Copacabana is a 1947 American musicalcomedy film directed by Alfred E. Green starring Carmen Miranda, Groucho Marx and Steve Cochran. The film is a showcase for Miranda, who performs several numbers in her usual style, including a high-energy rendition of "Tico-Tico". Groucho, as Lionel, her fiance and agent, also sings a musical number, "Go West, Young Man", wearing his traditional greasepaint brows, mustache, and baggy suit. This was Groucho's first significant film appearance as a solo act, minus Harpo and Chico.
Anne (Gloria Jean), at the urging of Andy (Andy Russell), sings a song called "Stranger Things Have Happened", admitting her unrequited love for her employer, Steve (Steve Cochran).
Plot
Lionel Q. Devereaux and his alluring girlfriend, Brazilian singer Carmen Navarro, have been engaged for ten years. They are highly unsuccessful nightclub performers, due to Lionel's total lack of talent. They stay at an upscale hotel in New York. One day they get a twenty-four-hour notice to pay their bill, but needless to say they lack the funds to oblige. They hurriedly try to convince the big shot producer Steve Hunt to give Carmen a job at the Club Copacabana, and with the help of the easily convinced, gullible singer Andy Russell, posing as an agent, they achieve their goal to get her an audition.
When the producer asks Lionel and Russell whom else they represent, they invent out of thin air a veiled mysterious beauty from Paris and call her Fifi. They persuade Carmen to play the part of Fifi. The producer hires both ladies for the job, but Fifi is the new big sensation who gets mentioned in the press. Steve is very attracted to the girls, and to protect Carmen from the producer, Lionel tells him that he is engaged to be married to Carmen. Steve then turns to Fifi and asks her out instead. Desperate to solve the troublesome situation, Lionel asks Carmen to play Fifi and go on a date with the producer, veiled as usual. Another complication to add to the plot is that Anne, Steve's secretary, is in love with the producer, and not very keen on him going on a date with Fifi.
Andy tries to fix up Steve and Anne, to save both himself and Carmen from discovery. He gets Anne to sing her feelings towards Steve, in an attempt to make him more attracted to and aware of her. The plan doesn't work, as Steve shows no interest in Anne.
A Hollywood movie producer, Anatole Murphy, takes an interest in Fifi, and makes a generous offer to Steve, to take over Lionel's contract for the sum of $100,000, which he refuses. At the same time an agent named Liggett persuades Lionel to sell Fifi's contract to him for the lesser sum of $5,000. Murphy in turn pays $100,000 to Liggett.
But Liggett becomes suspicious, since he sees how the veiled Fifi get into a taxi, and then Carmen comes out of it. Anne reveals to Carmen that the mysterious Fifi has made it impossible for her to get Steve's attention. To help Anne out, Lionel and Carmen stage a fight between Carmen and Fifi in Carmen's dressing room. The fight ends with Fifi disappearing. Lionel reports back to Steve that Fifi has been found dead in the river, but he also expresses his feeling of joy over "killing" her. The conversation is overheard, and he is blamed and arrested for Fifi's murder. Lionel tries to explain to the police during the investigation that he only made Fifi up.
In the meantime, Steve confesses to Anne that he only expressed an interest in Fifi because of his business, and that he is in love with Anne. Carmen enters the scene, dressed as Fifi, but removes her veil in front of everybody, showing that Carmen and Fifi are one and the same. The film producer Murphy offers to sign a contract with Carmen, to use her as an actor in his productions, and also wants to buy the story for a film. Lionel becomes involved in the following film productions, and gets credit for almost everything, from casting to storyline. The picture opens with a song about the Club Copacabana.[4]
Kay Marvis, Groucho's then-wife, has a small role as a clerk from whom Groucho tries to mooch a cigar.
Production
According to a news in The Hollywood Reporter (June 1944), independent producer Jack H. Skirball was originally set to make the picture, with assistance from Proser. At that same time, George Raft was announced as the film's possible lead.
The film had its origins when United Artists suggested to Sam Coslow that the studio could use a musical picture to balance its releasing program. Coslow discussed the matter with George Frank, Carmen Miranda's manager and Monty Proser and Walter Bachelor, managers of the famous New York nightclub, the Copacabana, which was located at 10 East 60th St. They decided to combine Miranda with the Copacabana.[1] This was Carmen Miranda's first film after leaving Twentieth Century-Fox, the studio to which she had been under contract since 1940.
