$1,000 a Touchdown
Cast & Crew
James Hogan
Joe E. Brown
Martha Raye
Eric Blore
Susan Hayward
John Hartley
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Marlowe Mansfield Booth, scion of an illustrious stage family, is a histrionic failure because he loses his voice when faced with an audience of more than ten people. While seeking a cure, he meets the love-starved Martha Madison, who runs a destitute drama school that she inherited from her relatives. Determined to keep the school from becoming a shoe factory, Martha mortgages her house to pay her creditor, the stingy Mr. Fishbeck, and assisted by a group of stranded stage performers, she announces that the school is ready for business. Marlowe is appointed president, and Betty McGlen, an actress, is put in charge of a course in romance. When students fail to appear, Martha's ex-butler, Henry, suggests that the school needs a football team. By offering a course in romance, the school attracts a host of football players from various colleges, including Bill Anders, who is attracted to Betty. Aided only by a book on how to coach football, Marlowe manages to forge a team, but because he can face no more than eleven people at once, he refuses to allow substitute players. When all the legitimate schools refuse to play against her team, Martha hires a professional team to put on an exhibition game and bets every cent on her team, hoping to win enough to pay off the school's debts. The pros are walking away with the game when Martha cleverly bets Fishbeck $1,000 for every touchdown her team scores, and then makes the same wager with the captain of the pros. All goes well until Fishbeck cancels the wager after he begins losing and Martha's bribe money dries up. The professionals then go on a scoring spree, and all seems lost when Bill is injured. Marlowe, however, accidentally injests some alcohol and, thus fortified, enters the game. In a whirlwind finish, he wins the match for his school.
Director
James Hogan
Cast
Joe E. Brown
Martha Raye
Eric Blore
Susan Hayward
John Hartley
Syd Saylor
Joyce Mathews
George Mckay
Tom Dugan
Matt Mchugh
Don Wilson
Josef Swickard
Hugh Sothern
Adrian Morris
Edward Gargan
Dewey Robinson
William Haade
Grace Goodall
Frank M. Thomas
Robert E. Milasch
Jimmy Conlin
Emmett Vogan
Johnny Morris
George Barton
Jack Perrin
Fritzi Brunette
Phil Dunham
Gertrude Astor
D'arcy Corrigan
Constantine Romanoff
Charles Middleton
Al Herman
Pat West
Charles Mcavoy
Dot Farley
Jack Shea
Jolly Rawlings
Harry Templeton
Jack Chapin
James F. Hogan
Don Evan Brown
Arthur Bernard
Bob Layne
Wayne "tiny" Whitt
John Hart
Linda Brent
Maxine Conrad
Cheryl Walker
Mary Ray
Dorothy Dayton
Paula De Cardo
Judy King
Patsy Mace
Wanda Mckay
Jane Webb
Larry Crabbe
Crew
Delmer Daves
Hans Dreier
George Dutton
William Flannery
A. E. Freudeman
Chandler House
William Lebaron
William C. Mellor
Ralph Rainger
Leo Robin
Glenn Rominger
Harry Scott
William C. Thomas
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
News item in Hollywood Reporter note that this picture was filmed location at Soshou Lake, CA and at the El Capitan theater in Los Angeles. This was the film debut of Don Evan Brown, the son of star Joe E. Brown.
