Whoopee! (film)

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Whoopee
Whoppee4ED6.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Thornton Freeland
Written by William M. Conselman
E.J. Rath (story)
Robert Hobart Davis (story)
Owen Davis (play)
William Anthony McGuire (musical)
Produced by Samuel Goldwyn
Florenz Ziegfeld
Starring Eddie Cantor
Ethel Shutta
Eleanor Hunt
Cinematography Lee Garmes
Ray Rennahan
Gregg Toland
Edited by Stuart Heisler
Music by Nacio Herb Brown
Walter Donaldson
Edward Eliscu
Color process Technicolor
Production
company
Distributed by United Artists
Release date
  • September 30, 1930 (1930-09-30)
Running time
101 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$1.3 million [1]
Box office$2,655,000 [2]

Whoopee! is a 1930 American pre-Code comedy musical Western film photographed in two-color Technicolor. It was directed by Thornton Freeland and stars Eddie Cantor, Ethel Shutta and Eleanor Hunt. The film's plot closely follows that of the 1928 stage show produced by Florenz Ziegfeld.

Contents

Plot

Sally Morgan loves an Indian named Wanenis, but her father forbids her to marry Wanenis, instead favoring sheriff Bob Wells. Just before marrying Wells, Sally decides that she loves Wanenis too much and tricks farmhand Henry Williams into helping her flee to the ranch of Jerome Underwood. Wells searches for Sally, causing trouble for the oblivious Henry.

Cast

Illustration of a scene from the film Scene from Whoopie! 1930.JPG
Illustration of a scene from the film

Production

Whoopee! made a film star of Eddie Cantor, already known for his work on the Broadway stage and as a singer. The song "My Baby Just Cares for Me" was written especially for Cantor to sing in the film and became his signature song. Bandleader George Olsen, already a well-known Victor recording artist, repeated his work from the stage version.

The film launched the Hollywood career of Busby Berkeley and was Alfred Newman's first composing job in Hollywood. Richard Day designed the sets and the cinematographer was Gregg Toland, who later found fame through his work in the films of Orson Welles. H. Bruce "Lucky" Humberstone served in an uncredited role as assistant director. [3]

Future stars Betty Grable, Paulette Goddard, Ann Sothern, Virginia Bruce and Claire Dodd appear uncredited as "Goldwyn Girls".

Awards

The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Art Direction by Richard Day. [4] [5]

See also

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References

  1. Balio, Tino (2009). United Artists: The Company Built by the Stars. University of Wisconsin Press. ISBN   978-0-299-23004-3. p. 106
  2. "WHICH CINEMA FILMS HAVE EARNED THE MOST MONEY SINCE 1914?". The Argus . Melbourne. March 4, 1944. p. 3 Supplement: The Argus Weekend magazine. Retrieved August 6, 2012 via National Library of Australia.
  3. Whoopee! (1930) - IMDb , retrieved August 29, 2021
  4. "NY Times: Whoopee!". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times . 2009. Archived from the original on December 21, 2009. Retrieved December 6, 2008.
  5. "The 4th Academy Awards (1931) Nominees and Winners". Oscars.org (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences). Archived from the original on October 10, 2014. Retrieved May 21, 2019.