Coslow wrote a story which included a dual role for Miranda. They set up a deal with David Hersh as their financial man and UA approved it.[1]
In August Coslow cast Gloria Jean in her first film since 1945.[5]
In September 1946 it was announced Groucho Marx would star. This was the first film in which Groucho would appear without his older brothers. It is also the first film in which Groucho appeared in his own mustache, rather than a greasepaint one.[6] Groucho got 10% of the profits.[1]
Coslow, Frank, Proser, Bachelor and Hersh put up pre production money including writer's fees and secretarial expenses. They borrowed 65% of the $1,300,000 budget from a bank at 5% interest. The remaining 35% came from a private finance company.[1]
The Hollywood Reporter news add Chester Clute, Richard Elliott, Frank Scannell, Pierre Andre and Andrew Tombes to the cast, but their participation in the completed film has not been confirmed. Pierre Andre was signed to perform a specialty dance number with Dee Turnell, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Filming started 1 November 1946 at the Goldwyn Studios.
In mid-Feb 1947, The Hollywood Reporter reported that producer Sam Coslow was considering reshooting scenes in which Miranda appears in a blonde wig, because of mail from Brazilian fans stating that they prefer her as a brunette. The reshot scenes were to be inserted in South American release prints only, according to the item.
Bosley Crowther in his review for The New York Times said: "Together they [Carmen Miranda and Groucho Marx] scream and grimace through a succession of topsy-turvy scenes, some of them mildly amusing and others relentlessly dull."[8]Variety's reviewer recognized that "Miss Miranda handled neatly the semi-dual role, shining in the comedy, as well as the French and Brazilian staccato songs."[9]
Lawsuit
As reported in Los Angeles Times on 14 July 1953, Murray P. Koch sued Coslow and George Frank for $80,000, money he claimed to have advanced Beacon to aid in the making of this film. Along with Walter Batchelor and David Hersh, both of whom were dead by the time the suit was filed, Frank and Coslow held a controlling interest in Beacon, which was deemed insolvent.[10]
The disposition of this lawsuit is not known. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film was obtained for re-release by Hal R. Makelim's Atlas Pictures Co. in Jan 1954. The film was also re-issued in July 1972.[11]
Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx was an American comedian, actor, writer, and singer who performed in film, television, radio, stage, and vaudeville. He was a master of quick wit and is generally considered to have been one of America's greatest comedians.
The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act that was successful in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in 14 motion pictures from 1905 to 1949. Five of the Marx Brothers' fourteen feature films were selected by the American Film Institute (AFI) as among the top 100 comedy films, with two of them, Duck Soup (1933) and A Night at the Opera (1935), in the top fifteen. They are widely considered by critics, scholars and fans to be among the greatest and most influential comedians of the 20th century. The brothers were included in AFI's 100 Years... 100 Stars list of the 25 greatest male stars of Classical Hollywood cinema, the only performers to be included collectively.
Maria do Carmo Miranda da Cunha, known professionally as Carmen Miranda, was a Portuguese-born Brazilian singer, dancer and actress. Nicknamed "The Brazilian Bombshell", she was known for her signature fruit hat outfit that she wore in her American films. As a young woman, she designed hats in a boutique before making her first recordings with composer Josué de Barros in 1929. Miranda's 1930 recording of "Taí ", written by Joubert de Carvalho, catapulted her to stardom in Brazil as the foremost interpreter of samba.
Fifi D'Orsay was a Canadian-American actress and singer.
BUtterfield 8 is a 1960 American drama film directed by Daniel Mann, starring Elizabeth Taylor and Laurence Harvey. Taylor won her first Academy Award for her performance in a leading role. The film was based on a 1935 novel of the same name by John O'Hara.
Edith Claire Head was an American costume designer who won a record eight Academy Awards for Best Costume Design between 1949 and 1973, making her the most awarded woman in the Academy's history. Head is considered to be one of the greatest and most influential costume designers in film history.
