Madame Racketeer

Last updated

Madame Racketeer
Madame Racketeer.jpg
Directed byHarry Wagstaff Gribble
Alexander Hall
Written by Malcolm Stuart Boylan
Harvey Gates
Produced byHarry Wagstaff Gribble
Starring Alison Skipworth
Richard Bennett
George Raft
Cinematography Henry Sharp
Music by John Leipold
Production
company
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release date
July 23, 1932
Running time
72 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Madame Racketeer is a 1932 American pre-Code comedy film featuring Alison Skipworth, Richard Bennett and George Raft. The movie was directed by Harry Wagstaff Gribble and Alexander Hall. [1] It was produced and distributed by Paramount Pictures.

Contents

Plot

Cast

Production

The film was based on an original screenplay based on the life of a real woman. [2] It was sold under the title The Countess of Auburn. This was changed to The Sporting Widow then Madame Racketeer. [3] In March 1932 Paramont announced Alison Skipworth would star. [4]

In April 1932 Irving CUmmings signed to direct. [5] George Raft was cast later that month. [6] Raft had recently signed a long-term contract with Paramount off the back of his strength of his work in Scarface but that film had not gone into wide release yet. [7]

Numerous retakes were done after the film was completed. [8]

The movie was one of 23 films put into receivership by Paramount in January 1933. [9]

Reception

The New York Times said "part of it is funny, part of it is amusing enough and some of it is a little on the sadward side." [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Raft</span> American actor (1901–1980)

George Raft was an American film actor and dancer identified with portrayals of gangsters in crime melodramas of the 1930s and 1940s. A stylish leading man in dozens of movies, Raft is remembered for his gangster roles in Quick Millions (1931) with Spencer Tracy, Scarface (1932) with Paul Muni, Each Dawn I Die (1939) with James Cagney, Invisible Stripes (1939) with Humphrey Bogart, and Billy Wilder's comedy Some Like It Hot (1959) with Marilyn Monroe and Jack Lemmon; and as a dancer in Bolero (1934) with Carole Lombard and a truck driver in They Drive by Night (1940) with Ann Sheridan, Ida Lupino and Bogart.

<i>Broadway</i> (1942 film) 1942 film by William A. Seiter

Broadway is a 1942 crime drama musical film directed by William A. Seiter and starring George Raft as himself and Pat O'Brien as a detective. The supporting cast features Janet Blair and Broderick Crawford.

Norman Krasna was an American screenwriter, playwright, producer, and film director who penned screwball comedies centered on a case of mistaken identity. Krasna directed three films during a forty-year career in Hollywood. He garnered four Academy Award screenwriting nominations, winning once for 1943's Princess O'Rourke, which he also directed.

<i>The Princess Comes Across</i> 1936 film by William K. Howard

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.

<i>She Couldnt Take It</i> 1935 film by Tay Garnett

She Couldn't Take It is a 1935 American screwball comedy film made at Columbia Pictures, directed by Tay Garnett, written by C. Graham Baker, Gene Towne and Oliver H.P. Garrett, and starring George Raft and Joan Bennett. It was one of the few comedies Raft made in his career.

<i>The Ladys from Kentucky</i> 1939 film by Alexander Hall

The Lady's from Kentucky is a 1939 film directed by Alexander Hall and starring George Raft and Ellen Drew. It was written by Malcolm Stuart Boylan from a story by Rowland Brown. The screenplay involves a failing bookie (Raft) who becomes half owner of a racehorse, with a Kentucky lady (Drew) owning the other half. ZaSu Pitts plays a supporting role.

<i>Midnight Club</i> (film) 1933 film by George Somnes

Midnight Club is a 1933 American pre-Code crime drama film about a gang of London jewel thieves infiltrated by an undercover agent. The film was directed by Alexander Hall and George Somnes. Produced and distributed by Paramount Pictures it is based on the 1931 short story Gangster's Glory by E. Phillips Oppenheim.

<i>Pick-Up</i> (1933 film) 1933 film by Marion Gering

Pick-Up is a 1933 American pre-Code crime film directed by Marion Gering and starring Sylvia Sidney and George Raft.

<i>Dancers in the Dark</i> 1932 film by David Burton

Dancers in the Dark is a 1932 American pre-Code film about a taxi dancer, a big band leader, and a gangster.

<i>Under-Cover Man</i> 1932 film

Under Cover Man is a 1932 American pre-Code crime film directed by James Flood and starring George Raft and Nancy Carroll.

<i>All of Me</i> (1934 film) 1934 drama film by James Flood

All of Me is a 1934 American pre-Code drama film directed by James Flood and starring Fredric March, Miriam Hopkins, and George Raft. The film was written by actor Thomas Mitchell and Sidney Buchman from Rose Porter's play Chrysalis.

