By Richard Harland Smith
Kid Nightingale
Brief Synopsis
A waiter becomes a singing prizefighter.
Cast & Crew
Read More
George Amy
Director
John Payne
Steve Nelson
Jane Wyman
Judy Craig
Walter Catlett
Skip Davis
Ed Brophy
Mike Jordan
Charles D. Brown
Charles Paxton
Film Details
Also Known As
Kid Caruso, The Singing Swinger
Genre
Musical
Adventure
Comedy
Drama
Sports
Release Date
Nov
4,
1939
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States
Technical Specs
Duration
57m
Sound
Mono
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
6 reels
Synopsis
Boxing manager Skip Davis is desperate to discover a new pugilistic sensation, and consequently, when he sees singing waiter Steve Nelson slug several of his hecklers, he offers to groom the kid for the championship. Rather than slug his way to fame, however, Steve wants to sing his way there, and agrees to enter the ring only if Skip hires opera coach Rudolfo Terrassi to train him. When fight promoter Charles Paxton witnesses the adulation of Steve's female audience, he proposes going into partnership with Davis, dubbing Steve "Kid Nightingale" and building him into a heavyweight title contender with a series of fixed fights. Paxton and Skip then plan to bet all their winnings on Steve's opponent and retire as rich men. The first part of their scheme works, and women flock to watch Steve warble his victory over each opponent. When Steve demands his singing lessons, Paxton dresses up Strangler Colombo, a professional wrestler, as a music professor and introduces him as the great Rudolfo Terrassi. Steve sings his way to the championship until Judy Craig, his fiancée, recognizes Rudolfo as the Strangler and seeks out the real professor. She brings him to the ringside of the championship bout, where all watch in amazement as Steve, thinking that he is seeing double, floors his opponent, thus destroying David and Skip's elaborate hoax.
Director
George Amy
Director
Cast
John Payne
Steve Nelson
Jane Wyman
Judy Craig
Walter Catlett
Skip Davis
Ed Brophy
Mike Jordan
Charles D. Brown
Charles Paxton
Max Hoffman Jr.
Fitts
John Ridgely
Whitey
Harry Burns
Strangler Colombo/Rudolfo Terrassi
William Haade
Rocky
Helen Troy
Marge
Winifred Harris
Mrs. Reynolds
Lee Phelps
Announcer
Frankie Van
Trainer
Steve Mason
Fighter
Claude Wisberg
Messenger
John Kelly
Dynamite
Creighton Hale
Boxing commissioner representative
Ralph Sanford
First drunk
Abe Dinovitch
Second drunk
Pat Flaherty
Soxey
Edna Holland
Madame Svenson
Jack Wise
Waiter
Phyllis Barry
First matron
Pauline Haddon
Second matron
Jimmy O'gatty
First fighter
Charles Sullivan
Second fighter
John Harron
Clipper
Richard Clayton
Elevator boy
Bobby Watson
Service station man
Tom Wilson
Handler
George Blake
Referee
James Blaine
Policeman
Mike Tellegen
First wrestler
Constantine Romanoff
Second wrestler
Jerry Mandy
Orchestra leader
Al Lloyd
Nat Carr
Frank Mayo
Leo White
Stuart Holmes
Crew
Milo Anderson
Gowns
Charles Belden
Screenwriter
E. A. Brown
Sound
Arthur Edeson
Director of Photography
Bryan Foy
Producer
Les Guthrie
Assistant Director
Mark Hellinger
Associate Producer
Lee Hugunin
Unit Manager
Lee Katz
Story
Bert Reisfeld
Composer
Frederick Richards
Film Editor
Raymond Schrock
Screenwriter
Harry Seymour
Dialogue Director
Ted Smith
Art Director
Jack L. Warner
Executive Producer
George Whiting
Composer
Film Details
Also Known As
Kid Caruso, The Singing Swinger
Genre
Musical
Adventure
Comedy
Drama
Sports
Release Date
Nov
4,
1939
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States
Technical Specs
Duration
57m
Sound
Mono
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
6 reels
Articles
Kid Nightingale
This featherweight Warner Brothers boxing comedy stars John Payne as a singing waiter who loses his job when he decks a heckler - a choice that leads to a second career when fight promoters Walter Catlett and Charles D. Brown see a goldmine in the "golden-voiced terror with a lullaby in each fist." Only a few years into his film career, Payne's wholesome handsomeness and plummy baritone binging voice got him assigned to such lightweight fare as Tin Pan Alley (1940), Weekend in Havana (1941), and Sun Valley Serenade (1941); at this point the actor was still a decade away from his career-making turn in the Fox holiday perennial Miracle on 34th Street (1949) and subsequent starring roles in such film noir classics as Kansas City Confidential (1952) and 99 River Street (1953). Also on deck for greater glory was leading lady Jane Wyman, then newly married to actor Ronald Reagan and a few years shy from her own career turning point, playing Ray Milland's understanding fiancée in The Lost Weekend (1945), from an Academy Award nomination for The Yearling (1947), and from earning Oscar gold playing the title role in Johnny Belinda (1948). First-time director George Amy was better known in Hollywood as an editor, having cut such films as Doctor X (1932), 20,000 Years in Sing Sing (1932), and Kid Galahad (1937), about a hotel bellhop who becomes a reluctant prizefighter.
By Richard Harland Smith
By Richard Harland Smith
Kid Nightingale
This featherweight Warner Brothers boxing comedy stars John Payne as a singing waiter who loses his job when he decks a heckler - a choice that leads to a second career when fight promoters Walter Catlett and Charles D. Brown see a goldmine in the "golden-voiced terror with a lullaby in each fist." Only a few years into his film career, Payne's wholesome handsomeness and plummy baritone binging voice got him assigned to such lightweight fare as Tin Pan Alley (1940), Weekend in Havana (1941), and Sun Valley Serenade (1941); at this point the actor was still a decade away from his career-making turn in the Fox holiday perennial Miracle on 34th Street (1949) and subsequent starring roles in such film noir classics as Kansas City Confidential (1952) and 99 River Street (1953). Also on deck for greater glory was leading lady Jane Wyman, then newly married to actor Ronald Reagan and a few years shy from her own career turning point, playing Ray Milland's understanding fiancée in The Lost Weekend (1945), from an Academy Award nomination for The Yearling (1947), and from earning Oscar gold playing the title role in Johnny Belinda (1948). First-time director George Amy was better known in Hollywood as an editor, having cut such films as Doctor X (1932), 20,000 Years in Sing Sing (1932), and Kid Galahad (1937), about a hotel bellhop who becomes a reluctant prizefighter.
By Richard Harland Smith
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The working titles of this picture were The Singing Swinger and Kid Caruso. Although the opening credits attribute the screenplay to Raymond Schrock and Charles Belden and the story to Lee Katz, the Screen Achievements Bulletin credits Schrock and Katz with original story and Belden with screenplay. This picture marked the directorial debut of former film editor George Amy.
