College Humor (1933)

A college professor and the school's star football player are both rivals for the same beautiful coed.

Director:

Wesley Ruggles

Writers:

Frank Butler (screenplay), Claude Binyon (sceenplay)

Stars:

Bing Crosby, Jack Oakie, Richard Arlen

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bing Crosby	...	Professor Frederick Danvers
Jack Oakie	...	Barney Shirrel
Richard Arlen	...	Mondrake
Mary Carlisle	...	Barbara Shirrel
George Burns	...	George Burns (as Burns and Allen)
Gracie Allen	...	Gracie Allen (as Burns and Allen)
Mary Kornman	...	Amber Davis
Joe Sawyer	...	Tex Roust (as Joseph Sawyer)
Lona Andre	...	Ginger Chadwick
Jimmy Conlin	...	Dr. Mandel
James Donlan	...	Marcus Lafflin
James Burke	...	Cromwell Dexter
Edward J. Nugent	...	Whistler (as Eddie Nugent)
Lumsden Hare	...	College President
Grady Sutton	...	Timid Freshman with Laundry

Storyline

A college professor and the school's star football player are both rivals for the same beautiful coed.

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Plot Keywords:

pre code film | newsreel football game footage | archive footage | prohibition era | damsel in distress | 

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Music | Romance | Sport

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 July 1933 (USA)

Also Known As:

Alegria de Estudantes

Filming Locations:

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

80 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When writer and future Oscar winner Julius J. Epstein first arrived in Hollywood in 1933, he was told to watch the making of this movie on the soundstage in order to get him acclimated to moviemaking and production techniques.

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Connections

Referenced in Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1930s: Dancing Away the Great Depression (2009)

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Soundtracks

Learn to Croon
Music by Arthur Johnston
Lyrics by Sam Coslow
Sung by Bing Crosby

User Reviews

A Fine Old College Chestnut

It's always been a source of amazement to me how Jack Oakie was able to keep playing dumb jock college students throughout the 30s. Yet he got away with it as he does here and when all's said and done, he's a pretty funny fellow.

In this one he has a coed sister played by Mary Carlisle who football jock and Oakie's fraternity pal Richard Arlen thinks he's got a claim on. But no, Carlisle has her eyes on music professor Bing Crosby.

This was Bing's second feature film and the first he'd make with Mary Carlisle. She and Bing were a perfect fit in those films.

This is also the second feature film that Crosby would make with Burns& Allen. They are personal favorites of mine and I only wish we saw more of them as a pair of caterers at a fraternity party.

Bing recorded three of the songs from College Humor, the biggest hit being Learn to Croon which immortalized his Buh-Buh-Buh-Boo for the ages. It's a nice number done as Bing teaches a music class as we learn that all the past music immortals would eventually been buh-buh-buh-booing it with Der Bingle.

He sings a nice ballad to Mary Carlisle entitled Moonstruck and no it has nothing whatsoever to do with Cher's film two generations later.

For once Paramount gave Crosby a Busby Berkeley like production number in Down the Old Ox Road which apparently was the slang term back in the thirties for the local college passion pit. The number travels all over the campus showing the students singing about the glories of Ox Road with Bing in the finale.

I think this is one of the early movies that Crosby did that doesn't hold up as well as the others. But I think none of those college films from the 30s do, with rare exceptions. In this one I don't think anyone was getting an education. Especially Jack Oakie, just see what he does with his college degree at the end.

College life has undergone so much change in the over 70 years since this film was made. I can't identify with any of it from the 60s so God only knows what college kids would think of it today. Still it's a fine old chestnut and anything with Der Bingle and George and Gracie you can't go wrong with.