I'll Tell the World


1h 1m 1945

Film Details

Genre
Comedy
Drama
Musical
Release Date
Jun 8, 1945
Premiere Information
Los Angeles opening: 19 May 1945
Production Company
Universal Pictures Company, Inc.
Distribution Company
Universal Pictures Company, Inc.
Country
United States

Technical Specs

Duration
1h 1m
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
5,524ft (7 reels)

Synopsis

Once Gabriel "Gabby" Patton, Jr., starts talking at the age of three months, he never stops. By the time he is an adult, he has lost several insurance jobs because of his failure to allow others to speak, and his current employer has given him only one more chance to prove himself, by signing the president of the Green Network Broadcasting Company, J. B. Kindell. Gabby sneaks into Kindell's private sauna and appears to the president as an apparition in the steam, whispering about disease and accidents. Kindell, convinced he has been visited by a spirit to warn him about impending doom, runs for his doctor, after which Gabby steals his tickets to that night's football game and sneaks out. At the football game, Gabby grabs the microphone from the KPQ radio station announcer and launches into an impromptu play-by-play commentary. His rapid-fire patter is heard by KPQ's president, H. I. Bailey, and his daughter Margie, who insists her father hire him immediately to add energy to the failing station. Bailey soon is distracted by a phone call from Kindell, demanding to buy out the station, and the audition of talented singer Lorna Gray. When Gabby is brought from the game to the station to be hired, he interrupts Lorna's song by talking incessantly to Bailey. Lorna runs out angrily, but Gabby follows and convinces her to sing during half-time at the game he is to announce that night. Although Lorna is a big hit, Bailey turns off the radio after the first half and misses her performance. The next morning, after the "Advice to the Lovelorn" announcer quits, Bailey chooses Gabby to substitute for him, and Gabby hires Lorna as his secretary. As they work on the scripts for the show, Lorna's psychology background helps her to write brilliantly, and soon Gabby becomes a huge success, while his relationship with Lorna blooms. One day, sponsor Lester Westerchester refuses to commit to the station unless Gabby signs a long-term contract, but Gabby refuses, hoping to use his new fame as leverage to finagle an audition for Lorna. At a nightclub the next night, Gabby manages to get Lorna on stage, but accidentally starts a fight in the audience which once again drowns out her singing, and she runs out. Although fan letters pour in for Gabby at the station, he is so heartsick because of Lorna's ongoing absence that he cannot perform, and instead pretends to have laryngitis. Kindell, who has heard Gabby's voice on the radio and recognized it as that of his guardian spirit, arrives in an attempt to woo him to the Green Network, while all the stockholders also visit in the hopes of meeting him. While the doctors give Gabby a sedative, Margie calls Lorna to inform her of Gabby's plight, and when Lorna arrives and finds him passed out, she worriedly declares her love to him. When Gabby wakes and kisses her, she believes it has all been a ruse and stalks out. Gabby follows, attracting Kindell, Margie and Bailey, who fight over him in the hallway. Gabby suggests a merger of KPQ and the Green Network, and as the two presidents shake hands on the deal, Gabby insists that his "wife" be allowed to audition. Although Lorna is angry, she melts under his kisses, and years later, they watch in horror and pride as their three-month old baby begins to talk incessantly.

Film Details

Genre
Comedy
Drama
Musical
Release Date
Jun 8, 1945
Premiere Information
Los Angeles opening: 19 May 1945
Production Company
Universal Pictures Company, Inc.
Distribution Company
Universal Pictures Company, Inc.
Country
United States

Technical Specs

Duration
1h 1m
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
5,524ft (7 reels)

Quotes

Trivia

Notes

Although June Preisser's character is listed "Marge" in the closing credits, she is called "Margie" throughout the film. Ray Snyder receives onscreen credit as film editor, but Edward Curtiss is credited with that position in the copyright records. I'll Tell the World is a remake of a 1934 Universal film of the same name, which was based on a story by Lincoln Quarberg and Lt. Commander Frank Wead. The 1934 film was directed by Edward Sedgwick and starred Lee Tracy and Gloria Stuart.