Trocadero (1944)

A newspaper columnist and host of his own national network radio program, interviewing more film personalities on his show than any other commentator, is searching for a story for a Sunday ... See full summary »

Director:

William Nigh

Writers:

Allan Gale (screenplay), Charles F. Chaplin (original story),

Stars:

Rosemary Lane, Johnny Downs, Ralph Morgan

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Rosemary Lane	...	Judy Edwards
Johnny Downs	...	Johnny Edwards
Ralph Morgan	...	Sam Wallace
Dick Purcell	...	Spike Nelson
Sheldon Leonard	...	Mickey Jones
Marjorie Manners	...	Marge Carson
Cliff Nazarro	...	Cliff
Erskine Johnson	...	Hollywood Columnist
Dave Fleischer	...	Dave Fleischer
Emmett Vogan	...	Carson
Charles Calvert	...	Tony Rocadero
Dewey Robinson	...	Bullfrog
Ruth Hilliard	...	Nancy - Cigarette Girl
Eddie Bartell	...	Master of Ceremonies and Radio Rogue member
Bob Chester	...	Orchestra Leader

Storyline

A newspaper columnist and host of his own national network radio program, interviewing more film personalities on his show than any other commentator, is searching for a story for a Sunday column carried by newspaper from coast to coast. Hanging out in Hollywood's famed Trocadero restaurant and night-spot, he gets his story when "Troc" owner and band-leader Eddie LeBaron, relates to him the sage of the famed screenland nitery. And hears plenty of music furnished by four of the top name-bands in the land, including that of Bob Chester, who formed his own swing band in 1935 after being top saxophonist with the bands of Ben Pollack and Ben Bernie. Singer Ida James and the Chester band led off with "Shoo Shoo Baby" in their screen debut.

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Plot Keywords:

restaurant | singer | newspaper columnist | radio program | commentator | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Music

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 April 1944 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Walter Colmes Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

74 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Soundtracks

"The King Was Doing the Rhumba"
Written by Lew Porter

User Reviews

String of wartime nightclub routines strung together

Judy and Johnny are orphaned siblings being raised by Tony Rocadero, a Hollywood restaurateur who knows no limit in supporting his adopted children, even sending them both off to college. When Tony dies suddenly, one of them has to return home to keep the establishment open. The film opens with a present-day (present-day 1944) sequence of cameo appearances by 1940s Hollywood celebrities, then becomes a series of flashbacks explaining the history of the Hollywood Trocadero, usually in the form of musical numbers by the various types of big band, singing-dancing and stand-up acts which had kept the club going. Along the way, both Judy and Johnny find love and learn the difference between pretentious upper-class fronting and real-people sincerity. There's nothing that stands out about the film, but in 1944 watching it in a heated theater certainly beat sitting at home in the dark.