Peter Sellers was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series The Goon Show. Sellers featured on a number of hit comic songs, and became known to a worldwide audience through his many film roles, among them Chief Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther series.
Screwball comedy is a film subgenre of the romantic comedy genre that became popular during the Great Depression, beginning in the early 1930s and thriving until the early 1950s, that satirizes the traditional love story. It has secondary characteristics similar to film noir, distinguished by a female character who dominates the relationship with the male central character, whose masculinity is challenged, and the two engage in a humorous battle of the sexes.
Francis Lederer was an Austro-Hungarian Empire-born American film and stage actor with a successful career, first in Europe, then in the United States. His original name was František (Franz) Lederer.
Mischa Auer (born Mikhail Semyonovich Unkovsky was a Russian-born American actor who moved to Hollywood in the late 1920s. He first appeared in film in 1928. Auer had a long career playing in many of the era's best known films. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1936 for his performance in the screwball comedy My Man Godfrey, which led to further zany comedy roles. He later moved into television and acted in films again in France and Italy well into the 1960s.
The Princess Comes Across is a 1936 American mystery comedy film directed by William K. Howard and starring Carole Lombard and Fred MacMurray, the second of the four times they were paired together. Lombard, playing an actress from Brooklyn pretending to be a Swedish princess, does a "film-length takeoff" on MGM's Swedish star Greta Garbo. The film was based on the 1935 novel A Halálkabin by Louis Lucien Rogger, the pseudonym of Laszlo Aigner and Louis Acze.
Pick a Star is a 1937 American musical comedy film starring Rosina Lawrence, Jack Haley, Patsy Kelly and Mischa Auer, directed by Edward Sedgwick, produced by Hal Roach and released through Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and filmed by Norbert Brodine. A reworking of Buster Keaton's first talkie, Free and Easy, the film is mostly remembered today for two short scenes featuring Laurel and Hardy.
The Bride Came C.O.D. is a 1941 American screwball romantic comedy starring James Cagney as an airplane pilot and Bette Davis as a runaway heiress, and directed by William Keighley. Although the film was publicized as the first screen pairing of Warner Bros.' two biggest stars, they had actually made Jimmy the Gent together in 1934, and had wanted to find another opportunity to work together.
King of the Wild is a 1931 American pre-Code Mascot movie serial. The complete serial is available on DVD from Alpha Video.
One Rainy Afternoon is a 1936 American romantic comedy film directed by Rowland V. Lee, starring Francis Lederer and Ida Lupino, and featuring Hugh Herbert, Roland Young and Erik Rhodes. It also marked the last film appearance by actress Florence Lawrence, who died in 1938, who had an uncredited bit role in the film. It was written by Stephen Morehouse Avery, with additional dialogue by Maurice Hanline, from the screenplay for the 1935 French film Monsieur Sans-Gêne by Emeric Pressburger and René Pujol, which was based on the story "The Satyr" by Pressburger. The film was reissued in 1948 as Matinee Scandal.
Up in Mabel's Room is a 1944 American comedy film directed by Allan Dwan and starring Marjorie Reynolds, Dennis O'Keefe and Gail Patrick. It is based on the 1919 play by Wilson Collison and Otto A. Harbach. The film's composer, Edward Paul, was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Score in 1945.
Love Is News is a 1937 American romantic comedy film starring Tyrone Power, Loretta Young, and Don Ameche. The movie was directed by Tay Garnett and was the first film for which Power had top billing. The picture was remade in 1947 as That Wonderful Urge, with Power again and Gene Tierney.
Cafe Metropole is a 1937 American romantic comedy film directed by Edward H. Griffith and starring Loretta Young, Tyrone Power and Adolphe Menjou. It was produced and distributed by 20th Century Fox. The screenplay was based on an original story by Gregory Ratoff who also appears in the film. It is part of the tradition of screwball comedies which was at their height during the decade. It was commercially successful on its release.
Hired Wife is a 1940 American romantic comedy film directed by William A. Seiter and starring Rosalind Russell, Brian Aherne and Virginia Bruce.
East Side of Heaven is a 1939 American musical film directed by David Butler and written by William M. Conselman and James V. Kern. The film stars Bing Crosby, Joan Blondell, Mischa Auer, Irene Hervey, C. Aubrey Smith, Robert Kent and Jerome Cowan. Filming took place in Hollywood from January 13 to March 7, 1939. The film was released on April 7, 1939, by Universal Pictures and had its New York premiere at Radio City Music Hall on May 4, 1939. This was another independent production in which Crosby had a financial interest.
Around the World is a 1943 American musical comedy film produced and directed by Allan Dwan from an original screenplay by Ralph Spence. RKO Radio Pictures premiered the film at the Globe Theater in New York on November 24, 1943. The film has a large cast, and stars Kay Kyser and his band, Mischa Auer, Joan Davis, Marcy McGuire, Wally Brown, and Alan Carney. The picture follows Kyser and his troupe on a tour of U.S. military bases around the world. The film is full of one-liners, sight-gags, double-talk, running gags, and the kind of antic humor that made Kyser's band—actually a large, versatile orchestra—famous.
Dangerously Yours is a 1933 American Pre-Code comedy film directed by Frank Tuttle, starring Warner Baxter, Miriam Jordan and Herbert Mundin.
Thirteen at the Table is a 1955 French comedy film directed by André Hunebelle and starring Micheline Presle, Fernand Gravey and Germaine Montero. It was shot at the Francoeur Studios in Paris. The film's sets were designed by the art director Lucien Carré. It is based on the 1953 play of the same name by Marc-Gilbert Sauvajon.
And So They Were Married is a 1936 American romantic comedy film directed by Elliott Nugent and starring Melvyn Douglas, Mary Astor and Edith Fellows. The film was produced and distributed by Columbia Pictures. It has elements of a screwball comedy.
Cracked Nuts is a 1941 American comedy film directed by Edward F. Cline and written by Erna Lazarus and Scott Darling. The film stars Stuart Erwin, Una Merkel, Mischa Auer, William Frawley, Shemp Howard and Astrid Allwyn. It was released on August 1, 1941, by Universal Pictures. The film is unrelated Wheeler & Woolsey film of 1931 by the same title, although Cline directed both films.
Mannequins of Paris is a 1956 French drama film directed by André Hunebelle and starring Madeleine Robinson, Ivan Desny and Mischa Auer. It is set in the world of high fashion. The film's sets were designed by the art director Lucien Carré. It was shot in Technicolor with location shooting in Paris, Cannes and Rome.
