Dames (film)

Last updated

Dames
Dames DVD cover.jpg
Film poster
Directed by Ray Enright
Busby Berkeley
(musical numbers)
Screenplay by Delmer Daves
Story by Robert Lord
Delmer Daves
Produced by Hal B. Wallis (executive producer)
Starring Ruby Keeler
Dick Powell
Joan Blondell
Guy Kibbee
ZaSu Pitts
Hugh Herbert
Cinematography George Barnes
Sidney Hickox
Sol Polito
Edited byHarold McLernon
Music by Harry Warren (music)
Al Dubin (lyrics)
Heinz Roemheld
Distributed by Warner Bros.
Release dates
  • August 16, 1934 (1934-08-16)(premiere)
  • September 1, 1934 (1934-09-01)(general)
Running time
91 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$779,000 [1]
Box office$1,513,000 [1]

Dames is a 1934 Warner Bros. musical comedy film directed by Ray Enright with dance numbers created by Busby Berkeley. The film stars Ruby Keeler, Dick Powell, Joan Blondell, Guy Kibbee, ZaSu Pitts, and Hugh Herbert. Production numbers and songs include "When You Were a Smile on Your Mother's Lips (and a Twinkle in Your Daddy's Eye)", "The Girl at the Ironing Board", "I Only Have Eyes for You", "Dames" and "Try to See It My Way".

Contents

Plot

Eccentric multimillionaire Ezra Ounce (Hugh Herbert), whose main purpose in life is raising American morals through a nationwide campaign, wants to be assured that his fortune will be inherited by upstanding relatives. He visits his cousin Matilda Hemingway (ZaSu Pitts) in New York City, in Horace's view the center of immorality in America. What Ounce finds most offensive are musical comedy shows and the people who put them on, and it just so happens that Matilda's daughter Barbara (Ruby Keeler) is a dancer and singer in love with a struggling singer and songwriter, her 13th cousin, Jimmy Higgens (Dick Powell). On Ezra's instructions, Jimmy the "black sheep" has been ostracized by the family, on pain of not receiving their inheritance.

Matilda's husband Horace (Guy Kibbee) meets a showgirl named Mabel (Joan Blondell), who's been stranded in Troy when her show folds, and connives her way into sleeping in Horace's train compartment as a way to get back home. Terrified of scandal, he leaves her some money and his business card, along with a note telling her to not mention their meeting to anyone; but when Mabel discovers that Horace is Barbara's father, she blackmails him into backing Jimmy's show. [2]

Cast

Dick Powell in Dames trailer.jpg Dick Powell as Jimmy Higgens
Ruby Keeler in Dames trailer.jpg Ruby Keeler as Barbara Hemingway
Joan Blondell in Dames trailer.jpg Joan Blondell as Mabel Anderson
Zasu Pitts in Dames trailer.jpg ZaSu Pitts as Matilda Ounce Hemingway
Guy Kibbee in Dames trailer.jpg Guy Kibbee as Horace Peter Hemingway
Hugh Herbert in Dames trailer.jpg Hugh Herbert as Ezra Ounce

Supporting cast

Arthur Vintonas Bulger, Ounce's bodyguard
Phil Regan as Johnny Harris, songwriter
Arthur Aylesworth as train conductor
Johnny Arthur as Billings, Ounce's secretary
Leila Bennett as Laura, the maid
Berton Churchill as Harold Ellsworthy Todd

Cast notes

Musical numbers

The musical sequences in Dames were designed, staged and directed by Busby Berkeley - the Warner Bros. publicity office invented the phrase "cinematerpsichorean" to describe Berkeley's creations. [3] By this time, after the success of 42nd Street , Footlight Parade and Gold Diggers of 1933 , Berkeley had his own unit at Warners under his total control as supervised by producer Hal Wallis. [4]

One of the effects of the Production Code on this film is a musical number that never made it to the screen. Berkeley had planned one featuring Joan Blondell about a fight between a cat and a mouse that ended with Blondell inviting everyone to "come up and see my pussy sometime". Producer Hal Wallis removed this number from the script before it even got to the censors of the Hays Office. [4]

Production

The director originally slated to do the film was Archie Mayo, and then a second director, before Ray Enright got the job a week before filming began. [4] Some early casting considerations had Ruth Donnelly playing Mathilda instead of ZaSu Pitts, and Hobart Cavanaugh as Ellsworthy Todd. [3] At one point, it was suggested that Eleanor Powell do a specialty number, but she declined to do so. [7]

