By Frank Miller
Show Business
Brief Synopsis
Four vaudevillians struggle to make it to the big time.
Cast & Crew
Read More
Edwin L. Marin
Director
Eddie Cantor
Eddie Martin
George Murphy
George Doane
Joan Davis
Joan Mason
Nancy Kelly
Nancy Gaye
Constance Moore
Constance Ford
Film Details
Genre
Musical
Release Date
Jan
1944
Premiere Information
New York opening: week of 10 May 1944
Production Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 32m
Sound
Mono (RCA Sound System)
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
8,293ft
Synopsis
In 1914, hoofer George Doane meets Eddie Martin at the Miner's Bowery Theatre when Eddie performs in an amateur contest. When the audience begins to heckle Eddie, George offers encouragement and stage directions from the wings. As a result of George's coaching, Eddie wins first prize, and George invites him to celebrate at Kelly's Café, a gathering place for entertainers. At the café, the womanizing George notices Constance Ford, who is sitting with her sister, Joan Mason, and their agent, Charlie Lucas. After introducing himself to Connie, George begins to dance with her to the tune of "It Had to Be You." They are interrupted by the appearance of Nancy Gaye, George's jealous girl friend, who insists that he leave with her. That night, George invites Eddie to join his burlesque act, and at the end of the season on the road, George decides to ditch Nancy in Maine while he goes to New York to look for Connie. In New York, George and Eddie return to the café, where they meet Connie, Joan and Charlie. When George asks Charlie about breaking into vaudeville, Charlie discourages him until Connie suggests combining her and Joan's sister act with George and Eddie's burlesque show. The new team of Doane, Martin, Mason and Ford is a success. On the road, Joan proposes to Eddie, who she says reminds her of a cocker spaniel, and George proposes to Connie, but their offers are rejected. In Baltimore, Nancy catches up to George, but Eddie ushers her out of the theater before she can see him. When Charlie criticizes their act as not being flashy enough to win a New York booking, George decides to raise the $10,000 needed to expand the show by breaking the team into five separate acts. After an exhausting season, they have saved $5,000, which George sends to Nancy when he learns that she has been involved in a serious accident and needs the money to recuperate. Afterward, Connie finally accepts George's proposal, and the team travels to Boston. Just as they raise the $10,000 needed to mount a production at the Palace Theatre in New York, Connie announces that she is pregnant. After their New York success, Connie takes a temporary leave of absence from the act while Joan, Eddie and George go back on the road. They are appearing on the same bill with Nancy when word comes that Connie has gone into labor. Joan and Eddie rush back to the city to be with Connie, leaving George to drive back with Nancy. Nancy, who is still in love with George, deliberately misses the New York turnoff, and as a result, George arrives at the hospital hours after Connie has delivered her baby and learns that the infant has died and Connie plans to divorce him. With the advent of World War I, Eddie goes overseas to entertain the troops and is reunited with George when he performs in a hospital where George is convalescing. At war's end, Charlie welcomes George home with a party at a nightclub. At the club, Connie tells George that she has accepted Charlie's proposal. Later, Connie begins to have doubts about the marriage and tells Charlie that she wants to return to work. As Connie takes to the road singing "It Had to Be You," George also hits the road, but his career takes a downward spiral and he is finally reduced to singing for drinks. Back in New York, when Charlie tells Eddie that Ziegfeld wants his and Joan's act, Eddie inquires about George. After Charlie replies that George has been spotted singing in a San Francisco speakeasy, Eddie, who is convinced that Connie still loves her ex-husband, decides to find his old friend. In San Francisco, Eddie locates George and pretends to be an alcoholic in need of his friend's help. Eddie's ruse works, and George returns to New York with Eddie to appear in the Ziegfeld Follies. On opening night, George sings "It Had to Be You" to Connie, who is seated in the audience, and after the show, a double wedding is held for Eddie and Joan and George and Connie. As Connie and George leave for their honeymoon in Niagara Falls, Joan carries Eddie over the threshold.
