Cowboy in Manhattan
Cast & Crew
Frank Woodruff
Robert Paige
Frances Langford
Leon Errol
Walter Catlett
Joe Sawyer
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Broadway producer Ace Robbins tries to get a group of Texas hotel owners to finance his latest $100,000 musical revue, "The Sweetheart of Texas," arguing that it will provide tremendous publicity for their state. The financiers agree to back the production, but only if he opens the show on December 29th, the day the state of Texas was admitted into the Union. One week before the show is to open, Barbara Lee, its star, threatens to quit after Ace plants a phony romantic story about her in the papers. She agrees to stay, but states she will walk out for good if he does it again. Later, Texas songwriter Bob Allen arrives in town, and tries to convince Ace and his assistant, Hank Baker, that he can lend some authenticity to the show. He is initially met with deaf ears, as Ace and Hank are worried about the ticket brokers, who are more interested in selling seats to an Army Relief show at Madison Square Garden than to their show. Bob then comes up with the idea of announcing that opening night is already sold out, arguing that people will want tickets if they believe they cannot have them. Ace likes the idea and hires the songwriter to impersonate a cattle baron so in love with Barbara Lee that he buys out the show so that only he can see her. Bob agrees to take the job, on the condition that they extend the publicity stunt to one week. On opening night, Bob interrupts the show and requests that the cast perform his own songs. Ace tries to stop him, but Bob threatens to tell Barbara Lee everything if he is not allowed to showcase his songs. He then convinces the singer to allow him re-write the show, much to Ace and Hank's chagrin. Meanwhile, the Texas financiers are upset, as Bob is the nephew of Wild Bill, the head of their association, and they think that he has been wasting his inheritance. Back in New York, Barbara Lee, overhearing Bob and Ace talking, discovers that Bob is a phony and disappears with the help of nightclub owner Louie Moran. Ace, Hank and Bob go to Louie for help, and he tells them that Barbara Lee has been kidnapped by "Broken Nose Charlie" and is being held for a $50,000 ransom. Bob then does a series of advertisements to raise $25,000, after which Louie gives the songwriter the singer's address. Meanwhile, the Texas financiers confront Ace and Hank and tell the producers that Bob is really heir to millions. Bob goes to Barbara Lee's hideout, then fights with the mugs protecting her. After beating the thugs off with the help of his uncle, Bob abducts Barbara Lee and tells her the truth during the taxi ride back to New York City. They return just in time for the opening curtain, and Louie returns the songwriter's $25,000, as he mistakenly thinks it is counterfeit. Later, Wild Bill, Bob's uncle, announces that he going to release Bob's $2,000,000 inheritance, as his nephew proved in the fight with the thugs that "he was a real Texan." The new show, with Bob's songs, is a hit, and Bob and Barbara are united.
Director
Frank Woodruff
Cast
Robert Paige
Frances Langford
Leon Errol
Walter Catlett
Joe Sawyer
Jennifer Holt
George Cleveland
Will Wright
Dorothy Granger
Lorin Raker
Marek Windheim
Matt Mchugh
Jack Mulhall
Tommy Mack
Billy Nelson
Gerald Pierce
Frank Moran
Charles Sullivan
Phil Warren
Charles Sherlock
Carl Vernell
Joey Ray
Gene O'donnell
Jimmy Eagles
Dean Benton
Ed Peil Sr.
Ray Miller
Crew
Woody Bredell
Aida Broadbent
Bernard B. Brown
Everett Carter
Ralph Delacy
Fred R. Feitshans Jr.
R. A. Gausman
Joseph Gershensen
John Goodman
Joe Lapis
Paul Malvern
Charles Previn
Milton Rosen
H. J. Salter
Maxwell Shane
William Thomas
William Tummel
Ira S. Webb
Vera West
Warren Wilson
Warren Wilson
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Some news items list the title of this film as Cowboy from Manhattan. Warren Wilson, Maxwell Shane and William Thomas' story was previously filmed by Universal in 1937 as You're a Sweetheart, starring Alice Faye and George Murphy and directed by David Butler (see AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1931-40; F3.5261).
