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The Big Broadcast of 1938

Director: Mitchell Leisen (Dir) Release Date: 18 Feb 1938 Production Date: mid-Sep--early Dec 1937 Duration (in mins): 88, 90 or 97 Duration (in feet): 8,152 Duration (in reels): 10			Print this page Display Movie Summary

Cast:		W. C. Fields	(T. Frothingill Bellows/S. B. Bellows)
		Martha Raye	(Martha Bellows)
		Dorothy Lamour	(Dorothy Wyndham)
		Shirley Ross	(Cleo Fielding)
		Lynne Overman	(Scoop McPhail)
		Bob Hope	(Buzz Fielding)
		Ben Blue	(Mike)
		Leif Erikson	(Bob Hayes)
		Patricia Wilder	(Honey Chile)
		Grace Bradley	(Grace Fielding)
		Rufe Davis	(Turnkey)
		Lionel Pape	(Lord Droopy)
		Dorothy Howe	(Joan Fielding)
		Russell Hicks	(Captain Stafford)
	Specialties:	Kirsten Flagstad Metropolitan Opera Co.
		Wilfred Pelletier Metropolitan Opera Co.	(Conductor)
		Shep Fields and his Rippling Rhythm Orchestra
		Archie Twitchell	(Steward)
		James Craig	(Steward)
		Richard Denning	(Officer)
		Michael Brooke	(Officer)
		Jack Hubbard	(Officer)
		Bill Roberts	(Officer)
		Clive Morgan	(Officer)
		John Huettner	(Officer)
		Bruce Wyndham	(Officer)
		Kenneth Swartz	(Officer)
		Edgar Norton	(Secretary to T. F. Bellows)
		Stanley King	(Chauffeur)
		Rex Moore	(Caddy)
		Bernard Punsley	(Caddy)
		Don Marion	(Caddy)
		Billy Daniels	(Page boy)
		James Conlin	(Reporter)
		Sherry Hall	(Second reporter)
		James Burtis	(Third reporter)
		Jack Dougherty	(Guard)
		Rudolph Amendt	(Bartender)
		Tiny Newland	(Member of Black gang)
		Harry Wilson	(Member of Black gang)
		Irving Bacon	(Prisoner, harmonica player)
		Wally Maher	(Court clerk)
		Muriel Barr	(Showgirl)
		Sheila Darcy	(Haughty girl)
		Ray Hanford	(Pilot)
		Don Brodie	(Radio operator)
		Frank Du Frane	(Radio operator)
		Mae Busch	(Chaperone)
		Jerry Fletcher	(First gas station attendant)
		Robert Allen	(Second gas station attendant)
		Auguste Tollaire	(First official)
		Charles Millsfield Sr.	(Second official)
		Charles Teske	(Adagio dancer)
		Jack Dawson	(Adagio dancer)
		Ted Meredith	(Adagio dancer)
		Pete Theodore Rand	(Adagio dancer)
		Edward Cutler	(Adagio dancer)
		Ted O'Shea	(Adagio dancer)
		John Jennings	(Adagio dancer)
		Harvey Karels	(Adagio dancer)
		Gus Glassmire
		Lal Chand Mehra
		Mary MacLaren
		Florence Wix
		Carol Holloway
		Gertrude Astor
		Nell Craig
		Ethel Clayton
		Gloria Williams
		Marion Weldon
		Yvonne Duval
		Dorothy Dayton
		Gwen Kenyon
		Norah Gale
		Harriette Haddon
		Joyce Mathews
		Virginia Pound
		Suzanne Ridgway
		Dorothy White
		Helaine Moler
		Paula De Cardo

Summary:

Radio announcer Buzz Fielding's girl friend, Dorothy Wyndham, bails him out of jail, where he landed after skipping alimony payments to his three ex-wives, in time to board the S. S. Gigantic for the race against the S. S. Colossal , to cross from New York to Cherbourg in two and a half days. T. Frothingill Bellows, president of the line that owns the Gigantic , buys his accident-prone brother S. B. a ticket on the Colossal . S. B. delays boarding with a vigorous round of golf, using a motorized cart that turns into a small plane which he eventually uses to land on the deck of the Gigantic . The ship is equipped with a special turbine engine invented by Bob Hayes, but S. B. breaks it with his umbrella and then refuses to allow its use, causing the ship to fall behind in the race. Dorothy and Bob fall in love while he fixes the engine. Buzz announces the ship's entertainment in radio broadcasts, while he and his three ex-wives, eager for their alimony, anticipate winning the race and $50,000. Grace, one of Buzz's ex-wives, diverts S. B.'s attentions from Bob while he fixes the engine. Cleo, another ex-wife, reminisces with Buzz, and they slowly rekindle their love. S. B.'s daughter Martha, also accident-prone, is rescued at sea and wreaks havoc aboard the ship. Finally, Buzz fixes the engine and the Gigantic speeds ahead, at one point with S. B. at the helm. They win the race by a nose, and Buzz and Cleo happily reunite, leaving Dorothy and Bob free to continue their romance.

