Larceny with Music
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Edward Lilley
Allan Jones
Kitty Carlisle
Leo Carrillo
William Frawley
Lee Patrick
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Shortly after banker Mr. Brewster informs hotel owner Gus Borelli that his Hotel Deauville, with its posh Blue Room nightclub, is in danger of repossession, Gus discovers that attorney Austin J. Caldwell is searching for singer Ken Daniels, who has just come into a large inheritance. Hoping to use the information to his own advantage, Gus tracks Ken down to a seedy café where his agent, Mike Simms, has him singing in exchange for meals. Gus then offers Ken a job in the Blue Room, and Mike hastily accepts. Unknown to Ken, Mike had hired Austin, an out of work actor, to play a lawyer and spread the phony story of Ken's inheritance. Upon arriving at the Hotel Deauville, Mike refuses to allow Ken to work with the current Blue Room performers, who include singer Pamela Mason, as he has already promised the engagement to Alvino Rey and his orchestra. Ken offers Pam a spot singing with Rey's band, but she takes an instant dislike to Ken and refuses. Rather than quit the hotel, Pam forces Gus to pay off her contract by allowing her to work as a maid. Later, Pam overhears that Gus believes Ken is rich and when Gus tries to fire her for not being a good maid, she forces him into allowing her to waitress in the Blue Room. When Mike realizes that Pam knows about the inheritance scam, he asks Ken to be nice to her. Meanwhile, Austin turns up and demands $500 hush money from Mike, who talks him down to $100. Growing nervous about the show's opening, Gus obliquely threatens Mike, who insists that Ken will bring a large audience to the club if Gus heavily promotes the show. Later, Gus begins checking every law firm in town to find out who is handling Ken's inheritance. Meanwhile at rehearsal Ken finds himself growing attracted to Pam. He asks her to sing a duet with him and the two realize they are in love. Austin returns and presses Mike for one thousand dollars and Mike arranges for two of his henchmen to get rid of Austin, but the actor escapes and contacts Pam, who tells her about the phony inheritance. Pam, who believes Ken was part of the scam, returns to the club on opening night and tells Gus there is no inheritance. Just as Gus prepares to shoot Mike and Ken, his secretary informs him the Blue Room is filled to capacity. Meanwhile, Ken and the orchestra slip out while Austin is paid off by Gus from the evening's large proceeds. Austin admits that Ken had no knowledge of Mike's plan and while Gus holds back the restless audience, Pam chases the orchestra down to bring them back to the club, where their show is a complete success.
Director
Edward Lilley
Cast
Allan Jones
Kitty Carlisle
Leo Carrillo
William Frawley
Lee Patrick
Gus Schilling
Samuel S. Hinds
Sig Arno
Alvino Rey
The King Sisters
John Hamilton
Murray Alper
George Lloyd
Jack Gardner
Marte Faust
Crew
Howard Benedict
Bernard B. Brown
Ted Cain
Eddie Cherkose
R. A. Gausman
A. J. Gilmore
John B. Goodman
Robert Harari
Paul Ivano
Paul Landres
Samuel Lerner
Jack Mahoney
Gene De Paul
Charles Previn
Charles Previn
Robert Pritchard
Don Raye
Richard Riedel
Johann Strauss Ii
Jule Styne
Frank De Vol
Seward Webb
Percy Wenrich
Vera West
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The working title of this film was Cross Your Fingers. The film marked the directorial debut of Edward Lilley, who had previously been a dialogue director at Universal. Although a print of this film was not viewed, the above credits and plot summary were taken from a cutting continuity included in studio files. According to Hollywood Reporter, actor Gus Schilling gave Lilley his first job in show business eleven years earlier, as a member of the chorus in the Broadway musical Flying High! Larceny with Music was actress Kitty Carlisle's first film in four years, and her first musical since the 1935 M-G-M film A Night at the Opera (see AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1931-40; F3.3120).
