On Your Toes (1939)

A young hoofer quits vaudeville to become a composer and hooks up with a Russian ballet troupe.

Director:

Ray Enright

Writers:

Jerry Wald (screenplay), Richard Macaulay (screenplay),

Stars:

Vera Zorina, Eddie Albert, Alan Hale

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Vera Zorina	...	Vera Barnova
Eddie Albert	...	Phil Dolan Jr.
Alan Hale	...	Sergei Alexandrovitch
Frank McHugh	...	Paddy Reilly
James Gleason	...	Phil Dolan Sr.
Leonid Kinskey	...	Ivan Boultonoff
Gloria Dickson	...	Peggy Porterfield
Queenie Smith	...	Mrs. Lil Dolan
Erik Rhodes	...	Konstantin Morrisine
Berton Churchill	...	Donald Henderson
Donald O'Connor	...	Phil Jr. as a Boy
Sarita Wooton	...	Vera as a Girl (as Sarita Wooten)

Storyline

Junior Donal, an ex-vaudevillian now teaching music at Knickerbocker University in New York, enlists to help of patroness Peggy Portefield to persuade Sergei Alexandrovich, the director of the Russian Ballet, to stage a friend's jazzy "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue" ballet. Junior becomes involved with the company's prima ballerina, Vera Barnova, and even takes over the male lead in "Slaughter". This so enrages Vera's lover and regular dancing partner that he hires two thugs to kill Junior while he is performing on stage.

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Plot Keywords:

ballet | vaudeville | composer | hotel | russian | 

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Genres:

Music | Comedy

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 October 1939 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Dançarina Russa

Filming Locations:

Toluca Lake, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Several people in studio records/casting call lists as cast members did not appear or were not identifiable in the movie. These were (with their character names): Tommy Bupp (Boy) and Nat Carr, Billy Wayne, Bert Hanlon and Frank Orth (Vaudevillians)

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Crazy Credits

Lorenz Hart, the lyricist for the original Broadway show, receives onscreen credit, but his lyrics are never sung at all in the film.

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Connections

Featured in Great Performances: The Rodgers & Hart Story: Thou Swell, Thou Witty (1999)

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Soundtracks

"Slaughter on Tenth Avenue"
(1936) (uncredited)
Music by Richard Rodgers
Danced by Vera Zorina, Eddie Albert and others

User Reviews

Disappointing version of great Rodgers and Hart show

I had the pleasure of seeing the revival of this marvelous Rodgers and Hart show when it played San Francisco some years ago. The CD is available and should be mentioned as it is the only complete recording to be had. I agree with all the reviews previously mentioned on this site and also enjoyed Donald O'Connor in his early days. Eddie Albert did very well and probably was cast since he was well received in R&H's "Boys From Syracuse" which was tremendously successful as was "On Your Toes".

My disappointment arises from the same comments previously made; the missing wonderful lyrics of Larry Hart,the inane shenanigans of the Russian characters played by very capable actors, the waste of not thinking of casting Bolger, minimizing Junior's worth by not recognizing he is a music professor in the original play, and missing the opportunity of capturing a piece of Broadway history.

Anything, however, that captures what Rodgers and Hart did for the American theatre world deserves preservation on film.