	Trout
Mabel Todd	...	Cuddles
Scotty Bates	...	Scotty
George MacFarland	...	Hap
Poley McClintock	...	Poley
Lee Dixon	...	Johnny 'Rubberlegs' Stevens
Halliwell Hobbes	...	Dean Meredith
Roy Atwell	...	Professor Washburn
Edward Brophy	...	Mike Barclay (as Ed Brophy)
Ben Welden	...	Hammer
Emma Dunn	...	Mrs. Smith
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Kenneth Anspach	...	Student (uncredited)
Veda Ann Borg	...	Passerby (uncredited)
Buck and Bubbles	...	Themselves (uncredited)
Glen Cavender	...	Stagehand (uncredited)
Robert Clayton	...	Man (uncredited)
Don Downen	...	Elevator Operator (uncredited)
Jane Doyle	...	Student (uncredited)
John George Doyle	...	Student (uncredited)
Earl Dwire	...	Professor (uncredited)
Sarah Edwards	...	Mrs. Biddle (uncredited)
Maxine Fisher	...	Woman (uncredited)
Sol Gorss	...	Stagehand (uncredited)
John Harron	...	Clerk (uncredited)
Buddy Henry	...	Man (uncredited)
Harry Hollingsworth	...	Doorman (uncredited)
Stuart Holmes	...	Professor (uncredited)
Robert Homans	...	Police Sgt. Murphy (uncredited)
Tom Kennedy	...	Policeman (uncredited)
Carole Landis	...	Student (uncredited)
Wade Lane	...	Professor (uncredited)
Al Lloyd	...	Taxi Driver (uncredited)
Wilfred Lucas	...	Police Commissioner (uncredited)
Jack Mower	...	Desk Sergeant (uncredited)
Spec O'Donnell	...	Student (uncredited)
Virginia Pitman	...	Woman (uncredited)
Cliff Saum	...	Man (voice) (uncredited)
Ferris Taylor	...	Mayor Jones (uncredited)
Rosella Towne	...	Passerby (uncredited)
Tom Wilson	...	Stagehand (uncredited)
Betty Wonder	...	Student (uncredited)
Tommy Wonder	...	Student (uncredited)
Walter Young	...	Professor (uncredited)

Directed by
William Keighley

Writing credits
Jerry Wald		(screen play) and
Richard Macaulay		(screen play) &
Sig Herzig		(screen play) (as Sid Herzig) and
Warren Duff		(screen play)
Warren Duff		(from an original story by) and
Sig Herzig		(from an original story by)

Produced by
Louis F. Edelman	....	associate producer (uncredited)
Hal B. Wallis	....	executive producer (uncredited)
Jack L. Warner	....	executive producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Ray Heindorf		(uncredited)
Heinz Roemheld		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
George Barnes		(photographed by: finale)
Sol Polito		(photography)

Film Editing by
George Amy		(film editor)

Art Direction by
Carl Jules Weyl

Costume Design by
Howard Shoup		(gowns)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Drew Eberson	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Charles David Forrest	....	sound (as Charles D. Forrest)
Oliver S. Garretson	....	sound (as Oliver Garretson)

Music Department
Virgil Davis	....	orchestral arrangements
Richard R. Kirk	....	composer: "A Toast to Michigan"
Johnny Mercer	....	music and lyrics by
Steve Mougin	....	orchestral arrangements
Frank Perkins	....	orchestral arrangements
Frank Perkins	....	vocal arrangements
Roy Ringwald	....	vocal arrangements
Fred Waring	....	musical direction
Richard A. Whiting	....	music and lyrics by (as Dck Whiting)
M.K. Jerome	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Tony Romano	....	vocal arranger (uncredited)

Other crew
Busby Berkeley	....	creator: finale
Busby Berkeley	....	director: finale

Production Companies

• Warner Bros (presents) (as Warner Bros. Pictures Inc.) (A Warner Bros. Picture)

Distributors

• Warner Bros (1937) (USA) (theatrical) (as Warner Bros. Pictures Inc.)
• Warner Bros (1942) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release) (edited)
• Warner Home Video (2008) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

120 min | USA:80 min (Turner library print) | 81 min (re-release) (edited)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:PG | Finland:S | USA:Approved (PCA #3393) | Australia:G (TV rating) | USA:TV-G (TV rating)

Filming Locations:

Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros

Trivia:

Film debut of Priscilla Lane.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the college kids arrive in New York to put on there show there are about 60 of them and they have only a few props. When they put on their show they have massive, elaborate sets and props, more than 200 actors and the stage is much larger than the whole theater.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969)

Soundtrack:

Have You Got Any Castles, Baby?

Restore Varsity Show If We Can

I was looking forward to seeing Varsity Show because of the fact that I owned the four Dick Powell Decca recordings that were made from songs in this film. The Tony Thomas book, the Films of Dick Powell also said that it was a 2 hour film.

In the abbreviated 80 minute version I saw of it, I'm thinking there was a lot of material that was left out and may in fact now be lost. Two of those songs Powell did not sing on the screen, Have You Got Any Castles Baby and Love Is On The Air Tonight. He did do a very nice version of You've Got Something There with Rosemary Lane and the song Moonlight On The Campus seems to have been edited out all together.

Still even in the shortened version Varsity Show is an entertaining bit of nonsense about a Broadway producer played by Powell who's had a run of bad luck, but answers the call of the student body of his alma mater to produce their Varsity Show. It was the kind of light weight material that Powell was desperately trying to get out of doing at Warner Brothers, but Jack Warner wouldn't see him in anything else.

Jack did give him a good cast to work with however with a lot of very familiar character actors going through their paces. Standing out are Ted Healy on loan from MGM playing Powell's assistant, Edward Brophy as the theater manager who's about to have a stroke because he can't get an advance for rent from the college kids, and Walter Catlett who is very funny as the faculty adviser for the show who knows as much about putting on a show as Ginger Rogers running the Brooklyn Dodgers to quote another Dick Powell song from another film.

Fred Waring and his Pennsylvanians are here to supply the music and chorus and Rosemary's sister Priscilla Lane is another student. The dancing talent is tops with Lee Dixon who had co-starred with Powell in Golddiggers of 1937 and the great team of Buck and Bubbles who I still remember from the Ed Sullivan Show as a lad. Richard Whiting and Johnny Mercer wrote the original songs that I liked so much.

Varsity Show got an Academy Award nomination for Busby Berkeley in the category of Dance Direction which was discarded in the Forties. Berkeley did one of his patented extravaganzas for a finale using the theme songs from several colleges and it's quite an eyeful and most entertaining.

I hope one day we can get a restored version of Varsity Show. I'm betting a lot of good material might be lost as it stands right now. I have a feeling I'd rate Varsity Show higher if we saw the director's cut.