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The Merry Monahans

Director: Charles Lamont (Dir) Release Date: 15 Sep 1944 Production Date: 6 Dec 1943--late Jan 1944 Duration (in mins): 90 Duration (in feet): 8,166			Print this page Display Movie Summary

Cast:	Donald O'Connor	(Jimmy Monahan)
	Peggy Ryan	(Patsy Monahan)
	Jack Oakie	(Pete Monahan)
	Ann Blyth	(Sheila DeRoyce)
	Rosemary DeCamp	(Lillian [Rice] DeRoyce)
	John Miljan	(Arnold Pembroke)
	Gavin Muir	(Weldon Laydon)
	Isabel Jewell	(Rose [Monahan])
	Ian Wolfe	(Clerk)
	Robert Homans	(Policeman)
	Marion Martin	(Soubrette)
	Lloyd Ingraham	(Judge)
	Billy Benedict	(Messenger)
	Duke Johnson	(Juggler)
	Murray Parker	(Juggler)
	Ronnie Rondell	(Strongman)
	Bobby Barber	(Strongman)
	Al Thompson	(Tramp)
	Herbert Heywood	(Doorman)
	Jimmy Bates	(Jimmy Monahan, four years old)
	Arthur Loft	(Henderson)
	Lew Wood	(Logan)
	Ray Turner	(Porter)
	Cy Ring	(Poker player)
	Jack Gardner	(Poker player)
	Harry Tyler	(Poker player)
	Harry Harvey	(News butcher)
	Eddie Bruce	(Bartender)
	Herbert Weber	(Tight wire act)
	Albert Smith	(Justice of the peace)
	Frank Penny	(Actor)
	Jack Rice	(Hammy actor)
	Andrew Tombes	(Osborne)
	Edgar Dearing	(Policeman)
	Syd Saylor	(Drunk)
	Ernie Adams	(Panhandler)
	Kernan Cripps	(Conductor)
	Matt McHugh	(Irish man)
	Patsy Moran	(Irish woman)
	Robert Emmett Keane	(Stage manager)
	Doodles Weaver	(Farmer)
	Bill Cartledge	(Newsboy)
	Al Bridge	(Man on train)
	Pearl Early
	Lew Kelly
	Robert Barron
	Emmett Vogan
	Polly Bailey
	Earle Hodgins
	Patsy O'Byrne
	Phil Dunham
	Ella Ethridge
	Nolan Leary
	Bobbie Hale
	Art Miles
	Pat Gleason

Summary:

In 1899, at the Boston Empire Theatre, vaudevillian Pete Monahan proposes to his partner, Lillian Rice and is accepted in the midst of their performance. Backstage, however, show girl Rose announces that she is already engaged to Pete, asserting that he had drunkenly proposed to her the night before. Learning of Rose's claim, Lillian leaves Pete, and he, in turn, marries Rose. Pete and Rose then form their own act, and with the addition of their son Jimmy and daughter Patsy, they become the Four Monahans. Rose later deserts her family and leaves Pete a note admitting that he never proposed to her, that he had only told her how much he loved Lillian. At the start of World War I, the Three Monahans are playing the Colonial Theater in Schenectady, New York when they are offered the headlining position at the Empire Theatre. The sentimental Pete refuses to return to Boston, so in retaliation, Henderson, the district booker, fires them from the Colonial as well. The Monahans fortunes improve, however, when a theatrical agent offers to handle their act and books them on the prestigious Keith theater circuit. On a train to Philadelphia, the now-teenaged Jimmy meets Sheila DeRoyce, Lillian's daughter. Thinking that Jimmy is merely a hobo, Sheila tells him that she and her mother are performing on the Keith circuit with famed actor Arnold Pembroke. When they meet again backstage, she learns who Jimmy really is. Pete also gets re-acquainted with the widowed Lillian, and Pembroke jealously threatens to replace the DeRoyces if Sheila continues to spend her time with Jimmy rather than rehearsing. In actuality, Pembroke is aware that the talented Sheila is the only reason that he remains on the Keith circuit. Upon arriving in San Francisco, Pete tells his children that he plans to propose to Lillian that night, only to learn later that she has just become engaged to Pembroke. The heartbroken Pete then begins drinking heavily, unaware that Lillian is marrying Pembroke only to ensure Sheila's future. After Jimmy and Patsy are forced to perform without their drunken father, Weldon Laydon, the producer of the Manhattan Follies, offers to book the brother-and-sister act, but they, unaware of who he is, refuse his offer. Later, Sheila runs away from Pembroke and her mother, and she and Jimmy decide to elope. They are stopped, however, by Lillian and Pembroke, after which Pembroke admits that his ego can no longer accept Sheila as the star of their act, and leaves. Meanwhile, an upset Pete throws a brick through a liquor store window and is sentenced to thirty days in jail. With their father in jail, Jimmy and Patsy then join the Manhattan Follies. They quit the show, however, after Weldon tells them that their father will not be allowed to join the production. Pete is released from jail just as Prohibition is passed, but having read his children's rave review in Variety , he refuses to return to the act and goes to work on the Patriotic Charities Benefit Show. Jimmy and Patsy join their father on stage, however, and when Weldon sees their performance, he agrees to book the trio. Pete and Lillian are then reunited, as are Jimmy and Sheila, and the Monahans are now a quintet.

