Radio City Revels

Radio City Revels
Directed by	Benjamin Stoloff
Written by	Eddie Davis Matt Brooks Anthony Veiller Mortimer Offner
Produced by	Edward Kaufman
Starring	Bob Burns Jack Oakie Ann Miller
Cinematography	J. Roy Hunt Jack MacKenzie
Edited by	Arthur Roberts
Music by	Robert Russell Bennett (uncredited)
Production company	RKO Pictures
Distributed by	RKO Radio Pictures
Release date	February 11, 1938 (1938-02-11) [1]
Running time	90 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$810,000 [2]
Box office	$750,000 [2]

Radio City Revels is a 1938 American musical comedy film directed by Benjamin Stoloff and starring Bob Burns, Jack Oakie and Ann Miller. ^[3]

Plot

An aspiring writer arrives in New York and composes musical masterpieces in his sleep. A struggling songwriting team appropriates his work, publishing major hits under their own names.

Cast

• Bob Burns as Lester Robin
• Jack Oakie as Harry Miller
• Kenny Baker as Kenny Baker
• Ann Miller as Billie Shaw
• Victor Moore as Paul Plummer
• Milton Berle as Teddy Jordan
• Helen Broderick as Gertie Shaw
• Jane Froman as Jane Froman
• Buster West as Squenchy
• Melissa Mason as Lisa
• Richard Lane as Crane
• Marilyn Vernon as Delia Robin
• Charles Coleman as The Butler
• Don Wilson as Don Wilson - Radio Station Announcer
• Hal Kemp and His Orchestra as Themselves
• William Brisbane as Mr. Ipswich
• Rosalind Marquis as Singer
• Kirby Grant as Singer
• Bobby Barber as Waiter

Production

Although set in New York City, specifically at Radio City, much of the film was shot at RKO's California studios. The company had originally planned to make the film in 1934 with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. In 1937 the project was revived and scheduled as a Wheeler and Woolsey musical comedy, to follow the team's film High Flyers , but Woolsey's terminal illness forced him off the screen when High Flyers was completed. ^[4] The sets for Radio City Revels had been built and the film had already been announced, so RKO quickly recast the project and made the film.

Reception

According to RKO records, the film posted a loss of $300,000. ^[2] It got a mixed reception from critics at Variety and The New York Times , who praised the work of rising star Ann Miller but were negative about other aspects of the film. ^[5]

References

1. "Radio City Revels: Detail View". American Film Institute. Retrieved April 11, 2014.
2. Richard Jewell, "RKO Film Grosses: 1931-1951", Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, Vol. 14, No. 1, 1994, p. 57.
3. Shelley p.21
4. Jamie Brotherton and Ted Okuda, Dorothy Lee: The Life and Films of the Wheeler and Woolsey Girl, McFarland, 2013, p. 180.
5. Peter Shelley, Ann Miller: Her Life and Career. McFarland, 2020, p. 22.

External links

• Radio City Revels at TCMDB
• Radio City Revels at IMDb