Vision6800 Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 Thank you TCM for running this wonderful film last night. REALLY funny. Hope you put it into the regular rotation and it is released on DVD. It's too good to be hidden; let's see more Eddie Cantor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TopBilled Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 I thought the print quality was not so good. I do not enjoy watching images on screen that are so faded it's hard to see the details in the composition of the frame. The picture is in need of restoration (if this is the best available print). But I do agree that Cantor is a treasure, and TCM does broadcast some of his other films from time to time that do seem to have clearer, sharper images. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownGoesFrazier Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 ...but this film is Exhibit A for what a "dated" film is, and Eddie Cantor is Exhibit A for a comedian who belongs in a decade no later than the 1930s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dargo2 Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 And thus why Eddie would re-invent himself later on as Richard Whorf! (...never saw both of 'em in the same place at the same time, now did ya?!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vision6800 Posted January 14, 2014 Author Share Posted January 14, 2014 ...but this film is Exhibit A for what a "dated" film is, and Eddie Cantor is Exhibit A for a comedian who belongs in a decade no later than the 1930s. If you believe classic films are dated, why watch TCM? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownGoesFrazier Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 If someone can name me a post-1970 comedian who has listed Eddie Cantor as an inspiration, I'm all ears.............I also wonder how much comic influence Parkyakarkus had on his two sons, Albert Brooks and Bob Einstein. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dargo2 Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 I actually thought your earlier observation about Eddie's 'dated-ness' was spot-on, finance. Yep, I too think "Ol' Banjo Eyes"'s shtick could be consigned to an era he shared with a contemporary and friend(and fellow black-face performer) of his, Al Jolson. (...and of course I just HAD to yet again mention how much Messrs Cantor and Whorf looked a lot alike) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownGoesFrazier Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 ...in all their bug-eyed splendor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dargo2 Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 Yep! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingrat Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 I kept thinking that if you could substitute Buster Keaton for Eddie Cantor in the final fairground sequence, you would have a splendid comic scene. Cantor gets some of the laughs that are there, to be sure. Like finance and Dargo, I think Eddie Cantor seems dated, as does Jolson, and that's what's most interesting about them. But I'll definitely agree that TCM should show more of Cantor's films. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TopBilled Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 My favorite Eddie Cantor film is FORTY LITTLE MOTHERS, made at MGM. It's in the Turner Library, and it should air more often! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoodGuysWearBlack Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 Anything with Donlevy kicks ****. Thank you TCM! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sewhite2000 Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 I feel sure TCM has shown this film before, because I was overwhelmed with a sense of deja vu as I watched it, and I can't imagine where else I would have ever seen it. I laughed aloud any number of times, and believe me, that doesn't always happen with me and a comedy from that era. The training session with the record; the confrontation with the mobsters when the secretary keeps interrupting and passing him a note; the college examination scene with the head bandage; the scene where he seemed to be spitting out bullets like Superman; I mean, I laughed a LOT, and ahead of time I wasn't even sure I was going to watch, given I know almost nothing about Cantor. Glad I gave it a shot (although, as I say, I'm pretty sure it's actually the second time I've seen it). Funny to see Ethel Merman as the femme fatale. I was a little confused as to where the romance plot was going to go, because I thought early on in the movie that the secretary was meant to be with Cantor's dopey friend. But once he got written out of the story, I started rooting for Cantor and the secretary to get together. I'm curious to see more Cantor. Robert Osborne seemed to indicate this film was pretty much it for quality Cantor, stuff, sadly, that the split between Goldwyn and Cantor ended up being detrimental to both parties. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tikisoo Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 Thanks for the recommendation TopBilled. I'm a huge Cantor fan and don't think I've ever seen that one. I also don't think Cantor's humor is dated. We've shown PALMY DAYS before and the audience LOVED it! Our audience consists of people of all ages, but I was definitely surprised Cantor's antics delighted the teens and twenty-somethings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Faiola Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 This was always a favorite of mine from the days of WPIX in NY. The scene with Ed Brophy KILLS me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vision6800 Posted January 15, 2014 Author Share Posted January 15, 2014 The training session with the record; the confrontation with the mobsters when the secretary keeps interrupting and passing him a note And then she shoots the cigar with his gun. A hilarious scene! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dargo2 Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 Yeah, Ray! And wasn't Richard Whorf there on the right good in that one TOO?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownGoesFrazier Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 I think Goldwyn survived the split with Cantor very well, thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TopBilled Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 >Thanks for the recommendation TopBilled. You're welcome. FORTY LITTLE MOTHERS casts Judith Anderson in a rare comedic role, alongside Eddie Cantor. And one of the little mothers is played by Bonita Granville. It's cute and there are some rib-tickling scenes with Eddie and the babies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicalnovelty Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 >I'm curious to see more Cantor. Robert Osborne seemed to indicate this film was pretty much it for quality Cantor, stuff... sewhite2000: Glad to see that you enjoyed STRIKE ME PINK. As a long-time big Cantor fan, I think (as I know many other Cantor fans also do) that his six Goldwyn features made between 1930 and 1936 are his best, with STRIKE ME PINK the weakest. So I want to encourage you, since you so much enjoyed what may be his weakest of the six, definitely check out the five that preceded it: WHOOPEE (1930) PALMY DAYS (1931) THE KID FROM SPAIN (1932) ROMAN SCANDALS (1933) KID MILLIONS (1934) There's much hilarious comedy, great songs and Busby Berkeley musical numbers and excellent supporting players. You will quickly see why Eddie Cantor was such a big star. Some of these are among the best comedies of the 1930's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownGoesFrazier Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 WHOOPEE is the film most associated with Cantor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whistlingypsy Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 King, interesting that you should make the connection between Buster Keaton and Eddie Cantor in this film. Although the script is "based on" the novel Dreamland, the character of Eddie Pink has much in common with a character from one of Keaton's earlier films. In *Spite Marriage* (1929), Keaton plays a tailor who is deeply smitten with an actress, played by Dorothy Sebastian. He spends most of his time daydreaming and staring at her pictures on the wall, damaging his client's trousers in the process. He is introduced to the object of his affection, only to learn he is "being played for a patsy". I understand it was common for Keaton's plots and stunts to be "recycled" in later films and for actors such as Red Skelton and Phil Silvers. *Spite Marriage* was his last silent film, and the last film M-G-M permitted him to direct, but it doesn't seem impossible the material was used for an Eddie Cantor film. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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