Production Company:	Universal Pictures Company, Inc.
Distribution Company:	Universal Pictures Company, Inc.
Director:	Charles Lamont	(Dir)
	Mack Wright	(Asst dir)
Producer:	Jack Gross	(Exec prod)
	Michael Fessier	(Prod)
	Ernest Pagano	(Prod)
Writer:	Michael Fessier	(Orig scr)
	Ernest Pagano	(Orig scr)
Photography:	Charles Van Enger	(Dir of photog)
Art Direction:	John B. Goodman	(Art dir)
	Martin Obzina	(Art dir)
Film Editor:	Charles Maynard	(Film ed)
Set Decoration:	Russell A. Gausman	(Set dec)
	Leigh Smith	(Set dec)
Costumes:	Vera West	(Gowns)
Music:	Hans J. Salter	(Mus dir)
Sound:	Bernard B. Brown	(Dir of sd)
	Charles Carroll	([Sd] tech)
Special Effects:	John P. Fulton	(Spec photog)
Dance:	Louis Da Pron	(Dance dir)
	Carlos Romero	(Dance dir)
Country:	United States

Music:	"Old Folks at Home" by Stephen Foster; "Pop Goes the Weasel," traditional.
Songs:	"Lovely," "Beautiful to Look At," "We're Having a Wonderful Time," "Stop Foolin'" and "Impersonations," music by Don George, lyrics by Irving Bibo; "I Hate to Lose You," music by Archie Gottler, lyrics by Grant Clarke; "Rockabye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody," music by Jean Schwartz, lyrics by Sam M. Lewis and Joe Young; "In My Merry Oldsmobile," music and lyrics by Vincent P. Bryan and Gus Edwards; "Isle d'Amour," music and lyrics by Earl Carroll and Leo Edwards; "What Do You Want to Make Those Eyes at Me For?" music and lyrics by Howard Johnson, Joseph McCarthy and James V. Monaco; "Rose Room," music and lyrics by Harry Williams and Art Hickman; "When You Wore a Tulip and I Wore a Big Red Rose," music by Percy Wenrich, lyrics by Jack Mahoney; "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows," music and lyrics by Joseph McCarthy and Harry Carroll; "Missouri Waltz," music and lyrics by J. R. Shannon and Frederick Knight Logan; "Some of These Days," music and lyrics by Shelton Brooks; "Carry Me Back to Old Virginny," music and lyrics by James Bland; "Ta-Ra-Ra-Bom-Der-E," music and lyrics by Henry J. Sayers; "I Love You, California," music and lyrics by F. B. Silverwood and A. F. Frankenstein.
Composer:	Jack Mahoney
	Irving Bibo
	James Bland
	Shelton Brooks
	Vincent P. Bryan
	Earl Carroll
	Harry Carroll
	Grant Clarke
	Gus Edwards
	Leo Edwards
	Stephen Foster
	A. F. Frankenstein
	Don George
	Archie Gottler
	Art Hickman
	Howard Johnson
	Sam M. Lewis
	Frederick Knight Logan
	Joseph McCarthy
	James V. Monaco
	Henry J. Sayers
	Jean Schwartz
	J. R. Shannon
	F. B. Silverwood
	Percy Wenrich
	Harry Williams
	Joe Young

