A Night at Earl Carroll's
Cast & Crew
Kurt Neumann
Ken Murray
Rose Hobart
Blanche Stewart
Elvia Allman
J. Carroll Naish
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Mayor John Jones of Hollywood hosts a benefit for California mayors at Earl Carroll's nightclub, which features the "most beautiful girls in the world" in its nightly show. Jones's recent attempts to rid Hollywood of illegal gambling by putting pressure on gangster Steve Kalkus have increased his political clout in California. Jones hopes that by the end of the evening, the state's mayors will be ready to back a state-wide referendum to fight crime. Kalkus attends the gala, however, boldly introducing himself to Jones's colleagues. Kalkus' men then kidnap Carroll and the show's principals in order to spoil Jones's tribute. Meanwhile, Barney Nelson, Carroll's publicity man, who is engaged to Carroll's assistant, Ramona Lisa, has invited the unsophisticated and homely Brenda and Cobina Gusher, daughters of an Oklahoma oil tycoon, to the gala. Barney hopes the sisters will back a chain of Earl Carroll nightclubs across the country. Although Kalkus is sure the guests will demand their money back when the show collapses, Ramona appoints Barney master of ceremonies and improvises an entire first act using the chorus of beautiful girls as backup. Meanwhile, the kidnapped entertainers perform for the gangsters, and when the jugglers take center stage, they beat the thugs with their pins at Carroll's command and escape. Back at the nightclub, Barney stages a "Patty Cake" contest between the chorus girls and men in the audience. The two male winners get to kiss the two most beautiful girls in the world, but Brenda and Cobina insist that the men kiss them and chase them around the set. During the Conga dance, Carroll and his entertainers return and the evening is a success. The police arrest Kalkus, and the Gusher sisters sign a check for Barney, but stipulate that they want to kiss the winners in every Patty Cake contest. Finally a financial success, Barney sets a date to marry Ramona.
Director
Kurt Neumann
Cast
Ken Murray
Rose Hobart
Blanche Stewart
Elvia Allman
J. Carroll Naish
Russell Hicks
Jack Norton
John Laird
Ruth Rogers
Betty Mclaughlin
Beryl Wallace
John Harmon
Ray Walker
William Davidson
Forbes Murray
Ralph Emerson
Allan Cavan
George Mckay
George Meeker
Mary Lou Cook
Vera Lewis
Florine Mckinney
Truman Bradley
Sterner Sisters
The Three Normans
Lillian Cornell
Lela Moore
Billy Gilbert
Earl Carroll
Sam Ash
Kay Sutton
Wanda Mckay
Jean Phillips
Emory Parnell
Grace Hayle
Michael Vallon
Roger Laswell
Mitchell Ingraham
Scott Seaton
Ed Le Saint
Richard Elliott
William Brady
Mack Gray
Frank Moran
George Magrill
Lolita
Ardo
Helen Williams
Jean Tighe
Mary Currier
Ella Neal
Belle Mitchell
Bobby Barber
Joey Ray
Robert Bromley
Crew
Earl Carroll
Earl Carroll
Dorcas Cochran
Hans Dreier
Frederick Hollander
Don Johnson
William Lebaron
Joseph Lefert
Frank Loesser
Alma Macrorie
Nilo Menendez
Harry Mills
Eddie Moran
Gertrude Niesen
Robert Odell
Troy Sanders
Howard Snyder
Lynn Starling
Irvin Talbot
Leo Tover
Hugh Wedlock Jr.
Victor Young
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
In the opening credits, the well-known radio personalities Brenda and Cobina Gusher, a comedy team featured on Bob Hope's radio show, are listed simply as "Brenda Gusher" and "Cobina Gusher," rather than as Blanche Stewart and Elvia Allman, the actresses who portrayed those characters on radio and in the film. In the end credits, however, Stewart and Allman are listed, but their character names are not. Although Billy Gilbert is listed in the opening credits, his name was excluded from the closing credits. According to news items in the Hollywood Reporter, this picture was scheduled to go into production in February 1940 with Mel Epstein acting as assistant director, Arthur Franklin as music advisor and Charles Hisserich and Eugene Merritt as sound mixers. It did not go into production, however, until April, when it utilized a different crew. This picture marked the first screen appearance of Earl Carroll, the proprietor of a popular theater restaurant in Hollywood, and except for three or four scenes, the picture was filmed entirely on location at Carroll's nightclub using an extra-fast film to compensate for the low lighting.
