Charlie McCarthy, Detective | |
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Directed by | Frank Tuttle |
Written by | Darrell Ware Robertson White |
Produced by | Jerry Sackheim Frank Tuttle |
Starring | Edgar Bergen Robert Cummings Constance Moore |
Cinematography | George Robinson |
Edited by | Bernard W. Burton |
Music by | Frank Skinner |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 75 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | over $363,000. [1] |
Charlie McCarthy, Detective is a 1939 American comedy film starring Edgar Bergen, Charlie McCarthy and Robert Cummings. [2] [3]
Scotty Hamilton is a reporter who works for a crooked editor. Bill Banning is another reporter who is about to expose the editor's ties to the mob. When the editor is killed, both reporter Banning and mobster Tony Garcia are suspected. However, Hamilton's friend Edgar Bergen solves the case (without much help from Charlie McCarthy).---who does not help matters by conducting a running feud with hot-tempered cop Inspector Dailey(Edgar Kennedy)
The film was announced in June 1938. It was the second movie Bergen made for Universal following Letter of Introduction. [4] [5] Bob Cummings was assigned in October 1939. [6]
Filming took place from November to December 1939. [7]
The New York Times called it "a nondescript omlette". [8] Variety wrote "whatever box office reaction" the film "is able to generate depends on the ability of Edgar Bergen and his wooden stooge to carry this inadequate script and inept direction. Picture wilj have to struggle as top half of the dualers. It won't assist the screen progress of Bergen and his pal." [9]
Edgar John Bergen was an American ventriloquist, comedian, actor, vaudevillian and radio performer. He was best known for his characters Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd. Bergen pioneered modern-day ventriloquism and has been described by puppetry organization UNIMA as the “quintessential ventriloquist of the 20th century”. He was the father of actress Candice Bergen.
Candice Patricia Bergen is an American actress. She won five Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards for her portrayal of the title character on the CBS sitcom Murphy Brown. She is also known for her role as Shirley Schmidt on the ABC drama Boston Legal (2005–2008). In films, Bergen was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Starting Over (1979) and for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Gandhi (1982).
Charles Clarence Robert Orville Cummings was an American film and television actor who appeared in roles in comedy films such as The Devil and Miss Jones (1941) and Princess O'Rourke (1943), and in dramatic films, especially two of Alfred Hitchcock's thrillers, Saboteur (1942) and Dial M for Murder (1954). He received five Primetime Emmy Award nominations, and won the Primetime Emmy Award for Best Actor in a Single Performance in 1955. On February 8, 1960, he received two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to the motion picture and television industries, at 6816 Hollywood Boulevard and 1718 Vine Street. He used the stage name Robert Cummings from mid-1935 until the end of 1954 and was credited as Bob Cummings from 1955 until his death.
The Goldwyn Follies is a 1938 Technicolor film written by Ben Hecht, Sid Kuller, Sam Perrin and Arthur Phillips, with music by George Gershwin, Vernon Duke, and Ray Golden, and lyrics by Ira Gershwin and Sid Kuller. The Goldwyn Follies was the first Technicolor film produced by Samuel Goldwyn.
Jon Hall was an American film actor known for playing a variety of adventurous roles, as in 1937's The Hurricane, and later when contracted to Universal Pictures, including Invisible Agent and The Invisible Man's Revenge and six films he made with Maria Montez. He was also known to 1950s fans as the creator and star of the Ramar of the Jungle television series which ran from 1952 to 1954. Hall directed and starred in two 1960s sci-fi films in his later years, The Beach Girls and the Monster (1965) and The Navy vs. the Night Monsters (1966).
Edgar Livingston Kennedy was an American comedic character actor who appeared in at least 500 films during the silent and sound eras. Professionally, he was known as "Slow Burn", owing to his ability to portray characters whose anger slowly rose in frustrating situations.
Mary Chase was an American journalist, playwright and children's novelist, known primarily for writing the 1944 Broadway play Harvey, which was adapted into the 1950 film starring James Stewart.
John Beach Litel was an American film and television actor.
Charles D. Brown was an American stage and film actor.
One Night in the Tropics is a 1940 musical film notable as the film debut of Abbott and Costello. They are listed as supporting actors but have major exposure with five of their classic routines, including an abbreviated version of "Who's on First?" Their work earned them a two-picture deal with Universal, and their next film, Buck Privates, made them bona fide stars. Songs in the film were written by Jerome Kern with lyrics by Dorothy Fields.
You Can't Cheat an Honest Man is a 1939 American comedy film directed by George Marshall and Edward F. Cline and starring W. C. Fields. Fields also wrote the story on which the film is based under the name Charles Bogle.
Donald Hugh MacBride was an American character actor on stage, in films, and on television.
Three Smart Girls Grow Up is a 1939 American musical comedy film directed by Henry Koster, written by Felix Jackson and Bruce Manning, and starring Deanna Durbin, Nan Grey, and Helen Parrish. Durbin and Grey reprise their roles from Three Smart Girls, and Parrish replaces Barbara Read in the role of the middle sister. Durbin would reprise her role once more in Hers to Hold.
Harold Huber was an American actor who appeared on film, radio and television.
It Started with Eve is a 1941 American musical romantic comedy film directed by Henry Koster and starring Deanna Durbin, Robert Cummings, and Charles Laughton. The film received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Music Score. The film is considered by some critics to be Durbin's best film, and the last in which she worked with the producer and director who groomed her for stardom. It Started with Eve was remade in 1964 as I'd Rather Be Rich.
Charles Quigley was an American actor.
Letter of Introduction is a 1938 American comedy-drama film directed by John M. Stahl.
Rio is a 1939 American crime film directed by John Brahm and starring Basil Rathbone and Victor McLaglen.
Charles Cahill Wilson was an American screen and stage actor. He appeared in numerous films during the Golden Age of Hollywood from the late 1920s to the late 1940s.
Charlie McCarthy was the famed dummy partner of American ventriloquist Edgar Bergen. Charlie was part of Bergen's act as early as high school, and by 1930 was attired in his famous top hat, tuxedo and monocle. The character was so well known that his popularity exceeded that of his performer, Bergen.