Copyright Claimant	Copyright Date	Copyright Number
Universal Pictures Co., Inc.	28/7/1944 dd/mm/yyyy	LP12878

PCA NO:	9983
Physical Properties:	b&w:
	Sd:	Western Electric Recording


Genre:	Musical comedy
Sub-Genre:	Show business

Subjects (Major):	Brothers and sisters
	Family relationships
	Fatherhood
	Romance
	Unrequited love
	Vaudevillians
	Youth

Subjects (Minor):	Actors and actresses
	Bars
	Boston (MA)
	Chorus girls
	Dancers
	Deception
	Drunkenness
	Elopement
	Engagements
	Irish Americans
	Jealousy
	Judges
	Mothers and daughters
	Philadelphia (PA)
	Police
	Proposals (Marital)
	Racial impersonation
	Rehearsals
	Romantic rivalry
	San Francisco (CA)
	Show girls
	Singers
	Theatrical agents
	Telegrams
	Trains
	Trials
	Variety (Newspaper)
	Weddings
	Widows
	World War I

Note:	According to HR , this film had the largest budget to date of any picture starring actor Donald O'Connor. In Sep 1943, HR announced Frank Ryan as the director of the film, with principal photography scheduled to begin on 11 Oct 1943. Ryan, however, was replaced by Charles Lamont, and shooting did not commence until 6 Dec 1943. During one production number in the film, actress Peggy Ryan does an impersonation of singer Sophie Tucker while singing Tucker's trademark song "Some of These Days." Donald O'Connor, in turn, does an impersonation of Al Jolson singing "Rockabye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody." According to Universal press materials, O'Connor was originally scheduled to do his Jolson impersonation in blackface to the melody "Mammy," with words and music by Sam M. Lewis, Walter Young and Walter Donaldson. A HR news item stated that actor Sidney Blackmer was to play a featured role in this film, but he did not appear in the film. HR production charts included Billy Curtis in the cast, but his participation in the released film has not been confirmed. According to HR , the radio program Double or Nothing dedicated its 15 Sep 1944 broadcast to this film. Hans J. Salter was nominated for an Academy Award for his music score, but lost to Carmen Dragon and Morris Stoloff's Cover Girl score (see entry above).

Bibliographic Sources:	Date	Page
Box Office	26 Aug 1944.
Daily Variety	16 Aug 44	p. 3.
Film Daily	24 Aug 44	p. 7.
Hollywood Reporter	26 Aug 43	p. 6.
Hollywood Reporter	2 Sep 43	p. 1.
Hollywood Reporter	7 Sep 43	p. 3.
Hollywood Reporter	30 Nov 43	p. 7.
Hollywood Reporter	1 Dec 43	p. 7.
Hollywood Reporter	17 Dec 43	p. 11.
Hollywood Reporter	24 Dec 43	p. 9.
Hollywood Reporter	16 Aug 44	p. 3.
Hollywood Reporter	7 Sep 44	p. 8.
Motion Picture Herald Product Digest	4 Mar 44	p. 1786.
Motion Picture Herald Product Digest	19 Aug 44	p. 2053.
New York Times	13 Oct 44	p. 16.
Time	16 Oct 1944.
Variety	16 Aug 44	p. 16.

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The American Film Institute is grateful to Sir Paul Getty KBE and the Sir Paul Getty KBE Estate for their dedication to the art of the moving image and their support for the AFI Catalog of Feature Films and without whose support AFI would not have been able to achieve this historical landmark in this epic scholarly endeavor.



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