Having Wonderful Time (1938)

Teddy Shaw, a bored New York office girl, goes to a camp in the Catskill Mountains for rest and finds Chick Kirkland.

Director:

Alfred Santell

Writers:

Arthur Kober (stage play: New York), Arthur Kober (screen play)

Stars:

Ginger Rogers, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Peggy Conklin

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ginger Rogers	...	Teddy Shaw
Douglas Fairbanks Jr.	...	Chick Kirkland
Peggy Conklin	...	Fay Coleman
Lucille Ball	...	Miriam
Lee Bowman	...	Buzzy Armbruster
Eve Arden	...	Henrietta
Dorothea Kent	...	Maxine
Red Skelton	...	Itchy (as Richard 'Red' Skelton)
Donald Meek	...	P.U. Rogers
Jack Carson	...	Emil Beatty
Clarence Wilson	...	Mr. G (as Clarence H. Wilson)
Allan Lane	...	Maxwell Pingwell aka Mac
Grady Sutton	...	Gus
Shimen Ruskin	...	Shrimpo
Dorothy Tree	...	Frances

Storyline

Ginger Rogers, an overworked New York office girl, seeks 2 weeks of rest and relaxation at a camp in the Catskills. She is definitely not a happy camper because of the crowded and noisy conditions. She tries her best to fit in and, after an initial dislike, falls for college educated Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., a waiter at the camp. Ginger becomes suspicious of his motives, however, and he becomes alarmed when she spends an innocent night in the cabin of a rival suitor. All ends happily, however, as their love proves true enough and trust triumphs over suspicions.

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Plot Keywords:

screwball comedy | camp | waiter | mountain | typist | 

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Taglines:

The play that captured Broadway is on the screen at last!

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Did You Know?

Trivia

The Broadway production of "Having Wonderful Time" opened at the Lyceum Theater in New York City on 20 February 1937 and ran for 372 performances.

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Goofs

In the final dining room scene, Teddy refers to Emil multiple times as EE-mul, but Emil refers to himself as AY-mul. Both are accepted pronunciations of the name (though neither is consistent with its feminine counterpart, Emily), but a single pronunciation should have been agreed on for the film.

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Quotes

Mrs. Shaw: I'll go and make you some lettuce and tomato sandwiches.
Teddy Shaw: Oh, never mind, Mom, it's only a few hours away. Gosh, you'd think I was going to Europe or something.
Mrs. Shaw: You better take some heavy nighties, it gets pretty cold in the mountains.

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Connections

Referenced in The Mad Miss Manton (1938)

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Soundtracks

Nighty Night
(1938)
Music by Sam H. Stept
Lyrics by Charles Tobias
Sung by Betty Jane Rhodes (uncredited) at the dance

User Reviews

Well, the audience isn't having a wonderful time...

Poor city girl Teddy Shaw (Ginger Rogers) is desperate to leave New York City and go on vacation in the Catskills. However, her vacation proves more troublesome than she thought, as she falls in love with waiter Chick Kirkland (Douglas Fairbanks Jr).

Terribly dull comedy from RKO; I've never seen a better cast wasted in such a turgid film. Red Skelton makes his film debut doing two unfunny comedy sequences, while Douglas Fairbanks Jr, Eve Arden and Lucille Ball are wasted in their roles. Ginger does her best, while Jack Carson plays the secondary love interest yet again. There's a couple of good comedy scenes, mainly involving Lee Bowman.

And who though Douglas Fairbanks Jr looked like a waiter?

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French

Release Date:

1 July 1938 (USA)

Also Known As:

Having Wonderful Time

Filming Locations:

RKO Studios - 780 N. Gower Street, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$966,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

RKO Radio Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

70 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Victor System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1