From Our Vaults
Willard Mack’s pre-Code musical features many of MGM’s contract players of the time, including Frank Morgan, Alice Brady, May Robson, Madge Evans, Jimmy Durante, Mickey Rooney, and Jackie Cooper.
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Theatrical release poster
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Brothers Moe Howard and Curly Howard of The Three Stooges appear—without Ted Healy and Larry Fine—as Otto and Fritz, two clowns in makeup.
It was the first film to feature Nelson Eddy.
The Hackett family are vaudeville stalwarts, particularly Ted and Lul, known for their song-and-dance routines. But their son, Ted Jr., raised within the entertainment industry, soon outshines his parents in fame.
Upon receiving a prestigious offer for a leading role on Broadway, Ted Jr. arranges for his parents to join him, though Ted Sr. realizes their inclusion is solely to appease their son’s desires. Disenchanted with their Broadway stint, the Hacketts return to vaudeville, only to confront the diminished appeal of their act.
Meanwhile, Ted Jr. grapples with personal turmoil, including marriage and fatherhood, and struggles with alcoholism. Tragedy befalls the Hackett dynasty, casting a shadow over their future endeavors, while invoking contemplation on the cyclical nature of familial legacy and the potential repetition of past mistakes.
The film features sequences from the unfinished MGM musical The March of Time (1930), some in the early two-color Technicolor process, with Fay Templeton, DeWolf Hopper Sr., and Albertina Rasch and her dancers. However, current prints as shown on TCM have no color sequences.
Cast:
Alice Brady as Lulu Hackett
Frank Morgan as Ted Hackett
Jackie Cooper as Ted Hackett Jr. as a Child
Russell Hardie as Ted Hackett Jr.
Madge Evans as Anne Ainsley
Mickey Rooney as Ted Hackett III as a Child
Eddie Quillan as Ted Hackett III
Jimmy Durante as Jimmy
May Robson as Veteran Actress
Albertina Rasch Dancers as Themselves
Fay Templeton as herself
Credits:
Directed by Willard Mack
Screenplay by Mack, Edgar Allan Woolf
Produced by Harry Rapf
Cinematography Norbert Brodine, William H. Daniels
Edited by William S. Gray, Ben Lewis
Music by William Axt
Production and distributed: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date: September 15, 1933
Running time: 85 minutes
