Hot Curves (1930)

Revolving around a baseball team, one player lets his ego run his life, and in turn looses the girl he is dating (who happens to be the team's manager's daughter). The second player is more... See full summary »

Director:

Norman Taurog

Writers:

Andrew Percival Younger (story) (as A.P. Younger), Earle Snell (screen play)

Stars:

Benny Rubin, Pert Kelton, Rex Lease

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Benny Rubin	...	Benny Goldberg
Pert Kelton	...	Cookie
Rex Lease	...	Jim Dolan
Alice Day	...	Elaine McGrew
Paul Hurst	...	'Slug', Baseball Player
Natalie Moorhead	...	Maizie
Mary Carr	...	'Grandma' Dolan
John Ince	...	Baseball-Team Manager McGrew
Mike Donlin	...	Baseball Team Scout
Roy D'Arcy	...	Kelsey
Henry Hall	...	Baseball Team Owner
Marceline Day	...	Girl
Robert Livingston	...	Baseball Player (as Robert Randall)
Greta Granstedt	...	Girlfriend
James Wilcox	...	Baseball Player

Storyline

Revolving around a baseball team, one player lets his ego run his life, and in turn looses the girl he is dating (who happens to be the team's manager's daughter). The second player is more of a comic relief, he is a great pitcher but is terrible at catching. He in turn is dating a somewhat odd girl.

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Plot Keywords:

b movie | grandson ignores grandmother's birthday | poverty row film | 1920s | prohibition era | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance | Sport

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 June 1930 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Tiffany Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

83 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Photophone System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

A copy is preserved at the Library of Congress.

User Reviews

Fun, but not up to the level of the first Rex Lease/Benny Rubin film, SUNNY SKIES

This is the second pairing of western/action-film/serial leading man Rex Lease and dialect comedian Benny Rubin for Tiffany Pictures in 1930, and it follows in the footsteps of their first film SUNNY SKIES, although it is not as well thought-out nor as charming as SUNNY SKIES. The setting this time is baseball (it was college football in the earlier film), and although the characters have different last names in this film, it seems as though we enter the film with their characters already established, although they are playing DIFFERENT people in a different environment. There are no songs here, no dancing, and not much of the pathos found in the earlier film. Although the handsome-popular gentile paired with the nerdy bumbling Jew was probably a well-established archetype in the vaudeville tradition by the time this film was made, I can't help but think of Lease and Rubin as a kind of earlier version of Martin and Lewis. That Jerry Lewis was aware of Benny Rubin can be inferred from the fact that Rubin appeared in small roles in a number of Lewis' solo films. People between 40 and 60 probably know Rubin best from his many appearances on Jack Benny's TV programs--those two probably played many of the same vaudeville houses together in the 20s and 30s. The supporting players are once again well-chosen (John Ince as the crusty team manager, Pert Kelton as Benny's girlfriend, Alice Day as the girl Rex foolishly ignores but eventually appreciates, Natalie Moorhead as the golddigger who teases and takes advantage of Rex), and Norman Taurog as always handles romantic comedy well (as he would do for decades after this!). See SUNNY SKIES first, but after that this film is worth watching too. The Rex Lease/Benny Rubin duo are still entertaining after 70+ years and these formulas are STILL being used today...but often not as well!