By Frank Miller
Mama Steps Out
Brief Synopsis
A dizzy society matron runs wild on the Riviera.
Cast & Crew
Read More
George B. Seitz
Director
Guy Kibbee
Leonard Cuppy
Alice Brady
Ada Cuppy
Betty Furness
Leila Cuppy
Stanley Morner
"Chuck" Thompson
Gene Lockhart
Mr. Sims
Film Details
Also Known As
Burnt Fingers
Genre
Comedy
Adaptation
Release Date
Feb
5,
1937
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corp.
Distribution Company
Loew's Inc.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the play Ada Beats the Drum by John Kirkpatrick, produced on the stage by John Golden, Inc. (New York, 8 May 1930).
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 5m
Sound
Mono (Western Electric Sound System)
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
8 reels
Synopsis
The Cuppy family of Fort Wayne, Indiana go to France to "broaden" their cultural outlook, although father Leonard, a perfume manufacturer, and daughter Leila are not as enthusiastic as mother Ada. On the way to France, Leila sees Chuck Thompson, a singer on board their ship, whom she used to know, but he refuses to return her enthusiastic attempts to start a romance. Hoping to change his mind, Leila convinces her parents to take a Villa in Antibes, where Chuck is appearing with Ferdie Fisher's band, but still has difficulty in convincing him that he loves her, even though he calls her a sweet kid. Meanwhile, Ada is bored with staying at the villa and only meeting Americans. When a local priest comes asking for money to save his church, Ada asks him to introduce her to some "cultural" Europeans. To comply, he brings some local "artists" who irritate Leila and Leonard with their antics, but enthrall Ada. One night, as Leonard drowns his sorrows in French apperitifs, ordered by Ada in place of his beloved American soda pop, he orders Ada's new friends out. She is consoled by Coco, a Frenchman with whom she is having a flirtation. Later Leila goes to Chuck's room to give him a sweater that she has knitted for him and he kisses her, but tells her to leave and look for a nice guy to marry. When Leila returns home she interrupts Ada kissing Coco and disgustedly tells her mother that she is going to marry Chuck and go with him to Italy where the band will be appearing next. Leonard then catches Coco trying to rob his room and calls the police, who don't understand the situation and arrest him instead of Coco, as Ada and Coco go after Leila. In Italy, Chuck makes Leila get her own room, then, when he discovers her dining with Ferdie, who is a married man, he orders her back to her own room and starts a fight. In the melee, he accidentally knocks Leila unconscious, then takes her back to her room. Finally, Ada, Leonard, Ferdie, the American consul, and Mr. Sims, a wealthy American friend of Leonard's, all converge on Leila's room. Seeing Leila's black eye, they are all shocked, but Chuck says that he plans to marry Leila and work very hard to deserve her. Sims then offers Ferdie a radio contract, but only if Chuck remains the band's singer. Happy at last, Ada says that at least Leila has something to take home with her.
Director
George B. Seitz
Director
Cast
Guy Kibbee
Leonard Cuppy
Alice Brady
Ada Cuppy
Betty Furness
Leila Cuppy
Stanley Morner
"Chuck" Thompson
Gene Lockhart
Mr. Sims
Edward Norris
Ferdie Fisher
Gregory Gaye
Dmitri
Ivan Lebedeff
Coco
Heather Thatcher
Nadine
Frank Puglia
Priest
Adrienne D'ambricourt
Jeanne
Sherry Hall
Steward
Charles Irwin
Purser
Francisco Maran
Doorman
Jack Chefe
French waiter
George Humbert
Cook
George Davis
Gendarme
Albert Morin
Gendarme
André Cheron
French warden
Jacques Vanaire
French guard
Albert Pollet
French guard
Fred Malatesta
French guard
Candy Candido
Candy
Dorothy Mccarthy And The Three Dots
Crew
George Boemler
Film Editor
John Detlie
Art Director Associate
John Emerson
Producer
Chet Forrest
Composer
Cedric Gibbons
Art Director
Anita Loos
Screenwriter
Jackson Rose
Photography
Douglas Shearer
Recording Director
Walter Strohm
Assistant Director
Dolly Tree
Wardrobe
Edward Ward
Music Score
Edwin B. Willis
Art Director Associate
Bob Wright
Composer
Film Details
Also Known As
Burnt Fingers
Genre
Comedy
Adaptation
Release Date
Feb
5,
1937
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corp.
Distribution Company
Loew's Inc.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the play Ada Beats the Drum by John Kirkpatrick, produced on the stage by John Golden, Inc. (New York, 8 May 1930).
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 5m
Sound
Mono (Western Electric Sound System)
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
8 reels
Articles
Mama Steps Out
The trailers for this 1937 comedy promoted radio singer Stanley Morner's transition to the movies, and the man who would become better-known as Dennis Morgan acquits himself well in the second film for which he received billing. But the real stars are Guy Kibbee and Alice Brady as a pair of innocents abroad. Although adapted from John Alexander Kirkland's 1930 Broadway play Ada Beats the Drum, the film seems a comic take on Dodsworth (1936), a film released a year earlier. As in Dodsworth, the action is motivated by a socially ambitious Midwestern wife (Brady), who drags her husband off on a European tour in search of culture. In Mama Steps Out, however, the story is played for laughs, with Brady trying to prevent daughter Betty Furness from getting involved with American singer Morner while Kibbee looks on in consternation. For Brady, the part is almost a reprise of her daffy grande dame in My Man Godfrey (1936) and she brings the same dithery charm to the role, even as she's tempted to cheat on her husband with an unscrupulous artist (Ivan Lebedeff). Anita Loos did the adaptation, which accounts for the film's surprisingly sharp lines.
By Frank Miller
By Frank Miller
Mama Steps Out
The trailers for this 1937 comedy promoted radio singer Stanley Morner's transition to the movies, and the man who would become better-known as Dennis Morgan acquits himself well in the second film for which he received billing. But the real stars are Guy Kibbee and Alice Brady as a pair of innocents abroad. Although adapted from John Alexander Kirkland's 1930 Broadway play Ada Beats the Drum, the film seems a comic take on Dodsworth (1936), a film released a year earlier. As in Dodsworth, the action is motivated by a socially ambitious Midwestern wife (Brady), who drags her husband off on a European tour in search of culture. In Mama Steps Out, however, the story is played for laughs, with Brady trying to prevent daughter Betty Furness from getting involved with American singer Morner while Kibbee looks on in consternation. For Brady, the part is almost a reprise of her daffy grande dame in My Man Godfrey (1936) and she brings the same dithery charm to the role, even as she's tempted to cheat on her husband with an unscrupulous artist (Ivan Lebedeff). Anita Loos did the adaptation, which accounts for the film's surprisingly sharp lines.
By Frank Miller
Quotes
Trivia
The original play, "Ada Beats the Drum," opened in New York on 8 May 1930, with Mary Boland and George Barbier in the roles of Ada and Leonard Cuppy.
The original play, "Ada Beats the Drum," opened in New York on 8 May 1930, with Mary Boland and George Barbier in the roles of Ada and Leonard Cuppy.
Notes
The film's working title was Burnt Fingers. The Motion Picture Herald review lists a preview running time of 79 min. According to the Daily Variety review this film marked the "screen bow" of Stanley Morner (later known as Dennis Morgan). Although this was the first film on which Morner received onscreen credit, he had been seen previously in bit parts in other M-G-M films, including The Great Ziegfeld in 1936, in which he appeared in the "A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody" number. Mary Boland and George Barbier played the roles of Ada and Leonard Cuppy on Broadway, and Boland recreated the role on a Lux Radio Theatre broadcast on April 28, 1935.
