Moonlight and Pretzels is a 1933 American Pre-Codemusical film directed by Karl Freund, about a man who puts on a Broadway show. The film was released by Universal Studios and featured Mary Brian and William Frawley, now best-known as "Fred Mertz" on the 1950s TV show I Love Lucy; Freund was the groundbreaking cinematographer for I Love Lucy.
In the small town of Walkerville, songwriter George Dwight is fired from his vaudeville gig. Music shop owner Sally Upton offers him a job as a song plugger. George continues to compose after hours and dedicates a new song, "There's a Little Bit of You in Every Love Song," to Sally. After Broadway producers the Hobart Brothers buy one of George's songs, he decides to move to New York, telling Sally to be sure to write to him.
In their New York City office, Irving and Jules Hobart are talking to Broadway star Elsie Warren when George barges in, claiming to have a song for any occasion. Hoping to get rid of him, they ask for something about crocodiles. George sits down at the piano and sings "Let's Make Love Like the Crocodiles." The Hobarts are impressed and sign him to a $25/week contract. George writes a string of hit songs for Hobart shows. They promise to sign Elsie for George's new show but they double-cross them both. George and Elsie walk out, planning to create their own show. They find backers who demand a 51% stake in the production.
George's new musical, "Moonlight and Pretzels", goes into rehearsal. Sally shows up backstage looking for George but is pushed into auditioning for the chorus. She gets the job and a dinner date with George. George's backers have an offer from the Hobarts to buy out their controlling share of the show; they give George until the next morning to come up with $30,000. George stays up all night, forgetting about his date with Sally. Elsie calls an admirer, Nick Pappacropolis, who wins money in a poker game and buys the share. Rehearsal continues with an elaborate production number, "Gotta Get Up and Go to Work."
Thinking that George has stood her up, Sally is packing to leave when George calls to apologize. She agrees to give him another chance. Nick throws a party at a German beer garden, where another big production number, "Moonlight and Pretzels," degenerates into a brawl. Nick's millionaire friend and fellow gambler, Sport Powell, has become infatuated with Sally and wins Nick's stake in the show. He intends to replace the star of the show, Elsie, with Sally, ignoring the fact that Sally has no stage training and can't sing. George and Elsie quit. Sally gambles for the show with Powell, who lets her win, and she hands the show back to George.
"Moonlight and Pretzels", with Elsie in the lead, opens and is a hit. George and Sally kiss.
Elsie sings to potential backers for George's new show.
"Ah, But Is It Love?"
E. Y. Harburg, lyrics; Jay Gorney, music
George and Elsie have differing opinions about this song. George hears it as a ballad but Elsie wants "something hot." The production number contrasts two styles, opening with a slow tempo duet sung by John Hundley and Bernice Claire, with cameos from The Eton Boys and The Girlfriend Trio, accompanied by Jack Denny and the Waldorf-Astoria Orchestra. Then the tempo changes and a tap dancing chorus line turns the number into a swing dance.
"... dramatizing the new spirit of the people in regard to work."[1] The choreography draws on the work of Busby Berkeley, incorporating overhead shots of kaleidoscopic movement and silhouettes of women getting dressed, effects Berkeley used in Gold Diggers of 1933.
A drinking song celebrating the recent legalization of beer.[a]
"Dusty Shoes"
E. Y. Harburg, lyrics; Jay Gorney, music
Chorus, soloists Alexander Gray and Lillian Miles
With a nod to "Remember My Forgotten Man" from Gold Diggers of 1933, the finale of George's show is "...a dramatic cavalcade of American life from 1928 to 1933. The highlights depicted in song and action are the boom year of 1928, the stock market crash of 1929, and the depression years of 1930–32 inclusive, the election of Roosevelt and the inspiring leadership of the President since his inauguration with the wheel of industry set in motion by his rallying cry of a 'New Deal' to the nation."[1]
Cast
Leo Carrillo as Nick Pappacropolis (credited as Leo Carillo)
Universal planned a big publicity effort. "There will be nationwide Mary Brian and Lillian Miles style tie-ups with the greatest department stores; Shirt, hat and neckwear tie-ups on Pryor; pretzel and beer tie-ups; special music ballyhoos and a score of exploitation angles that will be a cinch to put over."[5]
Lobby card for Moonlight and Pretzels
Critical reception
The critic for Time wrote: "The extraordinary thing about this musi-comedy is not that it resembles Forty-Second Street and Gold Diggers of 1933 in plot, pattern and environment; that it has the same type of dances, staged by Bobby Connolly, and the same type of songs (“Dusty Shoes'” for a finale instead of ”Forgotten Men”); or that its ingenue, Mary Brian, not only looks like Ruby Keeler but has obviously been coached to speak in the same soft monotone. The surprising aspect of Moonlight and Pretzels is that it makes plausible Hollywood’s profound conviction that repetition is the secret of success. It copies Warner Brothers’ two hits even to the extent of being handsome and amusing."[6]
Another contemporary review in Variety reported that the film "moves along at a sprightly pace and has sufficient pep to hold interest," noting the film's "several nice tunes," "some good dance routines," and "a good looking line of girls." The review also notes "[o]n the negative side of the ledger are a pretty dull and routine story, practically no laughs and no actual cast stars."[7] A modern review of the film by Danny Reid notes that although it "was obviously made on a tight budget [...] and its numbers never escape feeling stage bound," it contains "a few undeniable charms that make it an enjoyable experience."[8]
Notes
↑ The Volstead Act (officially the National Prohibition Act) was amended by the Cullen-Harrison Act in April 1933, declaring that beer was not intoxicating.
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