Director
Edwin L. Marin
Director
Cast
Eddie Cantor
Eddie Martin
George Murphy
George Doane
Joan Davis
Joan Mason
Nancy Kelly
Nancy Gaye
Constance Moore
Constance Ford
Don Douglas
Charlie Lucas
Forbes Murray
Director
Bert Moorhouse
Desk clerk
Edmund Glover
Gambler
Don Dillaway
Gambler
Russ Hopton
Gambler
George Lloyd
Heckler
Jack George
Orchestra leader
Eddie Borden
Comic with banjo
William Haade
Stage hand
Jerry Maren
Midget
William Halligan
Stage manager
Joseph Vitale
Caesar
Sonny Lamont
Dancer
Ann Frederick
Model
Frances Morris
Nurse
Inna Gest
Nurse
Claire Carleton
Nurse
Russ Clark
Army doctor
Marietta Canty
Maid
Sam Lufkin
Waiter on stage
Dick Elliott
Man with glasses
Buster Brodie
Bald headed man
W. J. O'brien
Peanut gag man
Charles Marsh
Man eating peanuts
Robert Homans
Bartender
Chef Milani
Headwaiter
Ralph Dunn
Taxi driver
Mary Halsey
Waitress
Margie Stewart
Waitress
Harry Martin
Patron
Eddie Rio
Patron
Jack Mattis
Patron
Stymie Beard
Harold
Harry Harvey Jr.
Page boy
Bob Thom
Electrician
Billy Bestor
Call boy
Mary Morgan
Page girl
Dell Clow
Page girl
Shelby Payne
Show girl
Dorothy Garner
Show girl
Gloria Anderson
Show girl
Ruth Valmy
Show girl
Mary Meade
Show girl
Myrna Dell
Show girl
Barbara Coleman
Show girl
Kay Morley
Show girl
Doris Sheehan
Show girl
Alice Wallace
Show girl
Marion Gray
Woman in audience
Dorcas Mckim
Woman in audience
Larry Steers
Man in audience
James Carlisle
Man in audience
Andrew Tombes
Judge
Rosemary Laplanche
Shirley O'hara
Dorothy Maloney
Daun Kennedy
Elaine Riley
Crew
Harry Akst
Composer
C. Bakaleinikoff
Music Director
Clem Beauchamp
Assistant Director
Dorothy Bennett
Screenwriter
Mel Berns
Makeup Artist
Salvatore Cammarano
Composer
Eddie Cantor
Producer
Nick Castle
Music numbers created and staged by
Albert S. D'agostino
Art Director
Ken Darby
Vocal Director
Robert De Grasse
Director of Photography
Buddy Desylva
Composer
Will Dillon
Composer
Eddie Donahue
Assistant Director
Walter Donaldson
Composer
Gaetano Donizetti
Composer
George Duning
Vocal Director
Irving Elinson
Additional Dialogue
Al Fields
Set Decoration
Joe Goodwin
Composer
Bert Granet
Story
Bud Green
Composer
Ray Henderson
Composer
Ian Mclellan Hunter
Contract Writer
George Jessel
Composer
Howard Johnson
Composer
Isham Jones
Composer
Gus Kahn
Composer
Sam M. Lewis
Composer
Halsey K. Mohr
Composer
Ben Oakland
Composer
Jack Okey
Art Director
Harold Palmer
Montage
Harry Pease
Composer
Joseph Quillan
Screenwriter
Gene Rose
Orchestra Arrangement
Darrell Silvera
Set Decoration
Paul Gerard Smith
Contract Writer
Jean L. Speak
Recording
Edward Stevenson
Gowns
James G. Stewart
Re-Recording
William Ullman Jr.
