The Tenderfoot (film)

Last updated

The Tenderfoot
The Tenderfoot (film).jpg
Directed by Ray Enright
Written by Earl Baldwin
Monty Banks
Arthur Caesar
(adaptation)
Based on
The Tenderfoot
1903 play
by
Starring Joe E. Brown
Ginger Rogers
Cinematography Gregg Toland
Edited by Owen Marks
Color process Black and white
Production
company
Distributed by Warner Bros.
Release date
  • May 23, 1932 (1932-05-23)
Running time
69 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The Tenderfoot is a 1932 American Pre-Code comedy western film directed by Ray Enright and written by Earl Baldwin, Monty Banks and Arthur Caesar. The film stars Joe E. Brown and Ginger Rogers. The film was released by Warner Bros. on May 23, 1932. It is based on Richard Carle's 1903 play The Tenderfoot, and George S. Kaufman's 1925 play The Butter and Egg Man . [1] [2]

Contents

The play was first adapted to film The Butter and Egg Man in 1928. It was remade as Dance Charlie Dance (1937) and An Angel from Texas (1940), and enough of the plot elements were worked into Hello, Sweetheart (1935) and Three Sailors and a Girl (1953) to warrant a credit for Kaufman's play as a basis of those scripts. An Angel from Texas was directed by Ray Enright, who also directed The Tenderfoot. Enright and Brown worked together on five pictures. [3]

Plot

Calvin Jones (Joe E. Brown), a naive cowboy from Texas, comes to New York City, determined to take care of his mother by investing his life savings in a Broadway show. He is duped by producers Lehman (Lew Cody) and McLure into buying a 49-percent interest in their new show, a surefire flop.

Lehman's beautiful secretary, Ruth Weston (Ginger Rogers), catches the shy cowboy's eye. Jones makes up his mind to produce the play by himself after Lehman and McLure close it out of town. When he can't pay for proper costumes, his star actress quits, so Ruth goes on in her place.

Although the play is a drama, it is so poorly done that the audience mistakes it for a comedy. The laughter makes it a surprise comedy hit. Jones and Ruth make a big profit, get married and decide to live in Texas.

Cast

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ginger Rogers</span> American actress, dancer and singer (1911–1995)

Ginger Rogers was an American actress, dancer and singer during the Golden Age of Hollywood. She won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her starring role in Kitty Foyle (1940), and performed during the 1930s in RKO's musical films with Fred Astaire. Her career continued on stage, radio and television throughout much of the 20th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joel McCrea</span> American actor (1905–1990)

Joel Albert McCrea was an American actor whose career spanned a wide variety of genres over almost five decades, including comedy, drama, romance, thrillers, adventures, and Westerns, for which he became best known.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cowboy culture</span> Subculture on the American cowboy

Cowboy culture is the set of behaviors, preferences, and appearances associated with the attitudes, ethics, and history of the American cowboy. The term can describe the content or stylistic appearance of an artistic representation, often built on romanticized impressions of the wild west, or certain aspects of people's lifestyle, such as their choices in recreation, apparel, and western or southwestern cuisine.

<i>Barmy in Wonderland</i> 1952 novel by P. G. Wodehouse

Barmy in Wonderland is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on 21 April 1952 by Herbert Jenkins, London, and in the United States on 8 May 1952 by Doubleday & Company, New York, under the title Angel Cake. The novel may be considered part of the expanded Drones Club canon, since the main character Barmy Fotheringay-Phipps is a member of the club.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guinn "Big Boy" Williams</span> American actor (1899–1962)

Guinn Terrell Williams Jr. was an American actor who appeared in memorable westerns such as Dodge City (1939), Santa Fe Trail (1940), and The Comancheros (1961). He was nicknamed "Big Boy" because he was 6' 2" and had a muscular build from years of working on ranches and playing semi-pro and professional baseball. At the height of his movie career, he was frequently billed above the title simply as Big Boy Williams or as "Big Boy" Guinn Williams on posters and in the film itself.

<i>Incendiary Blonde</i> 1945 film by George Marshall

Incendiary Blonde is a 1945 American musical drama film biography of 1920s nightclub star Texas Guinan. Filmed in Technicolor by director George Marshall and loosely based on a true story, the picture stars actress Betty Hutton as Guinan. The film's title is a play on incendiary bombs being used in World War II.

<i>Rafter Romance</i> 1933 comedy film directed by William A. Seiter

Rafter Romance is an American 1933 pre-Code romantic comedy film directed by William A. Seiter and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The film, which was based on the 1932 novel of the same name by John Wells, stars Ginger Rogers, Norman Foster and George Sidney, and features Robert Benchley, Laura Hope Crews and Guinn Williams.

<i>Sitting Pretty</i> (1933 film) 1933 film

Sitting Pretty is a 1933 American Pre-Code musical comedy film that tells the story of two aspiring but untalented songwriters played by Jack Oakie and Jack Haley. They are joined by Ginger Rogers and Thelma Todd on their trip from New York City to Hollywood to find their fortune. This film was directed by Harry Joe Brown and featured the Pickens Sisters as themselves.

