Spotlight Scandals
Cast & Crew
William Beaudine
Billy Gilbert
Frank Fay
Bonnie Baker
Butch And Buddy
Henry King
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Vaudevillian Frank Fay is stranded in a small Midwestern town because he is broke. After he bilks barber Billy Gilbert out of ten dollars, the guileless Billy auditions for him over dinner. Despite discouragement from Frank, Billy insists on taking the performer back to New York, where he hopes to launch his own theater career. Billy auditions for agent John Blondell, who is so amused by Frank's wisecracks during Billy's song that he immediately books them as a double act, with Frank performing as the straight man. Billy and Frank open to rave reviews, and they are held over in the vaudeville show and given a raise. The comedy team is soon promoted to the top nightclubs, and eventually headline in their own variety show called Spotlight Revue. Although their lead dancer, Bernice, is dating Oscar, the financial backer, she is infatuated with Frank and eagerly pursues him. Frank, however, falls for singer Bonnie Baker, whom he sees perform at a nightclub. The situation becomes complicated when Bonnie's erstwhile boyfriend Jerry, who works for her mother's bubble-gum company, becomes jealous of Frank, and Bernice becomes jealous of Bonnie. When Bonnie invites only Frank to perform on the radio program sponsored by her mother's company, he refuses out of friendship for Billy. When their show closes, however, John tells Billy about the radio offer and urges him to convince Frank to accept it, as Frank is broke once again. Billy, who has accumulated a small fortune, tells Frank that he wants to break up the act and go out on his own, and Frank is so offended by Billy's apparent lack of loyalty that he entirely breaks off their friendship. Billy returns to the Midwest, and after Frank accepts Bonnie's offer of the radio show, they are soon performing as "the sweethearts of the airwaves." Bernice becomes annoyingly persistent, despite Frank's attempts to dissuade her from her romantic notions. One night, she shows up at Frank's penthouse apartment, and when he tries to forcefully remove her, she backs away and falls to her death from his balcony. Frank is charged with manslaughter, and Billy secretly puts up the money to hire Frank the best lawyer, who gets Frank acquitted of the charges. Frank's career is nonetheless destroyed, and although he attempts to work at cheaper vaudeville houses, his comedy proves too sophisticated for the audiences. Billy, who is also now broke, returns to New York, but John insists that Frank will not reunite the act. Billy starts his own act with his two young sons, and one night while performing a card trick that used to be the hallmark of Billy and Frank's show, Frank joins him on stage from the audience. Billy is so touched that he is overcome by tears, and the two friends slip right back into their old routines.
Director
William Beaudine
Cast
Billy Gilbert
Frank Fay
Bonnie Baker
Butch And Buddy
Henry King
Herb Miller
Radio Rogues
Harry Langdon
Iris Adrian
Claudia Dell
Eddie Parks
James Hope
Lottie Harrison
Betty Blythe
James Bush
Jack Boyle
Crew
Michael William Balfe
Jack Boyle
Alfred Bunn
James Austin Butterfield
Eddie Cherkose
William X. Crowley
Eddie Davis
Jack Dietz
George H. Gartlan
Glen Glenn
Arthur Hamburger
Arthur Hammond
George W. Johnson
Sam Katzman
Edward Kay
Edward Kay
John Marshall
David Milton
Abe Olman
Carl Pierson
Ed Rose
Beryl Sachs
Barney Sarecky
Mack Stengler
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The working title of this film was Spotlight Revue. Although Billy Gilbert, Frank Fay and Bonnie Baker use their real names in this film, this is not a biographical film. The Daily Variety review indicates that this film was the "first of the Billy Gilbert-Frank Fay series of co-starring comedy-dramas," but no sequel to this film was made.
