PROFILBARU.COM

Palmy Days
Palmy Days
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	A. Edward Sutherland
Written by	Eddie Cantor; Morrie Ryskind; David Freedman
Produced by	Samuel Goldwyn
Starring	Eddie Cantor; Charlotte Greenwood; George Raft
Cinematography	Gregg Toland
Edited by	Sherman Todd
Music by	Harry Akst
Production; company	Samuel Goldwyn Productions
Distributed by	United Artists
Release date	September 23, 1931;
Running time	77 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$1,601,000

Palmy Days is a 1931 American Pre-Code musical comedy film written by Eddie Cantor, Morrie Ryskind, and David Freedman, directed by A. Edward Sutherland, and choreographed by Busby Berkeley (who makes a cameo appearance as a fortune teller). The film stars Eddie Cantor. The famed Goldwyn Girls make appearances during elaborate production numbers set in a gymnasium and a bakery ("Glorifying the American Doughnut"). Betty Grable, Paulette Goddard, Virginia Grey, and Toby Wing are among the bevy of chorines. George Raft had an early role.^[3]

Plot

Eddie Simpson's family bakery/restaurant grows into a huge success; thanks to Simpsons's entertainment shows and a fortune-telling booth run by the mysterious Yolando.

When Simpson discovers the fortune-teller is running a racket that cheats people out of their savings; Yolando and his henchman do their best to dispose of him by feeding him into one of the large bakery ovens. However, their efforts fail.

Cast (in credits order)

Charlotte Greenwood as Helen Martin
Barbara Weeks as Joan Clark
Spencer Charters as Mr Clark
Paul Page as Steve
Charles Middleton as Yolando
George Raft as Joe – Yolando's Henchman
Harry Woods as Yolando's Henchman
Eddie Cantor as Eddie Simpson

Music

Cantor's major musical numbers are "My Baby Said Yes, Yes" and "There's Nothing Too Good For My Baby".

Reception

The film was one of the most popular movies of the year.^[4]

New York Times movie critic Mordaunt Hall, described Palmy Days as "a more or less funny diatribe" with "two or three inconsequential melodies and a great deal to gaze, including pretty damsels from the Pacific Coast and effectively photographed groups of dancers."^[5]

Product placement

Brand-name products rarely appeared in movies of this period, partly because of the campaign against that practice by the motion picture trade periodical Harrison's Reports. In an editorial, that publication reported the on-screen appearance of an Underwood Typewriter and product of Continental Baking Company.^[6]

References

^ Quigley Publishing Company "The All Time Best Sellers", International Motion Picture Almanac 1937-38 (1938) (pg. 942); accessed April 19, 2014
^ "WHICH CINEMA FILMS HAVE EARNED THE MOST MONEY SINCE 1914?". The Argus. Melbourne. March 4, 1944. p. 3 Supplement: The Argus Weekend magazine. Retrieved August 6, 2012 – via National Library of Australia.
^ Vagg, Stephen (February 9, 2020). "Why Stars Stop Being Stars: George Raft". Filmink.
^ Everett Aaker, The Films of George Raft, McFarland & Company, 2013 p 18
^ New York Times, Movie Review, "Palmy Days (1931) The Screen; A Frolic, With Mr. Cantor" September 24, 1931
^ Harrison's Reports November 28, 1931, page 189