<i>The Senator Was Indiscreet</i> 1947 film by George S. Kaufman

The Senator Was Indiscreet is a 1947 American comedy film, the only movie directed by playwright, theatrical director/producer, humorist, and drama critic George S. Kaufman. Produced by Universal Pictures it starred William Powell as a dim-witted U.S. senator who decides to run for president, with Ella Raines as a reporter interested in the detailed diary he has kept about all the political misdeeds of his colleagues. Powell won the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor for his performances in this film and in Life with Father.

<i>Three Sailors and a Girl</i> 1953 film by Roy Del Ruth

Three Sailors and a Girl is a 1953 American Technicolor musical film made by Warner Bros. It was directed by Roy Del Ruth and written by Devery Freeman and Roland Kibbee, based on the George S. Kaufman play The Butter and Egg Man. Ray Heindorf was the musical director, with orchestrations by Gus Levene, and vocal arrangements by Norman Luboff. Choreography was by LeRoy Prinz.

<i>The Big Show</i> (1936 film) 1936 film by Joseph Kane, Mack V. Wright

The Big Show is a 1936 American Western musical film directed by Mack V. Wright and starring Gene Autry, Kay Hughes, and Smiley Burnette. Written by Dorrell and Stuart E. McGowan, the film is about a singing cowboy who confuses two girls by being himself and his own stunt double at the Texas Centennial in Dallas. Roy Rogers appears in the film as one of the Sons of the Pioneers.

Hollywood Without Make-Up is a 1963 American film produced by Ken Murray and directed by Rudy Behlmer, Loring d'Usseau and Ken Murray (uncredited).

An Angel from Texas is a 1940 comedy film directed by Ray Enright and written by Fred Niblo Jr. and Bertram Millhauser, based on the hit 1925 play The Butter and Egg Man written by George S. Kaufman. The film stars Eddie Albert, Rosemary Lane, Wayne Morris, Ronald Reagan and Jane Wyman. It was released by Warner Bros. on April 27, 1940.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sam Hardy (actor)</span> American actor (1883–1935)

Samuel B. Hardy was an American stage and film actor who appeared in feature films during the silent and early sound eras.

<i>The Baby Cyclone</i> 1928 film

The Baby Cyclone is a lost 1928 American synchronized sound comedy film directed by A. Edward Sutherland and based upon the 1927 play by George M. Cohan, adapted for the screen by F. Hugh Herbert and Robert E. Hopkins. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized musical score with sound effects using the sound-on-film Western Electric Sound System process. The film stars Lew Cody, Aileen Pringle, Robert Armstrong, Gwen Lee and Nora Cecil. The film was released on September 27, 1928, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

<i>I Love That Man</i> 1933 film

I Love That Man is a 1933 American pre-Code drama film directed by Harry Joe Brown and written by C. Graham Baker, Casey Robinson and Gene Towne. The film stars Edmund Lowe, Nancy Carroll, Robert Armstrong, Lew Cody, Warren Hymer, Grant Mitchell and Dorothy Burgess. The film was released on June 9, 1933, by Paramount Pictures.

<i>You Said a Mouthful</i> 1932 film

You Said a Mouthful is a 1932 American pre-Code comedy film directed by Lloyd Bacon and written by Robert Lord and Bolton Mallory. The film stars Joe E. Brown, Ginger Rogers, Preston Foster, Allen Hoskins, Harry Gribbon, Edwin Maxwell and Sheila Terry. The film was released by Warner Bros. on December 8, 1932.

<i>The Butter and Egg Man</i> 1925 play by George S. Kaufman

The Butter and Egg Man is a 1925 play by George S. Kaufman, the only play he wrote without collaborating. It was a Broadway hit during the 1925–26 season at the Longacre Theatre. Adapted to film six times, it is still performed on stages today.

<i>The Butter and Egg Man</i> (1928 film) 1928 American silent film

The Butter and Egg Man is a 1928 American silent comedy film directed by Richard Wallace and starring Jack Mulhall, Greta Nissen, and Sam Hardy. It is based on the 1925 play The Butter and Egg Man. It was remade by the studio's successor company Warner Brothers as a sound film Hello, Sweetheart in 1935.

<i>The Unwritten Law</i> (1932 film) 1932 US film directed by Christy Cabanne

The Unwritten Law is a 1932 American pre-Code mystery film directed by Christy Cabanne and starring Greta Nissen, Richard "Skeets" Gallagher, and Mary Brian. It was distributed by the independent Majestic Pictures.

References

  1. "The Tenderfoot (1932) - Overview". TCM.com. Retrieved August 14, 2015.
  2. Hall, Mordaunt (May 23, 1932). "Movie Review - The Tenderfoot - Joe E. Brown in a Boisterous Film Conception of the Stage Comedy, "The Butter and Egg Man."". The New York Times . Retrieved August 14, 2015.
  3. "The Tenderfoot (1932) - Articles - TCM.com". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved November 27, 2017.