Tell It to a Star
Cast & Crew
Frank Mcdonald
Ruth Terry
Robert Livingston
Alan Mowbray
Franklin Pangborn
Isabel Randolph
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
At the Hotel Tamarind, in Palm Springs, Florida, band leader Gene Ritchie is rehearsing with his singer, Mona St. Clair, when he receives a mysterious written request for a singing audition from the hotel cigarette girl, Carol Lambert. Later, Carol's penniless uncle, "Colonel" Ambrose Morgan, and his accomplice in a confidence racket, Billy Sheehan, drop by Palm Springs to fleece the hotel's wealthy guests. Hotel manager Horace Lovelace, believing that Carol is trying, once again, to promote her singing career through one of the guests, fires her, but hotel owner Mrs. Arnold Whitmore, who is charmed by Morgan, reverses his decision. Morgan then takes Carol on a shopping spree at the hotel and uses his wit to avoid paying the bills. During a live radio broadcast of Gene's show, Morgan convinces Mrs. Whitmore to insist that Gene allow Carol to sing a song. Much to Gene's surprise, and Mona's jealous dismay, Carol is a hit on stage. Following the broadcast, Gene receives a telegram from his sponsor with instructions to use Carol on his next show. As a romance blossoms between Gene and Carol, Gene sadly tells her that his contract with the hotel will be ending soon, and that he will be leaving. Later, when Carol overhears Billy and Morgan discussing the details of their confidence game, Billy confesses that they are "phonies," but insists that they had no intention of harming Carol. Carol takes pity on Morgan and Billy and, instead of calling the police, decides to remain silent about them and let them stay at the hotel as long as they do not add any further charges to their bill. Hoping to make amends with Carol, Morgan pretends to have found a new sponsor for Gene, the Sleeptight Mattress Co., and signs Carol to sing with him. Carol is suspicious of Morgan's "investment" in the mattress company, but she goes along with the plan anyway. To prove to Mrs. Whitmore that they are sincere in their investment, Morgan and Billy pay to have two mattress deliverers from another company change their company name for a day and make a delivery to the hotel as the Sleeptight company. On the day of Gene's farewell concert at the hotel, Carol is offered a seven-year contract by Augustus T. Goodman of the Grand Rapids Mattress Co., but she refuses when she realizes that Goodman wants the band without Gene as its leader. Meanwhile, Mona, brimming with jealousy over Carol's presence in Gene's band, investigates Morgan and the Sleeptight Mattress Co. When Mona discovers the truth about Morgan and tells Gene and his band that their contract with Morgan is worthless, the band walks out. Desperate to repair the damage caused by her uncle, Carol quickly assembles a new, all-girl band for Gene, and puts on a successful show. Goodman is impressed with the band's performance and offers Carol a new contract with her as the lead singer and Gene as the band leader. Carol accepts the offer, but insists that she be replaced by Mona, who was unfairly removed from the band. Morgan, meanwhile, has Horace arrested on gambling charges, and succeeds in persuading Mrs. Whitmore to let him take over as the hotel manager.
Director
Frank Mcdonald
Cast
Ruth Terry
Robert Livingston
Alan Mowbray
Franklin Pangborn
Isabel Randolph
Eddie Marr
Adrian Booth
Frank Orth
Tom Dugan
George Chandler
Mary Mccarty
William B. Davidson
Aurora Miranda
Jimmy Zaner
Eddie Kane
Jack Chefe
Raoul Freeman
Teddy Mangean
Peggy Leon
Robert Strong
Crew
Gerald Drayson Adams
Vic Appel
Ary Barroso
Shirley Botwin
Aida Broadbent
John K. Butler
Dale Butts
Sammy Cahn
Lucius Croxton
Joe Dill
Walter Donaldson
Walter H. Goetz
Gus Kahn
Al Keller
John Krafft
Howard Lydecker
Bob Mark
Ernest Miller
George Milo
Adele Palmer
Arthur Roberts
Armand Schaefer
Gordon C. Schaefer
Morton Scott
John Stransky Jr.
Jule Styne
Howard Wilson
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
According to a October 12, 1943 Hollywood Reporter news item, the title of Gerald Drayson Adams and John Krafft's original story was "Confidentially Yours." The same item announced Robert North as the film's producer. According to the CBCS and an early studio billing sheet, Lorna Gray was originally scheduled to play "Mona St. Clair." Hollywood Reporter production charts note that art director Lucius Croxton worked on the picture courtesy of RKO.
