A Night at Earl Carroll's (1940)

Director:

Kurt Neumann

Writer:

Lynn Starling (writer)

Release Date:

6 December 1940 (USA)

Genre:

Musical

Tagline:

and Featuring the Most Beautiful Girls in the World

Plot:

Newly-elected reform Mayor Jones celebrates his victory over the crooked political machine with a party at Earl Carroll's night club...

Plot Keywords:

Character Name In Title

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Ken Murray	...	Barney Nelson
Rose Hobart	...	Ramona Lisa
Elvia Allman	...	Cobina Gusher
Blanche Stewart	...	Brenda Gusher
Earl Carroll	...	Earl Carroll
J. Carrol Naish	...	Steve Kalkus
Lela Moore	...	Herself - Lela Moore
Jack Norton	...	Alonzo Smith
Russell Hicks	...	Mayor Jones of Hollywood
William B. Davidson	...	Mayor Green of San Bernadino
John Harmon	...	Mac
Forbes Murray	...	Mayor Brown of Pasadena
Ralph Emerson	...	Mayor Gray of Bakersfield
Ray Walker	...	Jerry
Allan Cavan	...	Mayor White of El Centro

Runtime:

62 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

Sweden:15

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since.

Soundtrack:

One Look at You

The Hooters of it's time?

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

I saw this film last weekend at the Cinemateque in Hollywood. It is a deeply terrible film, yet a wonderful glimpse into some forgotten Hollywood History. Earl Carroll was a guy who ran a chain of Burlesque houses in the thirties rather in the vein of Zigfeld. These clubs (according to the movie) were staffed by great looking dames before you got a great musical review (which in real life apparently featured some mild nudity.

The movie is a musical tribute to the club in Hollywood. Some gangsters have a plot to make Earl Carroll look bad in the eyes of a Mayor's convention who have come to the club to see the show. They kidnap all the headliners and the staff of the club have to go out there and put on a show. Carroll, nobody's actor, appears as himself. They escape in the end and the plot is thwarted. There is a duo of silly, man crazy sisters who are also at the show, perhaps to back Carroll in future projects. Very, very dumb but I can't think of anything else quite like it. It was shown on a double bill with the watershed Rock Film "The Big TNT Show", filmed at the same theater 25 years later.