Every Night at Eight
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Raoul Walsh
George Raft
Alice Faye
Frances Langford
Patsy Kelly
Henry Taylor
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Singers Susan Moore, Dixie Foley and Daphne O'Connor, who work for Huxley's Mint Julep Company, are fired when Huxley discovers them making a record album on company time. Broke, the girls hitchhike home from the beach and are kicked out of their apartment for not paying the rent. After seeing an advertisement for an amateur radio hour contest that evening, the girls arrive at the studio in their swimsuits and raincoats, and introduce themselves as "The Three Harmonizers." During their audition, Susan faints from hunger and "Tops" Cardona and his band win the contest. Tops takes the girls to dinner and accompanies them as they sing in the restaurant, then offers to make them famous. The girls reside at Tops's apartment, and after becoming their manager, he names them "The Swanee Sisters," although they are not from the South. Soon the trio is performing at swank clubs and earning a good living. Hoping to lure a high-paying advertiser into sponsoring the girls on their own show, Tops convinces a broadcasting company to feature them on the radio. After Tops writes the girls' signature song, "Every Night at Eight," he lands Huxley as a sponsor. When Huxley discovers that The Swanee Sisters are the girls he fired, they are reconciled and collaborate on the Huxley Mint Julep Hour. Tops then broadcasts a live show every night at eight o'clock with an audience of 7,000 in attendance. After being on the air for six months, the girls are wealthy and famous but unhappy because Tops forbids them to date. During a rehearsal of Susan's song "I'm in the Mood for Love," Tops asks for more feeling, unaware that Susan is in love with him, and brings her to tears. Fed up, the girls accept an invitation to join Park Avenue's elite at a yacht party, even though it means they will be walking out on Tops and the evening's performance. At the party, the girls mix with wealthy snobs who call Tops vulgar and insult The Swanee Sisters. Over the radio, the girls hear Tops introduce the show with bewildered sadness that the girls are missing and they rush back to the studio in time to close the show with Susan's love song. This time she performs it for Tops and he loves it. He then signs off as the two Swanee Sisters and Mr. and Mrs. Tops Cardona.
Director
Raoul Walsh
Cast
George Raft
Alice Faye
Frances Langford
Patsy Kelly
Henry Taylor
Jimmie Hollywood
Eddie Bartel
Walter Catlett
Harry Barris
Herman Bing
Booth Howard
John H. Dilson
Louise Carver
Dillon Ober
Florence Gill
Charles Forsythe
Florence Roberts
Eddie Conrad
Louise Larabee
Louise Mcnames
Herbert Ashley
Richard Powell
Lynton Brent
Phyllis Crane
Gertie Green
Nina Gilbert
James Miller
Crew
Graham Baker
Dorothy Fields
Stanley Garvey
Hugo Grenzbach
Bert Hanlon
Donn Hayes
Frances Langford
James Mchugh
Paul Mertz
Ted Fio Rito
Eric Stacey
Helen Taylor
Alexander Toluboff
Gene Towne
James Van Trees
S. K. Wineland
Joe Young
Adolph Zukor
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Let's go to bed like good little girls.- Susan Moore
Who says we're little?- Dixie Dean
Who says we're good?- Daphne O'Connor
Trivia
Alice Faye agreed to wear a black wig in order to look like Frances Langford and Patsy Kelly, but her home studio, 20th Century Fox, didn't want her blonde screen image changed. Consequently, the idea was only used as a joke in the middle of the scene with the final words by George Raft: "I changed my mind, turn her back and make her a blonde."
Notes
Stanley Garvey's original, unpublished short story was entitled, "Three on a Mike." An ad in Hollywood Reporter includes a thank you note from producer Walter Wanger to Jack Robbins for his "splendid co-operation and valuable suggestions." Robbins was head of Robbins Music Corp., which published the songs in the film. Alice Faye's character is called "Dixie Dean" in numerous contemporary reviews, although screen credits list her as "Dixie Foley." Several reviews list Harry Barris' character as "Snorky," although he is referred to as Harry in the film and in the film's credits. Eddie Conrad is listed as "Italian Singer" in an Motion Picture Herald review and as "The Bewildered Baritone" in a Hollywood Reporter ad. In the hitchhiking scene, Daphne refers to the scene in It Happened One Night in which Claudette Colbert puts her leg out to stop traffic.
Every Night at Eight marked the feature film debut of radio singing star Frances Langford (1914-2005), who sang her signature song, "I'm in the Mood for Love." In one scene in the film, the girls make Dixie (Faye's character) brunette so they will look like sisters, but then change her back to blonde. Faye reportedly agreed to wear a black wig in the film, but the studio didn't want her to sacrifice her blonde screen image. Portions of this film were shot on location near Coldwater Canyon, north of Santa Monica Blvd. in Los Angeles, CA.
