Varsity Show (film)
| Varsity Show | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | William Keighley |
| Screenplay by | Jerry Wald Sig Herzig Warren Duff |
| Story by | Warren Duff Sig Herzig |
| Starring | Dick Powell Fred Waring and Waring's Pennsylvanians Ted Healy Priscilla Lane |
| Cinematography | Sol Polito George Barnes (finale) |
| Edited by | George Amy |
| Music by | Ray Heindorf (uncredited) Heinz Roemheld (uncredited) |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
Release date |
|
Running time | 121 min. (original release) 80 min. (edited release) |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Varsity Show is a 1937 American musical film directed by William Keighley from a script by Jerry Wald, Richard Macaulay, Warren Duff and Sig Herzig and starring Dick Powell, Fred Waring and Waring's Pennsylvanians, Ted Healy, and Priscilla Lane. Released by Warner Bros., it features songs by Richard A. Whiting and many others. The finale was directed by Busby Berkeley.
Plot[]
The film follows a group of students at fictional Winfield College who butt heads with their faculty advisor while producing an annual stage show. They decide to enlist help from a former student Chuck Daly (Dick Powell), who is now a big Broadway producer, to direct their show. What they don't know is that Daly's last three shows were big flops. Inevitably, Daly and students clash with the stodgy professor. After some turn of events and plot twists, the production is finally mounted in New York City with great success. Daly's reputation is rehabilitated.
Cast[]
- Dick Powell as Charles 'Chuck' Daly
- Fred Waring and His Pennsylvanians as Fred Waring Orchestra
- Ted Healy as William Williams
- Rosemary Lane as Barbara 'Babs' Steward
- Priscilla Lane as Betty Bradley
- Walter Catlett as Professor Sylvester Biddle
- Johnnie Davis as Buzz Bolton
- Ford Washington Lee as Buck
- John William Sublett as Bubbles
- Fred Waring as Ernie Mason
- Sterling Holloway as Trout
- Mabel Todd as Cuddles
- Scotty Bates as Scotty
- George MacFarland as Hap
- Poley McClintock as Poley
Production[]
In 1937, Fred Waring was approached to play a starring role in this film. He brought his famous glee club, the Pennsylvanians, to the shoot and planned on using the college glee club from Pomona College ("Winfield College" in the movie) for additional singers. When Waring arrived at the campus he found the Glee Club conductor was ill but his replacement was Robert Shaw. Shaw followed Fred Waring, after the movie was finished, to New York. There, Shaw founded the Collegiate Chorale and the Robert Shaw Chorale. Robert Shaw went on to be one of the most important personalities in American choral music in the 20th century.
External links[]
- Varsity Show at IMDb
- Varsity Show at AllMovie
- Varsity Show at the TCM Movie Database
- Varsity Show at the American Film Institute Catalog
Bibliography[]
- Green, Stanley (1999) Hollywood Musicals Year by Year (2nd ed.), pub. Hal Leonard Corporation ISBN 0-634-00765-3 page 72
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- 1937 films
- English-language films
- 1937 musical films
- American films
- American black-and-white films
- American musical films
- Films directed by William Keighley
- Films scored by Ray Heindorf
- Films scored by Heinz Roemheld
- Films set in universities and colleges
- Warner Bros. films
- Musical film stubs