Dance Charlie Dance
Brief Synopsis
A gullible "angel" sinks money into a doomed play.
Cast & Crew
Read More
Frank Mcdonald
Director
Stuart Erwin
Andy Tucker
Jean Muir
Mary Mathews
Glenda Farrell
Fanny Morgan
Allen Jenkins
Alf Morgan
Addison Richards
Gordon Fox
Film Details
Genre
Comedy
Adaptation
Release Date
Aug
14,
1937
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the play The Butter and Egg Man by George S. Kaufman (New York, 23 Sep 1925).
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 4m
Sound
Mono
Color
Black and White
Film Length
8 reels
Synopsis
Andy Tucker is fascinated by the theater. He has come to New York City from Athens, Illinois, hoping to invest in a theatrical play in order to double his money and buy the hotel he works in. Having just lost their backer, Alf Morgan and his partner, MacArthur, are delighted to take his money for forty-nine percent of the profits. Andy agrees to the deal, to the dismay of their secretary, Mary Mathews, who knows just how terrible their latest play really is. Former fan dancer Fanny Morgan, Alf's wife, is also convinced that the play is a sure-fire failure. The play opens out of town to general ridicule. Jennie Wolfe, the agent of star Jane Arden, complains to the producers about their treatment of Jane and Morgan blames everything on Andy. When Mary speaks up in Andy's favor, Morgan fires her. Andy then offers to buy the whole show from Morgan and MacArthur. He gets another $l0,000 from a fellow hotel man, Alvin Gussett, and they take the show to New York. On opening night, the audience again laughs in all the dramatic parts, but instead of a failure, the show is a surprise comedy hit. Then lawyer Gordon Fox announces that one of his clients is suing them for plagiarism. Andy is desolate. It seems that he will never make enough money to buy his hotel and Mary advises him to get out of the theatrical business. Just then Fanny breaks the news that Morgan is coming with a certified check to buy back the show. A moment later, MacArthur arrives with a certified check of his own. Mary negotiates with the men, who pay $50,000 each for the show seconds before Fox returns to press his lawsuit. Mary and Andy tell Alvin that they will return to Andy's home town to buy the hotel, and they convince him to invest his forty-nine percent of the play's profits in the hotel and run it with them.
Director
Frank Mcdonald
Director
Cast
Stuart Erwin
Andy Tucker
Jean Muir
Mary Mathews
Glenda Farrell
Fanny Morgan
Allen Jenkins
Alf Morgan
Addison Richards
Gordon Fox
Mary Treen
Jennie Wolfe
Charles Foy
MacArthur
Chester Clute
Alvin Gussett
Collette Lyons
Bobbie Benson
Tommy Wonder
Charlie
Frank Faylen
Ted Parks
Robert Homans
Tim
Harvey Clark
Richard Milton
Olive Olson
Jane Arden
Bernice Pilot
Maid
Glen Cavender
First carpenter
Tom Wilson
Second carpenter
Al Herman
Janitor
Jack Mower
Stage manager
Jack Wilsey
Clerk
Edward Price
Relief clerk
Fern Barry
Small towner
Frances Morris
First telegraph girl
Mary Doyle
Second telegraph girl
Don Downen
Theater employee
George Lloyd
Marioni
Bob Cautiero
Perrelli
Edward Harkey
Husband
George Sorel
Baron Ziska
Loia Cheaney
Countess Lavalliere
Stuart Holmes
Inspector
Ferdinand Schumann-heink
Proprietor
John Harron
Sam Rice
Crew
Leo F. Forbstein
Music Director
Bryan Foy
Associate Producer
William Jacobs
Screenwriter
M. K. Jerome
Composer
Warren Lynch
Photography
Frank Magee
Film Editor
Jack Scholl
Composer
Harry Seymour
Dialogue Director
Sherry Shourds
Assistant Director
Jack L. Warner
Executive Producer
Carl Jules Weyl
Art Director
Crane Wilbur
Screenwriter
Film Details
Genre
Comedy
Adaptation
Release Date
Aug
14,
1937
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the play The Butter and Egg Man by George S. Kaufman (New York, 23 Sep 1925).
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 4m
Sound
Mono
Color
Black and White
Film Length
8 reels
Articles
Dance Charlie Dance
A gullible "angel" sinks money into a doomed play.
Dance Charlie Dance
A gullible "angel" sinks money into a doomed play.
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
George S. Kaufman's play was the basis for several other Warner Bros.-First National films: The Butter and Egg Man in 1928, directed by Richard Wallace and starring Jack Mulhall (see AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1921-30; F2.0706); The Tenderfoot, made in 1932 (see below), Hello Sweetheart, produced in 1935 at the Teddington studios in England; the 1940 film Angel from Texas, directed by Ray Enright and starring Eddie Albert and Rosemary Lane; and Three Sailors and a Girl, a musical version directed by Roy Del Ruth in 1953 with Gordon MacRae.
