Tag Archives: Burns and Allen

Musical Monday: The Big Broadcast of 1937 (1936)

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It’s no secret that the Hollywood Comet loves musicals.
In 2010, I revealed I had seen 400 movie musicals over the course of eight years. Now that number is over 600. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

This week’s musical:
The Big Broadcast of 1937 (1936) – Musical #526

Studio:
Paramount Pictures

Director:
Mitchell Leisen

Starring:
Jack Benny, George Burns, Gracie Allen, Bob Burns, Martha Raye, Shirley Ross, Frank Forrest, Don Hulbert, Virginia Weidler (uncredited)
Themselves: Leopold Stokowski, Benny Goodman and His Orchestra, Benny Fields

Plot:
Jack Carson (Benny) produces a radio show and is working to get Mr. and Mrs. Platt (Burns and Allen) to sponsor the show with their golf ball product. In the midst of signing their sponsorship, Jack discovers radio deejay Gwen Holmes (Ross), who sings along to his star singer, Frank Rossman (Forrest), and ribs his singing. Jack is not too pleased, and hires Gwen to keep her off of the radio, and publicity man, Bob Miller (Milland), woos her. However, they find that Gwen actually is a great singer and she quickly rises to fame.

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Musical Monday: College Humor (1933)

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It’s no secret that the Hollywood Comet loves musicals.
In 2010, I revealed I had seen 400 movie musicals over the course of eight years. Now that number is over 600. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

This week’s musical:
College Humor (1933) – Musical #612

Studio: Paramount Pictures

Director: Wesley Ruggles

Starring:
Bing Crosby, Jack Oakie, Richard Arlen, Mary Carlisle, George Burns, Gracie Allen, Mary Kornman, Joe Sawyer, Lona Andre, Grady Sutton, Jimmy Conlin, James Burke, Bruce Bennett (uncredited), Dennis O’Keefe (uncredited), Marjorie Reynolds (uncredited), Frank Jenks (uncredited)

Plot:
The film follows Barney Shirrel (Oakie) who starts at his freshman year at MidWest University. His roommates are gruff Tex (Sawyer) and Mondrake (Arlen), who drinks too much. Professor Frederick Danvers (Crosby) is an alumnus of MidWest and now teaches there as a popular music professor. Barney is initiated into a fraternity and joins the football team, paying less attention to Amber (Kornman). Barney’s sister Barbara Shirrel (Carlisle) starts at the college the following term, and while she is dating Mondrake, she falls in love with Prof. Danvers. This causes Mondrake to drink more, getting him kicked off the football team so that the school is at risk of losing the big game.

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