By Frank Miller
Mr. Doodle Kicks Off
Brief Synopsis
A millionaire will stop at nothing to turn his son into a star athlete.
Cast & Crew
Read More
Leslie Goodwins
Director
Joe Penner
Jimmie "Doodle" Bugs
June Travis
Janice Martin
Richard Lane
Offside Jones
Ben Alexander
Larry Wendell
Billy Gilbert
Professor Dimitri "Minnie" Minorous
Film Details
Genre
Comedy
Release Date
Oct
7,
1938
Premiere Information
New York opening: week of 28 Sep 1938
Production Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 17m
Film Length
6,961ft
(8 reels)
Synopsis
To secure a $200,000 endowment for his school, university president Charles A. Martin agrees to transform Jimmie "Doodle" Bugs, the mild-mannered, music-loving son of wealthy alumnus Ellory Bugs, into a star football player. In spite of their exaggerated compliments concerning Doodle's football potential, coaches "Offside" Jones and M. C. Hammond are unable to talk the timid scion into trying out for the team. When Martin's pretty daughter Janice, whom Doodle has been pursuing unsuccessfully for weeks, sweetly suggests that he go out for football, however, Doodle shows up at practice eager to play. Although weak and inept, Doodle makes the team and starts the next game as quarterback. Helped and protected by his teammates, including Mickey Wells, Janice's boyfriend, Doodle leads the school to victory and becomes an overnight athletic hero. His father, however, sees through Martin's scheme and refuses to pay the endowment until Doodle learns how to play in earnest. Janice, meanwhile, discovers that her feelings for Doodle are becoming serious and worries about the humiliation she knows Doodle will suffer when he realizes that his star status is a hoax. Consequently, at a dance before the big game with State, she tries to tell Doodle not to play, but to pursue his dream of becoming a successful band leader. Offside and Hammond, however, plot to keep Doodle away from Janice, and Doodle prepares for the game in ignorance. As thousands of fans and dozens of reporters watch, Doodle is shut down repeatedly by the State players, which include Larry Wendell, the egotistical son of his father's business associate. Devastated by his failure, Doodle leaves the game and refuses to play until Janice sends him a stadium-sized message of love. Inspired, Doodle puts himself back in the game for the final play, and after Janice tells the pep band to play "Pop Goes the Weasel," a tune that always makes him dance wildly, he kicks a field goal and wins the game.
Director
Leslie Goodwins
Director
Cast
Joe Penner
Jimmie "Doodle" Bugs
June Travis
Janice Martin
Richard Lane
Offside Jones
Ben Alexander
Larry Wendell
Billy Gilbert
Professor Dimitri "Minnie" Minorous
Jack Carson
Bill Rochet
Alan Bruce
Mickey Wells
George Irving
President Charles A. Martin
William Davidson
Ellory Bugs
Pierre Watkin
Mr. Wendell
Frank M. Thomas
Coach M. C. Hammond
Wesley Barry
First sophomore
Bob Parrish
Second sophomore
Paul Guilfoyle
O'Hara
Steve Putnam
Jack Arnold
Bob Nash
Edward Arnold Jr.
William Corson
Crew
Film Details
Genre
Comedy
Release Date
Oct
7,
1938
Premiere Information
New York opening: week of 28 Sep 1938
Production Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 17m
Film Length
6,961ft
(8 reels)
Articles
Mr. Doodle Kicks Off -
Joe Penner was the Pee Wee Herman of the '30s, an eccentric, childlike comedian with a special appeal to younger audiences. Like Herman, he worked across several media platforms, moving from vaudeville to radio (where he was the top comic star of 1934) to films. The inspiration for this 1938 comedy was the infamous 1929 Rose Bowl game in which a player ran 65 yards in the wrong direction to score a touchdown for the other team. To get the star there, the writers concocted a plot in which wannabe bandleader Penner is forced to go to college by his business tycoon father. Once there, he's lured into joining the football team by the president's pretty daughter (June Travis) and kept there as his teammates, including a young Jack Carson, make him look like a star player. Daddy sees through that, so Penner is left to his own devices in the big game, with hilarious results. Penner's career would be cut short by a fatal heart attack in 1941, when he was only 36, but his films and recordings preserve the work of a zany comedian at the top of his form.
By Frank Miller
By Frank Miller
Mr. Doodle Kicks Off -
Joe Penner was the Pee Wee Herman of the '30s, an eccentric, childlike comedian with a special appeal to younger audiences. Like Herman, he worked across several media platforms, moving from vaudeville to radio (where he was the top comic star of 1934) to films. The inspiration for this 1938 comedy was the infamous 1929 Rose Bowl game in which a player ran 65 yards in the wrong direction to score a touchdown for the other team. To get the star there, the writers concocted a plot in which wannabe bandleader Penner is forced to go to college by his business tycoon father. Once there, he's lured into joining the football team by the president's pretty daughter (June Travis) and kept there as his teammates, including a young Jack Carson, make him look like a star player. Daddy sees through that, so Penner is left to his own devices in the big game, with hilarious results. Penner's career would be cut short by a fatal heart attack in 1941, when he was only 36, but his films and recordings preserve the work of a zany comedian at the top of his form.
By Frank Miller
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The opening title of this film states that it was "one of the movie quiz $250,000 contest pictures." No additional information on this contest has been located. According to a Hollywood Reporter news item, George Jeske wrote additional dialogue for the production, but his contribution to the final film has not been confirmed.
