The RKO musical comedy Ding Dong Williams (1946) stars Glenn Vernon (1923-1999) in the title role as a clarinet-playing bandleader hired by a motion picture studio to write a bluesy score for an upcoming film.

Ding Dong is almost sacked when it is discovered that he cannot read nor write music. But a studio secretary (Marcy McGuire) comes up with a plan whereby two professional arrangers will transcribe the bandleader's music. The arrangers soon discover that Ding Dong's playing changes with his every mood swing -- so they plot to keep him in a "blue" mood until the score is complete.

Songs include "Cool Water," written by Bob Nolan and performed by Nolan and the Sons of the Pioneers; and two tunes by Jimmy McHugh and Harold Adamson: "I Saw You First" and "Candlelight and Wine."

Vernon (more often credited as Glen Vernon) enjoyed a long career on the stage and in television and movies. He remained active through the 1990s, with appearances in films such as So I Married an Axe Murderer (1993). McGuire, in films from the age of 16, showed an aptitude for both music and comedy in several films before retiring in 1952. One of her more memorable moments onscreen came when she swooned at Frank Sinatra's feet in Higher and Higher (1943).

Producer: Herman Schlom, Sid Rogell (Executive producer)
Director: William Berke
Screenplay: M. Coates Webster and Brenda Weisberg, from magazine stories by Richard English
Cinematography: Frank Redman
Art Direction: Lucius Croxton, Albert D'Agostino
Original Music: Harold Adamson, Jimmy McHugh, Bob Nolan (all uncredited)
Editing: Les Millbrook
Principal Cast: Glenn Vernon (Ding Dong Williams), Marcy McGuire (Angela Jones), Felix Bressart (Hugo Meyerhold), Anne Jeffreys (Vanessa Page), James Warren (Steve Moore).
BW-62m.

by Roger Fristoe