Dames began production at the Warner Bros. studios in Burbank, California on March 28, 1934. Ray Enright completed the dramatic scenes in mid-April of that year, and Busby Berkeley continued working on the musical numbers until July 3. The film had its premiere on August 16, 1934 and went into general release on September 1 of that year. [8] [9]

Box office

According to Warner Bros., the film earned $1,057,000 in the U.S. and $456,000 in other markets. [1]

Accolades

The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Footlight Parade</i> 1933 film by Lloyd Bacon

Footlight Parade is a 1933 American musical film directed by Lloyd Bacon, with songs written by Harry Warren (music), Al Dubin (lyrics), Sammy Fain (music) and Irving Kahal (lyrics). The film's numbers were staged and choreographed by Busby Berkeley. It starred James Cagney, Joan Blondell, Ruby Keeler and Dick Powell, with featured appearances by Frank McHugh, Guy Kibbee, Hugh Herbert, and Ruth Donnelly.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dick Powell</span> American actor (1904–1963)

Richard Ewing Powell was an American actor, singer, musician, producer, director, and studio head. Though he came to stardom as a musical comedy performer, he showed versatility and successfully transformed into a hardboiled leading man, starring in projects of a more dramatic nature. He was the first actor to portray private detective Philip Marlowe on screen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joan Blondell</span> American actress (1906–1979)

Rose Joan Blondell was an American actress who performed in film and television for 50 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Al Dubin</span> Swiss-American lyricist (1891–1945)

Alexander Dubin was an American lyricist. He is best known for his collaborations with the composer Harry Warren.

<i>42nd Street</i> (film) 1933 musical film

42nd Street is a 1933 American pre-Code musical film directed by Lloyd Bacon, with songs by Harry Warren (music) and Al Dubin (lyrics). The film's numbers were staged and choreographed by Busby Berkeley. It stars an ensemble cast of Warner Baxter, Bebe Daniels, George Brent, Ruby Keeler, Dick Powell and Ginger Rogers.

<i>Gold Diggers of 1933</i> 1933 film by Mervyn LeRoy, Busby Berkeley

Gold Diggers of 1933 is an American pre-Code musical film directed by Mervyn LeRoy with songs by Harry Warren (music) and Al Dubin (lyrics). The film's numbers were staged and choreographed by Busby Berkeley. It starred Warren William, Joan Blondell, Aline MacMahon, Ruby Keeler, and Dick Powell. It featured appearances by Guy Kibbee, Ned Sparks and Ginger Rogers.

<i>Gold Diggers of 1935</i> 1935 American film

Gold Diggers of 1935 is an American Warner Bros. musical film directed and choreographed by Busby Berkeley, his directorial debut. It stars Dick Powell, Adolphe Menjou, Gloria Stuart, Alice Brady, Hugh Herbert, Glenda Farrell, and Frank McHugh, and features Joseph Cawthorn, Grant Mitchell, Dorothy Dare, and Winifred Shaw. The songs were written by Harry Warren (music) and Al Dubin (lyrics). The film is best known for its famous "Lullaby of Broadway" production number. That song, sung by Shaw, also won the Academy Award for Best Original Song. The screenplay was by Manuel Seff and Peter Milne, based on a story by Robert Lord, who also produced the film, and Milne.

<i>Convention City</i> 1933 film

Convention City is a 1933 American pre-Code sex comedy film directed by Archie Mayo, and starring Joan Blondell, Guy Kibbee, Dick Powell, Mary Astor and Adolphe Menjou. The film was produced by Henry Blanke and First National Pictures and distributed by Warner Bros.

<i>Blonde Crazy</i> 1931 film

Blonde Crazy is a 1931 American pre-Code romantic comedy-drama film directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring James Cagney, Joan Blondell, Noel Francis, Louis Calhern, Ray Milland, and Guy Kibbee. The film is notable for one of Cagney's lines, a phrase often repeated by celebrity impersonators: "That dirty, double-crossin' rat!"

<i>Wonder Bar</i> 1934 film by Busby Berkeley, Lloyd Bacon

Wonder Bar is a 1934 American pre-Code film adaptation of a Broadway musical of the same name directed by Lloyd Bacon with musical numbers created by Busby Berkeley.

<i>Fashions of 1934</i> 1934 film by William Dieterle

Fashions of 1934 is a 1934 American pre-Code musical comedy film directed by William Dieterle with musical numbers created and directed by Busby Berkeley. The screenplay by F. Hugh Herbert and Carl Erickson was based on the story The Fashion Plate by Harry Collins and Warren Duff. The film stars William Powell, Bette Davis, Frank McHugh, Hugh Herbert, Verree Teasdale, and Reginald Owen, and features Henry O'Neill, Phillip Reed, Gordon Westcott, and Dorothy Burgess. The film's songs are by Sammy Fain (music) and Irving Kahal (lyrics). Sometime after its initial release, the title Fashions of 1934 was changed to Fashions, replacing the original title with an insert card stating "William Powell in 'Fashions'".

