50 Million Frenchmen
- February 14, 1931 (1931-02-14)
Fifty Million Frenchmen is a 1931 American pre-Code musical comedy film directed by Lloyd Bacon. It was photographed entirely in Technicolor. The film was produced and released by Warner Brothers, and was based on Cole Porter's 1929 Broadway musical Fifty Million Frenchmen.
The film was originally intended to be released, in the United States, late in 1930, but was shelved due to public apathy towards musicals. Despite waiting a number of months, the public proved obstinate and the Warner Bros. reluctantly released the film in February 1931 after removing all the music. The film was released outside the United States as a full musical comedy in 1931.
Plot
Wealthy Jack Forbes bets his friend Michael Cummins that he can woo and win Lu Lu Carroll without using any of his money or connections. Cummins hires Simon and Peter, a pair of erstwhile detectives, to make sure that Forbes doesn't win his bet.
Instead, Simon and Peter befriend Cummins and decide to help him out.
Cast
- Ole Olsen as Simon Johanssen
- Chic Johnson as Peter Swanson
- William Gaxton as Jack Forbes
- Helen Broderick as Violet
- John Halliday as Michael Cummins
- Claudia Dell as Lu Lu Carroll
- Lester Crawford as Billy Baxter
- Evalyn Knapp as Miss Wheeler-Smith
- Charles Judels as Pernasse – Hotel Manager
- Carmelita Geraghty as Marcelle Dubrey
- Nat Carr and Vera Gordon as Jewish tourists
- Bela Lugosi as Orizon the Magician (uncredited)
Music
50 Million Frenchmen was originally a Cole Porter musical, but the songs were omitted from all prints of the film in the United States because box-office receipts for musical films at that time were down.
Box office
According to Warner Bros records the film earned $401,000 domestically and $29,000 internationally.[1]
Preservation
Only a black and white copy of the cut print released in 1931 in the United States seems to have survived. The complete film was released intact in countries outside the United States where a backlash against musicals never occurred. It is unknown whether a copy of this full version still exists.
See also
References
- ^ a b c Warner Bros financial information in The William Shaefer Ledger. See Appendix 1, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, (1995) 15:sup1, 1-31 p 11 DOI: 10.1080/01439689508604551
External links
- Fifty Million Frenchmen (1931) at IMDb
- Fifth Million Frenchmen (1931) at AllMovie
- 50 Million Frenchmen at the TCM Movie Database
- Fifty Million Frenchmen at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
- v
- t
- e
- Broken Hearts of Hollywood (1926)
- Private Izzy Murphy (1926)
- Finger Prints (1927)
- White Flannels (1927)
- The Heart of Maryland (1927)
- A Sailor's Sweetheart (1927)
- Brass Knuckles (1927)
- Women They Talk About (1928)
- The Singing Fool (1928)
- Pay as You Enter (1928)
- Stark Mad (1929)
- No Defense (1929)
- Say It with Songs (1929)
- Honky Tonk (1929)
- So Long Letty (1929)
- The Other Tomorrow (1930)
- She Couldn't Say No (1930)
- A Notorious Affair (1930)
- Moby Dick (1930)
- The Office Wife (1930)
- 50 Million Frenchmen (1931)
- Kept Husbands (1931)
- Sit Tight (1931)
- Gold Dust Gertie (1931)
- Honor of the Family (1931)
- Manhattan Parade (1931)
- Crooner (1932)
- Miss Pinkerton (1932)
- The Famous Ferguson Case (1932)
- You Said a Mouthful (1932)
- 42nd Street (1933)
- Picture Snatcher (1933)
- Footlight Parade (1933)
- Son of a Sailor (1933)
- Wonder Bar (1934)
- A Very Honorable Guy (1934)
- Here Comes the Navy (1934)
- He Was Her Man (1934)
- 6 Day Bike Rider (1934)
- In Caliente (1935)
- Frisco Kid (1935)
- Sons O' Guns (1936)
- Cain and Mabel (1936)
- Gold Diggers of 1937 (1936)
- Marked Woman (1937)
- Ever Since Eve (1937)
- San Quentin (1937)
- Boy Meets Girl (1938)
- Racket Busters (1938)
- A Slight Case of Murder (1938)
- Cowboy from Brooklyn (1938)
- Wings of the Navy (1939)
- The Oklahoma Kid (1939)
- Indianapolis Speedway (1939)
- Espionage Agent (1939)
- A Child Is Born (1939)
- Invisible Stripes (1939)
- Three Cheers for the Irish (1940)
- Brother Orchid (1940)
- Knute Rockne, All American (1940)
- Honeymoon for Three (1941)
- Footsteps in the Dark (1941)
- Affectionately Yours (1941)
- Navy Blues (1941)
- Larceny, Inc. (1942)
- Wings for the Eagle (1942)
- Silver Queen (1942)
- Action in the North Atlantic (1943)
- The Fighting Sullivans (1944)
- Sunday Dinner for a Soldier (1944)
- Captain Eddie (1945)
- Wake Up and Dream (1946)
- Home Sweet Homicide (1946)
- I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now (1947)
- You Were Meant for Me (1948)
- Give My Regards to Broadway (1948)
- An Innocent Affair (1948)
- Mother Is a Freshman (1949)
- It Happens Every Spring (1949)
- Miss Grant Takes Richmond (1949)
- The Good Humor Man (1950)
- Kill the Umpire (1950)
- The Fuller Brush Girl (1950)
- Golden Girl (1951)
- Call Me Mister (1951)
- The Frogmen (1951)
- The Great Sioux Uprising (1953)
- The French Line (1953)
- She Couldn't Say No (1954)