Contract Writer
Harry Von Tilzer
Composer
Vernon L. Walker
Special Effects
Theron Warth
Editing
Joe Young
Composer
Film Details
Genre
Musical
Release Date
Jan
1944
Premiere Information
New York opening: week of 10 May 1944
Production Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 32m
Sound
Mono (RCA Sound System)
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
8,293ft
Articles
Show Business -
George Murphy and Constance Moore carry the plot of this musical history of vaudeville, but the real attraction is Eddie Cantor and Joan Davis at their comic best. The four create a team headed to the top of the vaudeville circuit until a fifth wheel, Murphy's ex-girlfriend (Nancy Kelly) tries to split them apart. The film features such standards as "Alabamy Bound" and "Dinah," while also giving Cantor a chance to re-create his legendary performance of "Makin' Whoopee." Whenever the action drags, Davis gets to throw in a caustic one-liner to perk things up. This was the first of two films produced by Cantor, who based his first appearance, fighting hecklers at an amateur contest, on his own show business debut. For his second film he would ditch the romantic plot in favor of pure comedy, reuniting with Davis to play a team of retired vaudevillians dealing with gangsters in If You Knew Suzie (1948). For the second film, he would even use one of the comic highlights from Show Business, a parody of the sextette from Lucia di Lammermoor, as an example of his and Davis' work in vaudeville.
By Frank Miller
By Frank Miller
Show Business -
George Murphy and Constance Moore carry the plot of this musical history of vaudeville, but the real attraction is Eddie Cantor and Joan Davis at their comic best. The four create a team headed to the top of the vaudeville circuit until a fifth wheel, Murphy's ex-girlfriend (Nancy Kelly) tries to split them apart. The film features such standards as "Alabamy Bound" and "Dinah," while also giving Cantor a chance to re-create his legendary performance of "Makin' Whoopee." Whenever the action drags, Davis gets to throw in a caustic one-liner to perk things up. This was the first of two films produced by Cantor, who based his first appearance, fighting hecklers at an amateur contest, on his own show business debut. For his second film he would ditch the romantic plot in favor of pure comedy, reuniting with Davis to play a team of retired vaudevillians dealing with gangsters in If You Knew Suzie (1948). For the second film, he would even use one of the comic highlights from Show Business, a parody of the sextette from Lucia di Lammermoor, as an example of his and Davis' work in vaudeville.
By Frank Miller
Quotes
Do-eth thou-eth loveth me-eth?- Cleopatra
Yeth!- Marc Anthony
Trivia
Notes
The opening credit sequence of the film contains the following prologue: "In the colorful era of belles-bloomers-and beer in buckets-trouped ambitious groups of loveable hams known as show folks, all dreaming of the Big Time. In the burlesque theatres of those days were born many of today's great stars. Such a theatre was Miner's Bowery..." A New York Times news item adds that the first scene in the film was loosely based on Eddie Cantor's debut appearance at the Miner's Burlesque Theatre in 1908. According to a pre-production news item in Hollywood Reporter, Cantor was originally slated to script the picture, which was to star Cary Grant and Dinah Shore. This was Cantor's first producing credit for RKO.
A news item in Hollywood Reporter notes that veteran vaudeville performer Pat Rooney came out of retirement to appear in the picture. Rooney, George Jessel, Gene Sheldon and Bert Gordon, doing his "mad Russian" routine, all shot material for the film, but were cut from final release prints. The opera selection performed in the film was done as a spoof. Another news item in Hollywood Reporter adds that the proceeds from the film's Los Angeles premiere went to the Wounded Soldiers' Fund of the Birmingham General Hospital in Van Nuys, CA. According to a post-production news item in Hollywood Reporter, in November 1946, writer Edwin O'Brien sued RKO for $25,000, alleging that the studio based this film on an idea that he submitted about vaudeville and the New York Palace Theatre. The outcome of that suit has not been discovered. In 1948, Cantor and Joan Davis were re-teamed as a retired vaudeville couple in the RKO film If You Knew Susie .