<i>Gold Diggers of 1937</i> 1936 film by Busby Berkeley, Lloyd Bacon

Gold Diggers of 1937 is a Warner Bros. movie musical directed by Lloyd Bacon with musical numbers created and directed by Busby Berkeley. The film stars Dick Powell and Joan Blondell, who were married at the time, with Glenda Farrell and Victor Moore.

<i>Gold Diggers in Paris</i> 1938 film

Gold Diggers in Paris is a 1938 Warner Bros. movie musical directed by Ray Enright with musical numbers created and directed by Busby Berkeley, starring Rudy Vallee, Rosemary Lane, Hugh Herbert, and Allen Jenkins.

<i>Blondie Johnson</i> 1933 film

Blondie Johnson is a 1933 American pre-Code gangster film directed by Ray Enright and starring Joan Blondell and Chester Morris. It was produced by Warner Bros.

<i>Colleen</i> (1936 film) 1936 American film directed by Alfred Edward Green

Colleen is a 1936 American romantic musical comedy film directed by Alfred E. Green and starring Dick Powell, Ruby Keeler, and Joan Blondell. It was produced and distributed by Warner Bros. and was the seventh and final picture starring both Keeler and Powell.

<i>Go into Your Dance</i> 1935 film by Archie Mayo

Go into Your Dance is a 1935 American musical drama film starring Al Jolson, Ruby Keeler, and Glenda Farrell. The film was directed by Archie Mayo, and is based on the novel of the same name by Bradford Ropes. It was released by Warner Bros. on April 20, 1935. An irresponsible Broadway star gets mixed up with gambling and gangsters.

<i>Girl Crazy</i> (1943 film) 1943 film by Norman Taurog and Busby Berkeley

Girl Crazy is a 1943 American musical film starring Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney. Produced by the Freed Unit of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, it is based on the stage musical Girl Crazy – which was written by Guy Bolton and Jack McGowan, with music and lyrics by George and Ira Gershwin. It was the last of Garland and Rooney's nine movies as co-stars, the pair appearing only once more together on film, as guest stars in 1948's Words and Music.

<i>Were in the Money</i> (film) 1935 film by Ray Enright

We're in the Money is a 1935 American romantic comedy film directed by Ray Enright. It was released by Warner Bros. on August 17, 1935. The film stars Joan Blondell and Glenda Farrell and is one of five Warner Bros. films in which they were paired as blonde bombshell comedy duo. The other films include Havana Widows (1933), Kansas City Princess (1934), Traveling Saleslady (1935) and Miss Pacific Fleet (1935). Ginger and Dixie are two process servers, who serve legal papers to a playboy, a racketeer, a wrestler and a singer.

<i>Traveling Saleslady</i> 1935 film by Ray Enright

Traveling Saleslady is a 1935 American comedy film directed by Ray Enright and starring Joan Blondell and Glenda Farrell. It was released by Warner Bros. on March 28, 1935. It is one of five films by Warner Bros. where Farrell and Blondell were paired as two blonde bombshells. The other films include: Havana Widows (1933), Kansas City Princess (1934), We're in the Money (1935) and Miss Pacific Fleet (1935). Actress Joan Blondell was married to the film's cinematographer George Barnes at the time of filming.

<i>Stage Struck</i> (1936 film) 1936 film by Busby Berkeley

Stage Struck is 1936 American musical comedy film directed by Busby Berkeley and starring Dick Powell, Joan Blondell and Warren William. It was produced and distributed by Warner Brothers. The film's sets were designed by the art director Robert M. Haas.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Warner Bros financial information in The William Schaefer Ledger. See Appendix 1, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, (1995) 15:sup1, 1-31 p 15 DOI: 10.1080/01439689508604551
  2. ↑ Green, Stanley (1999) Hollywood Musicals Year by Year (2nd ed.), pub. Hal Leonard Corporation ISBN   0-634-00765-3 page 33
  3. 1 2 3 TCM Notes
  4. 1 2 3 4 Brian Cady TCM article
  5. ↑ IMDb Awards for "Dames"
  6. ↑ TCM Music
  7. ↑ TCM Trivia
  8. ↑ TCM Overview
  9. ↑ IMDb Release dates
  10. ↑ "AFI's Greatest Movie Musicals Nominees" (PDF). Retrieved August 13, 2016.
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.