Moonlight and Pretzels
Cast & Crew
Karl Freund
Leo Carillo
Mary Brian
Roger Pryor
Lillian Miles
William Frawley
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
After playwright and songwriter George Dwight is fired from a show, he gets a job in singer Sally Upton's music store in the small town of Walkerville singing for the customers. Sally falls in love with George, and he dedicates his new love song to her. George sells the song to a pair of big theatrical producers in New York, and leaves Walkerville for Broadway, where his musical comedy starring Elsie Warren is a huge success. When Elsie learns that the Hobarts had tried to make her believe that George no longer wanted to work with her, she and George split with them, and George writes a new starring vehicle for Elsie called Moonlight and Pretzels . Sally arrives during a rehearsal for the show, and George inadvertently casts her as a chorus girl without looking at her face. While George struggles to remember a song, Sally plays their song for him and he finally recognizes her. The producers, meanwhile, attempt to ruin the revue by paying off George's financial backers, Wentworth and Jones, who demand that George match the producers' offer or relinquish the show to their control. Preoccupied with saving the show, George forgets a date with Sally, and she thinks he does not love her. Elsie then gets gambler Nick Pappacropolis, a rich admirer, to back the show in the nick of time. The actors stage a garden beer party in honor of Nick, and George attends with Sally. Nick's gambling friend, Sport Powell, from whom Nick won the money to back the show, gets fresh with Sally and tells her he would make her the star of the show if he were running things. Later, when Sport wins Nick's interest in the show on a bet and makes Sally the star, George thinks she has double-crossed him and threatens to quit the production. The day of the show's opening, Sport makes a pass at Sally, who promises to sleep with him if he will let George run the show. Sport makes her toss a coin: if she wins, she gets the show; if Sport wins, he gets Sally. Sally wins, and George, thinking Sally sold herself to Sport, regains control of the show. When Nick explains to George the risk Sally took, George goes after her, but is unable to find her before the curtain rises. The revue depicts the stock market crash of 1929 and the depression and unemployment that followed. The show ends with Franklin D. Roosevelt's election and his New Deal promise of prosperity. George and Elsie receive thunderous applause, and Sally, who had been watching the show, reminds George of her controlling interest in the production and suggests they go to Walkerville and give the natives a treat. George and Sally then kiss in front of a prop moon.
Director
Karl Freund
Cast
Leo Carillo
Mary Brian
Roger Pryor
Lillian Miles
William Frawley
Bobby Watson
Herbert Rawlinson
Jack Denny And His Orchestra
Frank And Milt Britton Band
Alexander Gray
Bernice Claire
The Eton Boys
The Girlfriend Trio
John Hundley
Doris Carson
Richard Keene
Mary Lange
Max Stamm
James B. Carson
Geraldine Dvorak
Crew
Stanley Bergerman
Monte Brice
Monte Brice
Monte Brice
Monte Brice
Bryner, Eaves, And Brooks
Bobby Connolly
Sammy Fain
Jay Gorney
Jay Gorney
E. Y. Harburg
Sig Herzig
Herman Hupfeld
Arthur Jarrett
Walter Keller
Carl Laemmle
Carl Laemmle
Frank Mackenzie
William Miller
William Rowland
Al Siegel
Robert Snody
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
This film's working title was Shoot the Works, the title of a revue written by Heywood Broun (New York, 21 July 1931) which Paramount adopted for a 1934 film . According to the New York Times, many of the film's scenes were shot on the stage of the Casino Theater in New York. According to a news item in Hollywood Reporter, this was the first Rowland-Brice co-production. A news item in Hollywood Reporter on May 17, 1933 adds Lupe Velez to the cast, however, she did not appear in the final print. George Knafka is listed as studio production manager in association with this film in a Hollywood Reporter news item on May 24, 1933; however, it is unclear whether he contributed to the final film. A news item in Hollywood Reporter on June 8, 1933 states that the following were added to the cast: Louis Sorin, Alexander Campbell, Len Mence and R. H. Conness; it is unclear whether they appeared in the final film, however.