Production Company:	Paramount Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company:	Paramount Pictures, Inc.
Director:	Mitchell Leisen	(Dir)
	Edgar Anderson	(Asst dir)
Producer:	Adolph Zukor	(Pres)
	Harlan Thompson	(Prod)
	William LeBaron	(Exec prod)
Writer:	Walter DeLeon	(Scr)
	Francis Martin	(Scr)
	Ken Englund	(Scr)
	Frederick Hazlitt Brennan	(Story)
	Howard Lindsay	(Adpt)
	Russel Crouse	(Adpt)
	W. C. Fields	(Contr wrt)
Photography:	Harry Fischbeck	(Photog)
Art Direction:	Hans Dreier	(Art dir)
	Ernst Fegté	(Art dir)
Film Editor:	Eda Warren	(Ed)
	Chandler House	(Ed)
Set Decoration:	A. E. Freudeman	(Int dec)
Costumes:	Edith Head	(Cost)
Music:	Boris Morros	(Mus dir)
	Arthur Franklin	(Music adv)
Sound:	Gene Merritt	(Sd rec)
	Don Johnson	(Sd rec)
	Charles Althouse	(Sd rec)
Special Effects:	Gordon Jennings	(Spec photog eff)
Dance:	LeRoy Prinz	(Dances staged by)
Animation:	Leon Schlesinger	(Cartoon seq)
Country:	United States

Songs:	"Brunnhilde's Battle Cry" from the opera Die Walküre , music and libretto by Richard Wagner; "Zuni-Zuni," music and lyrics by Tito Guizar; "Don't Tell a Secret to a Rose," "You Took the Words Right Out of My Heart," "Mama, That Moon Is Here Again," "Thanks for the Memory," "The Waltz Lives On" and "This Little Ripple Had Rhythm," music and lyrics by Ralph Rainger and Leo Robin.
Composer:	Tito Guizar
	Ralph Rainger
	Leo Robin
	Richard Wagner

Copyright Claimant	Copyright Date	Copyright Number	Passed By NBR:
Paramount Pictures, Inc.	18/2/1938 dd/mm/yyyy	LP7843	Yes

PCA NO:	3813
Physical Properties:	b&w:
	Sd:	Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording


Genre:	Musical comedy

Subjects (Major):	Boatracing
	Bumblers
	Ex-spouses
	Musical revues
	Radio announcers
	Radio broadcasting
	Ships

Subjects (Minor):	Alimony
	Billiards and billiard parlors
	Brothers
	Comedians
	Explosions
	Gas stations
	Golf and golfers
	Jails
	Mirrors
	Opera
	Rescues
	Reunions
	Ship crews

Note:	Included in the Paramount story files at the AMPAS library are an early story outline by Frederick Hazlitt Brennan casting Jack Benny in the lead role; a story outline by J. P. McEvoy; and five sequences written by W. C. Fields, titled "Gas station routine," "Golf routine," "Barber shop routine," "Pool room routine" and "Orchestra routine." McEvoy did not receive final writing credit. The film marked the feaure-film debut of Bob Hope (1903--2003) and the last of Paramount's Big Broadcast series. According to an article in NYT , this was Fields's first role following a long illness. The sequence in which Kirsten Flagstad appears was filmed at the Eastern Service Studios at Astoria, Long Island, while the rest of the film continued production in Hollywood. According to a NYT article, the elephant number in this film bent the stage so that it was unusable. In his biography, Mitchell Leisen stated that he made a direct recording on the first take of the song "Thanks for the Memory," which was sung by Hope and Shirley Ross, accompanied by a 90-piece orchestra. The tune, which became Hope's theme song, won the 1938 Academy Award for Best Song. Leisen credited Ted Reed with directing Fields's golf and pool routines. Leisen stated that he had his first heart attack on the final night of shooting. For more information on the series, see the entry for The Big Broadcast above.

Bibliographic Sources:	Date	Page
Daily Variety	8 Feb 38	p. 3.
Film Daily	11 Feb 38	pp. 12-14.
Hollywood Reporter	13 Sep 37	pp. 18-19.
Hollywood Reporter	29 Nov 37	pp. 10-11.
Motion Picture Daily	9 Feb 38	p. 4.
Motion Picture Herald	20 Nov 37	pp. 14-15.
New York Times	10 Mar 38	p. 16.
Motion Picture Herald	12 Feb 38	p. 46.
Variety	9 Feb 38	p. 14.

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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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