Too Many Girls | |
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Directed by | George Abbott |
Screenplay by | John Twist |
Based on | Too Many Girls 1939 musical by George Marion Jr., Richard Rodgers, and Lorenz Hart |
Produced by | George Abbott [1] |
Starring | Lucille Ball Richard Carlson Ann Miller Eddie Bracken Frances Langford Desi Arnaz Hal Le Roy |
Cinematography | Frank Redman |
Edited by | William Hamilton |
Music by | George Bassman Songs: Richard Rodgers (music) Lorenz Hart (lyrics) |
Production company | |
Distributed by | RKO Radio Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 85 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Too Many Girls is a 1940 American musical comedy film directed by George Abbott, who had also directed the hit Broadway musical on which it was based, which ran for 249 performances. [2] [3] The film's screenplay is by John Twist, and it stars Lucille Ball, Richard Carlson, Ann Miller, Eddie Bracken, Frances Langford, Desi Arnaz and Hal Le Roy. It was released on October 8, 1940, by RKO Pictures. [4] [5] [6] Both Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball credited the production for bringing them together. They married on November 30, 1940, less than two months after the film's release.
Connie Casey (Lucille Ball), an energetic celebrity heiress, wants to go to Pottawatomie College in Stop Gap, New Mexico, her father's alma mater, to be near her latest beau, British playwright Beverly Waverly (Douglas Walton). To protect her, and without her knowledge, her tycoon father (Harry Shannon) sends four Ivy League football players as her bodyguards, Clint Kelly (Richard Carlson), Jojo Jordan (Eddie Bracken), Manuelito (Desi Arnaz) and Al Terwilliger (Hal Le Roy), who sign a contract with an "anti-romance" clause.
The college is in bad financial straits and the bodyguards use their salaries to help the college. They also join the college's terrible football team, which immediately becomes one of the best in the country. Clint falls in love with Connie, but when she discovers he is her bodyguard, she decides to go back East. The bodyguards follow her, leaving the team in the lurch. The people of Stop Gap go after them, and they are brought back just in time for the big game. Connie declares her love for Clint, and he leads the team to victory.
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Cast notes:
RKO paid $100,000 for the rights to the Broadway musical. Filming on Too Many Girls began on June 22, 1940.
The songs in Too Many Girls were all written by Richard Rodgers, who composed the music, and Lorenz Hart, who wrote the lyrics. The songs are: [1]
All the songs also appeared in the Broadway musical, except for "You're Nearer". Songs that were used in the stage musical and not used in the film were "Tempt Me Not", "My Prince", "I Like to Recognize the Tune", "The Sweethearts of the Team", "She Could Shake the Maracas", "Too Many Girls", and "Give it Back to the Indians". [7]
Bosley Crowther of The New York Times wrote that Too Many Girls was a "pleasant, light-hearted and wholly ingenuous campus film" but that director George Abbot "has permitted it to sag in the middle, at which point the thin spots baldly show." He complained that some of the dance numbers looked dark and gloomy. "If the intention was to be impressive, it has failed. For 'Too Many Girls' is a simple, conventional rah-rah picture, without any place for pretense. And there is not enough to it, on the whole, for Mr. Abbott to squander dancers recklessly." [5]
Desiderio Alberto Arnaz y de Acha III was a Cuban-born American actor, bandleader, and film and television producer. He played Ricky Ricardo on the American television sitcom I Love Lucy, in which he co-starred with his then-wife Lucille Ball. Arnaz and Ball are credited as the innovators of the syndicated rerun, which they pioneered with the I Love Lucy series.
Eve Arden was an American film, radio, stage and television actress. She performed in leading and supporting roles for nearly six decades.
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William Clement Frawley was an American vaudevillian and actor best remembered for playing landlord Fred Mertz in the American television sitcom I Love Lucy, "Bub" O'Casey in the television comedy series My Three Sons, and the political advisor to the judge character in the film Miracle on 34th Street.
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Vivian Vance was an American actress and singer best known for playing Ethel Mertz on the sitcom I Love Lucy (1951–1957), for which she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress, among other accolades. She also starred alongside Lucille Ball in The Lucy Show from 1962 until she left the series at the end of its third season in 1965. In 1991, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She is most commonly identified as Lucille Ball’s longtime comedic foil from 1951 until her death in 1979.
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Desiderio Alberto Arnaz IV, known professionally as Desi Arnaz Jr., is a retired American actor and musician. He is the son of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz.
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Too Many Girls is a Broadway musical comedy which was adapted for a 1940 film version starring Lucille Ball. The original Broadway production is noteworthy for advancing the career of musician Desi Arnaz. The music was composed by Richard Rodgers, the lyrics by Lorenz Hart, and the book was by George Marion, Jr.
"I Like to Recognize the Tune" is an American popular song written by composer Richard Rodgers and lyricist Lorenz Hart. The song was introduced by Eddie Bracken, Marcy Wescott, Mary Jane Walsh, Richard Kollmar and Hal Le Roy in the 1939 Broadway musical Too Many Girls.
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Lucille Désirée Ball was an American actress, comedian, and producer. She was nominated for 13 Primetime Emmy Awards, winning five times, and was the recipient of several other accolades, such as the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award and two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She earned many honors, including the Women in Film Crystal Award, an induction into the Television Hall of Fame, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Kennedy Center Honors, and the Governors Award from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.
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