<i>Queen of the Night Clubs</i> 1929 film

Queen of the Night Clubs is a 1929 American Pre-Code musical drama film produced and directed by Bryan Foy, distributed by Warner Bros., and starred legendary nightclub hostess Texas Guinan. The picture, which featured appearances by Eddie Foy, Jr., Lila Lee, and George Raft, is now considered a lost film. A still existing vintage movie trailer of this film displays no clip of the feature.

<i>Rumba</i> (1935 film) 1935 film by Marion Gering

Rumba is a 1935 American musical drama film starring George Raft as a Cuban dancer and Carole Lombard as a Manhattan socialite. The movie was directed by Marion Gering and is considered an unsuccessful follow-up to Raft and Lombard's smash hit Bolero the previous year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alison Skipworth</span> English actress (1863–1952)

Alison Skipworth was an English stage and screen actress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexander Hall</span> American film director

Alexander Hall was an American film director, film editor and theatre actor.

<i>Two Years Before the Mast</i> (film) 1946 film by John Farrow

Two Years Before the Mast is a 1946 American historical adventure film directed by John Farrow and starring Alan Ladd, Brian Donlevy, William Bendix, and Barry Fitzgerald. It is based on Richard Henry Dana Jr.'s travel book of the same name and was produced and distributed by Paramount Pictures.

<i>The Glass Key</i> (1942 film) 1942 film by Stuart Heisler

The Glass Key is a 1942 American crime drama based on the 1931 novel of the same name by Dashiell Hammett. The picture was directed by Stuart Heisler starring Brian Donlevy, Veronica Lake and Alan Ladd. A successful earlier film version starring George Raft in Ladd's role had been released in 1935. The 1942 version's supporting cast features William Bendix, Bonita Granville, Richard Denning and Joseph Calleia.

<i>South of Pago Pago</i> 1940 American film

South of Pago Pago is a 1940 American South Seas adventure film directed by Alfred E. Green and starring Victor McLaglen, Jon Hall and Frances Farmer.

<i>A Ladys Profession</i> 1933 film

A Lady's Profession is a 1933 American pre-Code comedy film directed by Norman Z. McLeod and written by Malcolm Stuart Boylan, Walter DeLeon and Nina Wilcox Putnam. The film stars Alison Skipworth, Roland Young, Sari Maritza, Kent Taylor, Roscoe Karns, Warren Hymer and George Barbier. The film was released on March 3, 1933, by Paramount Pictures.

<i>Shoot the Works</i> (film) 1934 film by Wesley Ruggles

Shoot the Works is a 1934 American pre-Code comedy film directed by Wesley Ruggles and written by Claude Binyon, Gene Fowler, Howard J. Green and Ben Hecht. It is based on the Gene Fowler and Harold Hecht 1932 play The Great Magoo. The film stars Jack Oakie, Ben Bernie, Dorothy Dell, Alison Skipworth, Roscoe Karns, Arline Judge and William Frawley. The film was released on June 29, 1934, by Paramount Pictures, preceding by two days the beginning of the most rigorously enforced version of the Hollywood Production Code, which came into effect on July 1, 1934.

References

  1. ↑ Everett Aaker, The Films of George Raft, McFarland & Company, 2013 p 28
  2. ↑ ON THE ROAD TO HOLLYWOOD Hall, Chapin. New York Times April 24, 1932: X3.
  3. ↑ HOLLYWOOD IN REVIEW Hall, Chapin. New York Times June 5, 1932: X3.
  4. ↑ MOTHER-LOVE THEME EXPLOITED: Noted Trio Slated for Roles in "Counless of Auburn Kingsley, Grace. Los Angeles Times March 1, 1932: A7.
  5. ↑ FILMS BASED ON FALLON CAREER: Kingsley, Grace. Los Angeles Times April 18, 1932: 11
  6. ↑ Raft's Suavity Utilized in Film Los Angeles Times April 17, 1932: B20.
  7. ↑ Vagg, Stephen (February 9, 2020). "Why Stars Stop Being Stars: George Raft". Filmink.
  8. ↑ HOLLYWOOD IN REVIEW Hall, Chapin. New York Times July 17, 1932: X3.
  9. ↑ 23 FILM PLAYS PUT INTO RECEIVERSHIP: Paramount Bondholder's Plea Is Granted to Guard the Pictures Against Seizure. VALUED AT $10,000,000 Held by Subsidiary, Whose Notes Were Used to Secure Loans From Banks. New York Times January 31, 1933: 19.
  10. ↑ Madame Racketeer. L.N. New York Times ]July 23, 1932: 6
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.