Hats Off (1936)

Rival press agents Jimmy Maxwell and Jo Allen have both been assigned to stir up publicity for separate exhibitions at the 1936 Texas Centennial.

Director:

Boris Petroff

Writers:

Edmund Joseph (original story by), Samuel Fuller (original story by) (as Sam Fuller)

Stars:

Mae Clarke, John Payne, Helen Lynd

Cast

Cast overview:
Mae Clarke	...	Jo Allen
John Payne	...	Jimmy Maxwell
Helen Lynd	...	Ginger Connolly
Luis Alberni	...	Rosero
Richard 'Skeets' Gallagher	...	Buzz Morton (as Skeets Gallagher)
Franklin Pangborn	...	Mr. Churchill (as Franklyn Pangborn)
Robert Middlemass	...	Tex Connolly
George Irving	...	J.B. Murdock
Clarence Wilson	...	Mr. Pottingham
Val Stanton	...	Valet
Ernie Stanton	...	Secretary
The Radio Rogues	...	Comic Trio (as The Three Radio Rogues)
Eddie Bartell	...	Radio Rogue
Jimmy Hollywood	...	Radio Rogue
Henry Taylor	...	Radio Rogue

Storyline

Rival press agents Jimmy Maxwell and Jo Allen have both been assigned to stir up publicity for separate exhibitions at the 1936 Texas Centennial.

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Plot Keywords:

1936 texas centennial exposition | press agent | competition | radio program | 

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Taglines:

Tops in Youth...Melody...Charm

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Genres:

Comedy | Music

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Certificate:

Approved

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film received its initial USA telecast Sunday 22 February 1942 on New York City's pioneer television station WNBT (Channel 1). On the West Coast its earliest documented telecast took place in Los Angeles Monday 10 March 1947 on Don Lee's still experimental W6XAO (Channel 2); its next airings were in New York City Sunday 18 September 1949 on WPIX (Channel 11), and in Cincinnati Thursday 8 December 1949 on WKRC (Channel 11).

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Soundtracks

Let's Have Another
Music by Ben Oakland
Lyrics by Herb Magidson
Sung by Helen Lynd

User Reviews

John Payne First Starring Movie - For John Payne Completists

I was wondering why John Payne looked like and acted like Jimmy Stewart in this movie. I think it was because 1936 was Stewart's break out year. He starred in four movies and had good parts in four more. His career was exploding. Somebody probably saw Payne and figured people would think he was Stewart. Payne never quite reached Stewart's level of super-stardom, but he seemed to have a greater acting range, playing tough guys as easily as sweetheart roles. Here, he is quite affable and charming. One wishes he had more screen time. This is also Sam Fuller's first screenplay. I am not that familiar with Fuller's corpus except for some of his major works - "The Big Red One," "Shock Corridor" "The Naked Kiss" and "Pick Up on South Street." This seems quite different from the other works that I've seen by him, much lighter in tone. Mae Clarke is dull and Helen Lynn does seem to be doing a Gracie Allen imitation. Only Luis Alberni as Rosero hits the right notes to brighten the film a bit. The other characters are not given enough screen time to make a solid impression. This is just passable and I think only John Payne fans would really be interested enough to watch the whole thing.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 December 1936 (USA)

Also Known As:

Cappelli in aria

Filming Locations:

Glendale Grand Central Air Terminal - Grandview Avenue, Glendale, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Boris Petroff Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

66 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Victor High Fidelity Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1