Eleven Men and a Girl

Eleven Men and a Girl (1930) is an early talkie comedy significant mostly because it came relatively early in the careers of a director and leading lady who would go on to do more important work. The film, Warner Brothers' entry in the then-popular genre of college football pictures, was a vehicle for comedian Joe E. Brown, playing a gridiron hero who embarks on a campaign to help his alma mater's struggling team by recruiting great players. He's joined in his efforts by the daughter of the college president, played by a very young Joan Bennett, who's out to save her father's job. Bennett, who came from a theatrical family, was a reluctant actress. Married at 16, a mother at 18, and fleeing from a bad marriage, Bennett had turned to acting to support herself and her baby. Blonde and beautiful, with a good speaking voice, Bennett had already appeared in more than half a dozen films, including Moby Dick (1930) opposite John Barrymore, without making much impact. She was just 20 years old when she made Eleven Men and a Girl. But it was not until Bennett went brunette and played a femme fatale in Trade Winds (1938) that her career would really take off. Director William Wellman, on the other hand, had already made at least one important film: Wings (1927), the first film to win an Academy Award as Best Picture. But only two years later, Wellman either walked or was pushed out of his seven-year contract at Paramount, which still had five years to go. Wellman, who was known as "Wild Bill" because of his fiery temperament and frequent clashes with studio bosses, felt that Paramount was not giving him enough important assignments. He immediately landed at Warner Brothers, with a deal that was just as sweet as the one he'd left at Paramount. That was no doubt due to his friendship with Darryl F. Zanuck, an equally-dynamic writer and producer who had recently been appointed head of production at Warner Brothers. At first, however, Wellman fared no better at Warners. Eleven Men and a Girl, his first assignment, was pure fluff. The screenplay was based on a story by Zanuck, working under one of his many aliases, Mark Canfield. But the film did have a great gimmick which gave it a unique quirkiness. The film's football team was comprised of several real-life All-Americans. As actors, they were very good football players...sometimes ludicrously stiff when delivering lines, but sheer poetry on the playing field. According to a review in the New York Times, "in several scenes showing the team at practice, they produced a brand of football which was a pleasure to behold." It may have been a pleasure for viewers, but for the only non-football player on the squad, it was pure torture. Joe E. Brown recalled in his autobiography that in one scene where a huge 240-pound player slams into him, director Wellman told him to "look groggy when you walk past the camera." Brown went down, the players all landed on top of him, and the stunned Brown staggered toward the camera. "Great! That's the way I wanted you to be!" Wellman said. "That's the way I was," Brown replied. Fast and funny, Eleven Men and a Girl is no masterpiece, but was original enough to do well at the box office. As the New York Times critic noted, "the incidental properties in this variation...drove...audiences into spontaneous applause and on several occasions caused much laughter." Director: William A. Wellman Screenplay: Joseph Jackson, based on a story by Mark Canfield (Darryl F. Zanuck) Editor: Edward M. McDermott Cinematography: Robert Kurrle Costume Design: Orry-Kelly Music: Sidney D. Mitchell, Archie Gottler, George W. Meyer Principal Cast: Joan Bennett (Nan Sheffield), Joe E. Brown (Speed Hanson), James Hall (Tommy Nelson), Laura Lee (Betty), Anders Randolf (Mr. Nelson), Sumner Getchell (Whiskers), George Irving (President Sheffield). BW-73m. by Margarita Landazuri