Glamour Boy
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Ralph Murphy
Jackie Cooper
Susanna Foster
Walter Abel
Darryl Hickman
Ann Gillis
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Former child screen star Tiny Barlow works as a soda jerk next to a movie theater while he plans his comeback. When studio head A. J. Colder comes in with his secretary, Jenny Sullivan, his new child star, Billy Doran, and Billy's father, Tiny overhears them discussing how to put sophisticated whiz kid Billy into an appropriate role. Tiny suggests that Colder produce a remake of Skippy , the film that brought him fame, and Colder hires him to coach Billy for the part. When Colder decides to hire unknown actress Joan Winslow for his next musical, Hearts in Springtime , to replace his presumptuous young star Brenda Lee, Tiny recognizes Joan as the girl he encountered in a minor car accident at the studio and seeks her out. Tiny over-inflates his role in getting Joan her big break, and they spend a fun-filled day together, during which he makes sure that he gets in every publicity photo taken of her. That night Tiny confesses to Joan that although his interest in her began for his own self-promotion, he now feels differently, and the two become romantically involved. When Colder insists that Joan date someone more newsworthy than Tiny, however, she reluctantly agrees. Tiny is later fired because he hits Georgie Clemons, a smug child star who now dates Joan, for calling him a "has-been." Frustrated, Tiny makes a deal with Brenda Lee's slick agent, Mickey Fadden, to show Joan's promising screen test to the Lees in order to inspire Brenda to return to the studio, in exchange for which Fadden promises him the next lead role opposite Brenda. Instead of finding a new film for Brenda as Tiny had expected, Colder replaces Joan with Brenda in Hearts in Springtime , and makes Tiny her co-star. The studio personnel are aghast at Tiny's apparent duplicity, and he quits out of humiliation after the production crew derides him. Tiny leaves Hollywood that night, but stops just outside of Barstow when he discovers that Billy has stowed away in the trunk of his car. Unknown to Tiny, Billy has engineered his own kidnapping in the hope of reinstating Tiny and Joan at the studio. Although news of Billy's supposed kidnapping creates a national furor, Billy prevents Tiny from hearing any reports. In Hollywood, Billy's father surmises from the encoded ransom notes, penned by Billy himself, that Tiny will return with his son only when Joan is reinstated as the star of Hearts in Springtime , and Colder reluctantly consents to the deal. When Tiny's car runs out of gas, he and Billy take refuge in a backcountry ranch, and it is only then that he hears a radio broadcast by Joan pleading for their return. The ranch owner, meanwhile, has brought the police, who fire upon Tiny and Billy. Tiny is knocked unconscious by a falling jelly jar, and Billy believes he has been killed. As he sobs over his friend's body, Tiny awakens and advises the boy to play the role of "Skippy" the same way. Tiny and Billy return to Hollywood, and the true facts of the "kidnapping" are explained. Production begins again on Hearts in Springtime starring a reunited Joan and Tiny.
Cast
Jackie Cooper
Susanna Foster
Walter Abel
Darryl Hickman
Ann Gillis
William Demarest
Jackie Searl
Edith Meiser
John Gallaudet
William Wright
Charles D. Brown
Norma Varden
Kay Linaker
Maude Eburne
Josephine Whittell
Olive Blakeney
Katharine Booth
Trevor Bardette
Jack Roberts
Frank Yaconelli
Walter Fenner
Douglas Wood
Maurice Cass
George Guhl
Billy Engle
Bobby Callahan
Mel Ruick
Fern Emmett
Sarah Edwards
Anne O'neal
Ernie Alexander
George Sherwood
Emmett Vogan
James Farley
Pat Mcveigh
Dorothy Adams
Spencer Charters
Jack Shea
Nell Craig
Bob Homans
Frank Coghlan Jr.
Tom Seidel
Joel Dean
Jean Wallace
Blanche Grady
Maurice Costello
Jack Chapin
Crew
Val Burton
Colbert Clark
John Cope
Haldane Douglas
Hans Dreier
Daniel L. Fapp
Edith Head
F. Hugh Herbert
Frank Loesser
Gene Merritt
Bradford Ropes
Victor Schertzinger
William Shea
Sol C. Siegel
Frederick Spencer
Victor Young
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
According to a Hollywood Reporter news item, actor Walter Catlett was initially cast as "Mickey," but was replaced by John Gallaudet due to a schedule conflict. Hollywood Reporter news items also noted that Ted Tetzlaff initially began directing this film, but withdrew due to illness. According to a April 26, 1941 Los Angeles Times news item, June Preisser was to star with Jackie Cooper and Susanna Foster. As depicted in this film, Skippy, a 1931 Paramount picture directed by Norman Taurog, was instrumental in launching Cooper's real-life career. The film also starred Robert Coogan and Jackie Searl. (For more information on Skippy, see the AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1931-40; F3.4119). This film marked Searl's first feature film role since 1934.