Susan Alva Fleming was an American actress and the wife of comic actor Harpo Marx and sister in law to Groucho, Chico, Zeppo and Gummo. Fleming was known as the "Girl with the Million Dollar Legs" for a role she played in the W. C. Fields film Million Dollar Legs (1932). Her big stage break, which led to her Hollywood career, was as a Ziegfeld girl, performing in Rio Rita.
You Bet Your Life is an American comedy quiz series that has aired on both radio and television. The original version was hosted by Groucho Marx of the Marx Brothers, with announcer and assistant George Fenneman. The show debuted on ABC Radio on October 27, 1947, moved to CBS Radio debuting October 5, 1949, and went to NBC-TV and NBC Radio on October 4, 1950. Because of its simple format, it was possible to broadcast the show on both radio and television but not simultaneously. Many of the laughs on the television show were evoked by Groucho's facial reactions and other visual gimmicks; the two versions were slightly different. The last episode in a radio format aired on June 10, 1960. The series continued on television for another year, recording a season on September 22, 1960 with a new title, The Groucho Show.
The Cocoanuts is a 1929 pre-Code musical comedy film starring the Marx Brothers. Produced for Paramount Pictures by Walter Wanger, who is not credited, the film also stars Mary Eaton, Oscar Shaw, Margaret Dumont and Kay Francis. It was the first sound film to credit more than one director, and was adapted to the screen by Morrie Ryskind from the George S. Kaufman Broadway musical play. Five of the film's tunes were composed by Irving Berlin, including "When My Dreams Come True", sung by Oscar Shaw and Mary Eaton.
Monkey Business is a 1931 American pre-Code comedy film. It is the third of the Marx Brothers' released movies, and the first with an original screenplay rather than an adaptation of one of their Broadway shows. The film also features Thelma Todd, Harry Woods and Ruth Hall. It is directed by Norman Z. McLeod with screenplay by S. J. Perelman and Will B. Johnstone. Much of the story takes place on an ocean liner crossing the Atlantic Ocean.
Copacabana most commonly refers to:
The Big Show was an American radio variety program featuring 90 minutes of comic, stage, screen and music talent, that was aimed at keeping American radio in its classic era robust against the rapidly growing television tide. For a good portion of its year-and-a-half run, the show's quality made its ambition seem plausible.
Howard Harris was a comedy writer whose credits included Copacabana (1947) starring Groucho Marx and Carmen Miranda, The Jackie Gleason Show, You Bet Your Life with Groucho Marx, Gilligan's Island, Petticoat Junction, and other popular television shows.
Arthur Sheekman was an American theater and movie critic, columnist, playwright, and editor—but best known for his writing for the screen. His specialty was light comedy. Groucho Marx called him "The Fastest Wit in the West."
Ethel Smith was an American organist who played primarily in a pop or Latin style on the Hammond organ. She had a long recording career and appeared in many films.
Gloria Jean was an American actress and singer who starred or co-starred in 26 feature films from 1939 to 1959, and made numerous radio, television, stage, and nightclub appearances. She may be best remembered for her appearance with W. C. Fields in the film Never Give a Sucker an Even Break (1941).
Double Dynamite is a 1951 American musical comedy film directed by Irving Cummings and starring Jane Russell, Groucho Marx, and Frank Sinatra. The film was written by Leo Rosten (story), Melville Shavelson (screenplay), Mannie Manheim, and Harry Crane.
Constantin Romanovich Bakaleinikov was a Russian-born composer who worked in Hollywood, California.
"Go West Young Man" was a 1940 song by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby written for the MGM film Go West, originally sung by Groucho Marx, backed by a chorus, who performed solo for the first time in the song. The song was cut from the film. The song was eventually used in the 1947 United Artists film Copacabana when it was sung again by Groucho. He and Bing Crosby dueted on the song on Crosby's Philco Radio Time show on February 12, 1947.
This is a complete filmography of Carmen Miranda, a Portuguese-Brazilian singer, actress, and dancer.
References
1 2 3 4 5 Brady, Thomas F. (22 Dec 1946). "HOLLYWOOD ROUND-UP: Controversy Over 'Abie's Irish Rose'--Addenda Profit Sharing Back in Business Opportunism Before the Court". New York Times. p.49.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
