Fast and Furious (1939)

Rare book dealers Joel and Garda take a summertime jaunt to the seashore where he becomes involved in a beauty pageant as investor and judge much to her chagrin.

Director:

Busby Berkeley

Writer:

Harry Kurnitz (original screen play)

Stars:

Franchot Tone, Ann Sothern, Ruth Hussey

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Franchot Tone	...	Joel Sloane
Ann Sothern	...	Garda Sloane
Ruth Hussey	...	Lily Cole
Lee Bowman	...	Mike Stevens
Allyn Joslyn	...	Ted Bentley
John Miljan	...	Eric Bartell
Bernard Nedell	...	Ed Connors
Mary Beth Hughes	...	Jerry Lawrence
Cliff Clark	...	Sam Travers
James Burke	...	Clancy
Frank Orth	...	Captain Joe Burke
Margaret Roach	...	Emmy Lou
Gladys Blake	...	Miss Brooklyn
Granville Bates	...	Chief Miller

Storyline

Joel and Garda Sloan, a husband and wife detective team, who also sell rare books in New York, take a vacation to Seaside City. At Seaside, Joel's pal, Mike Stevens is managing and preparing for their beauty pageant. Joel is made one of the judges plus he has invested $5,000 in it, to Garda's dismay. Eric Bartell, promoter, arrives to dupe Stevens. When Ed Connors, New York racketeer arrives, Bartell is mysteriously murdered. Joel and Garda set out to investigate the murder.

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Plot Keywords:

rare book dealer | seashore | vacation | murder | racketeer | 

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Taglines:

Crime doesn't pay with these two super sleuths on the job!

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Musical | Mystery

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 October 1939 (USA)

Also Known As:

A nagy riport

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

73 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film received its initial television broadcast in Los Angeles Wednesday 15 May 1957 on KTTV (Channel 11), followed by Seattle 26 May 1957 on KING (Channel 5), by both Chicago and New Haven CT 5 June 1957 on WBBM (Channel 2) and on WNHC (Channel 8), by New York City 19 June 1957 on WCBS (Channel 2), by Philadelphia 2 July 1957 on WFIL (Channel 6), by Tucson 22 July 1957 on KVOA (Channel 4), by Miami 23 September 1957 on WCKT (Channel 7), by Minneapolis 6 November 1957 on KMGM (Channel 9), by Honolulu 10 November 1957 on KHVH (Channel 13), by Norfolk VA 17 December 1957 on WTAR (Channel 3), by Portland OR 19 December 1957 on KGW (Channel 8), and by San Francisco 20 January 1958 on KGO (Channel 7).

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Quotes

Master of Ceremonies: Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. It's now my privilege to introduce, Miss Florabelle Higgins, Miss Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Garda Sloane: She ought to be Miss Tulsa. She's built like an oil well.

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Connections

Follows Fast Company (1938)

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Soundtracks

You are my Lucky Star
(1935) (uncredited)
Music by Nacio Herb Brown
Lyrics by Arthur Freed
Played by a band at the Seaside City railroad station

User Reviews

husband and wife team must solve a murder

Busby Berkeley did direct films during the 1930s and 1940s, but he's probably best known for his eye-popping camera angles, synchronized dancing, and row upon row of dance and song numbers. Husband and wife Joel and Garda go on vacation, and somehow Joel ends up as judge for the beauty pageant (...?). Strange enough plot... but the fake accents we hear from the contestants are even more strange. There's a subplot where the pageant runners are planning to run off with the dough, so that's going on too. Ann Sothern and Franchot Tone star in this silly fluff from MGM. It's so goofy that a cop from their hometown follows them on vacation. This one goes all around the mulberry bush... even using the cliché where the chief of police tells Joel he'll get locked up if he interferes any more. Sothern over-acts, stomps around, and yells all her lines. She had been in the biz for years now, so she should know better. There ARE some fun, old timer folks from vaudeville in here, like the "Captain" with his lions, but the plot is just silly. Historically, i guess it's interesting to see one of the films directed by Berkeley himself. Unfortunately, we don't get to see a big fancy dance number in this one. Wikipedia claims he was married six times, but we only see four spice listed in IMDb....