Start Cheering (1938)

Film star Ted Crosley, fed up with movie life, quits pictures to enroll in Midland College, much to the horror of his manager Sam Lewis and his stooge-friend Willie Gumbatz. Ted wishes to ... See full summary »

Director:

Albert S. Rogell

Writers:

Eugene Solow (screen play), Richard Wormser (screen play),

Stars:

Jimmy Durante, Walter Connolly, Joan Perry

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jimmy Durante	...	Willie Gumbatz
Walter Connolly	...	Sam Lewis
Joan Perry	...	Jean Worthington
Charles Starrett	...	Ted Crosley
Craig E. Earle	...	Professor Quiz (as Professor Quiz)
Gertrude Niesen	...	Sarah
Raymond Walburn	...	Dean Worthington
The Three Stooges	...	The Three Stooges
Broderick Crawford	...	Biff Gordon
Hal Le Roy	...	'Tarzan' Biddle
Ernest Truex	...	Blodgett
Virginia Dale	...	Mabel
Chaz Chase	...	Shorty (as Chaz. Chase)
Jimmy Wallington	...	Announcer Jimmy Wallington
Romo Vincent	...	Fatso

Storyline

Film star Ted Crosley, fed up with movie life, quits pictures to enroll in Midland College, much to the horror of his manager Sam Lewis and his stooge-friend Willie Gumbatz. Ted wishes to enroll in school under an assumed name but Sam, hoping to nip his school plans in the bud, tips off the press and school. En route, Ted has met and fallen in love with Jean Worthington, daughter of Dean Worthington who is counting on Ted's enrollment to save his job. Ted, as the hero of many college and football movies, is given a royal welcome when he arrives. In an effort to make the Midland football team a bigger draw and pay off the stadium debt, Ted is put on the varsity team, where, his exploits don't match those he had on screen, and he is actually a liability. He soon incurs the enmity of Biff Gordon, the school's football hero and Ted's rival for Jean. Biff sets Ted up with a fake fraternity initiation, wherein Ted passes on the tin fraternity ring, taken from a candy box, to Jean. ...

---

Plot Keywords:

school | college | football | hero | radio | 

---

Taglines:

BORN TO BE AN IDOL! A Campus Hero Comes Up Fighting and Scoring with a Football and a Girl!

---

Genres:

Comedy | Musical | Romance | Sport

---

Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 March 1938 (USA)

Also Known As:

O Diabo à Solta

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

78 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Jeni Le Gon with The Four Blackbirds are in studio records/casting call lists as cast members, but they did not appear or were not identifiable in the movie.

---

Soundtracks

"The Paper Says Rain"
(1937) (uncredited)
Music by Samuel Pokrass
Lyrics by Max Lief and Nathaniel Lief
Written for the movie and possibly played in the score

User Reviews

Slow and predictable, with a dull leading man

I have very little patience for leading men and their love interest, and their songs; and I don't care much for musical numbers by "guest" performers, so much of this movie was a complete bore to me. I'm also not much interested in watching the details spelled out for me in run-of-the-mill stories like this: I prefer watching what the characters DO within a story, not the playing-out of the story itself, and since a lot of time here is spent with the main characters talking out the narrative, my fingers were itching for the fast-forward button. Durante is always fun to watch, but the script is so poor that his jokes mostly fall flat. I agree that he and Walter Connelly have no chemistry, and the justification for Durante even being in the story at all is too contrived to suspend belief. I actually prefer his roles in the late MGM Buster Keaton movies, like "What, No Beer?", where his character is an integral part of the story and his vitality really helps to move along the film. In this movie, the only moments I really enjoyed were Durante's musical number, Hal LeRoy's dance (which I have to admit was spectacular), and the Three Stooges who perform two skits with perfectly timed ensemble work. Basically, the story-laden non-comedic scenes were boring, and most of the Durante comedy was slightly embarrassing and only borderline amusing. Recommendation: don't pay more than $7 to watch it.