''Kid Boots'' is a

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwo ...

with a book by

William Anthony McGuire William Anthony McGuire (July 9, 1881 – September 16, 1940) was an American playwright, theatre director, and producer and screenwriter, including ''The Kid From Spain'' (1932) starring Eddie Cantor. McGuire earned an Oscar nomination for the ...

and

Otto Harbach Otto Abels Harbach, born Otto Abels Hauerbach (August 18, 1873 – January 24, 1963) was an American lyricist and librettist of nearly 50 musical comedies and operettas. Harbach collaborated as lyricist or librettist with many of the leading B ...

, music by Harry Tierney, and lyrics by

Joseph McCarthy Joseph Raymond McCarthy (November 14, 1908 – May 2, 1957) was an American politician who served as a Republican United States Senate, U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957. Beginning in 1950, McCarth ...

. The show was staged by Edward Royce. Produced by

Florenz Ziegfeld Florenz Edward Ziegfeld Jr. (; March 21, 1867 – July 22, 1932) was an American Broadway impresario, notable for his series of theatrical revues, the ''Ziegfeld Follies'' (1907–1931), inspired by the ''Folies Bergère'' of Paris. He also p ...

, the

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

production, opened on December 31, 1923 at the

Earl Carroll Theatre The Earl Carroll Theatre was a Broadway theatre at 753 Seventh Avenue near 50th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Built by impresario Earl Carroll and designed by architect George Keister, it opened on Feb ...

and then moved to the

Selwyn Theatre Selwyn may refer to: Institutions * Selwyn College, Auckland, is a multicultural, co-educational high school in Auckland, New Zealand * Selwyn College, Cambridge, one of the University of Cambridge colleges, UK * Selwyn College, Otago, hall of res ...

, where it ended on February 21, 1925, for a total of 489 performances. The cast starred

Eddie Cantor Eddie Cantor (born Isidore Itzkowitz; January 31, 1892 – October 10, 1964) was an American comedian, actor, dancer, singer, songwriter, film producer, screenwriter and author. Familiar to Broadway, radio, movie, and early television audiences ...

and

Mary Eaton Mary Eaton (January 29, 1901 – October 10, 1948) was an American stage actress, singer, and dancer in the 1910s and 1920s, probably best known today from her appearance in the first Marx Brothers film, ''The Cocoanuts'' (1929). A profession ...

, with George Olsen and his orchestra. The show was billed as “A Musical Comedy of Palm Beach and Golf” and was set at the

Everglades Club The Everglades Club is a social club in Palm Beach, Florida. When its construction began in July 1918, it was to be called the ''Touchstone Convalescent Club'', and it was intended to be a hospital for the wounded of World War I. But the war ende ...

Palm Beach, Florida Palm Beach is an incorporated town in Palm Beach County, Florida. Located on a barrier island in east-central Palm Beach County, the town is separated from several nearby cities including West Palm Beach and Lake Worth Beach by the Intrac ...

. It was a showcase for Eddie Cantor, who played the caddie master at the swank club. He gives golf lessons on the side, with crooked balls so the clients need more instruction. He's also a bootlegger and a busybody. He can't be fired, however, because he has something on everyone at the club. The most famous song to come out of the show was “Dinah” by Sam M. Lewis, Joe Young and Harry Akst, added to the finale during the run for Eddie. The song later gave vocalist

Dinah Shore Dinah Shore (born Frances Rose Shore; February 29, 1916 – February 24, 1994) was an American singer, actress, and television personality, and the top-charting female vocalist of the 1940s. She rose to prominence as a recording artist during ...

, discovered by Eddie Cantor in 1940, her stage name and the theme song for her long running radio and television shows. The New York Times reported that on closing night, " st before the finale, George Olsen's band marched down the aisle and serenaded the company, ending with 'Auld Lang Syne.' "

Film versions

During the run in New York City, inventor

Lee DeForest Lee de Forest (August 26, 1873 – June 30, 1961) was an American inventor and a fundamentally important early pioneer in electronics. He invented the first electronic device for controlling current flow; the three-element " Audion" triode v ...

filmed Cantor in the

DeForest Phonofilm Phonofilm is an optical sound-on-film system developed by inventors Lee de Forest and Theodore Case in the early 1920s. Introduction In 1919 and 1920, Lee De Forest, inventor of the audion tube, filed his first patents on a sound-on-film proc ...

sound-on-film Sound-on-film is a class of sound film processes where the sound accompanying a picture is recorded on photographic film, usually, but not always, the same strip of film carrying the picture. Sound-on-film processes can either record an analog ...

process, in a short film known as '' A Few Moments With Eddie Cantor, Star of "Kid Boots"''. In 1926,

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

released a feature film version directed by

Frank Tuttle Frank Wright Tuttle (August 6, 1892 – January 6, 1963) was a Hollywood film director and writer who directed films from 1922 (''The Cradle Buster'') to 1959 ('' Island of Lost Women''). Biography Frank Tuttle was educated at Yale Universi ...

, and starring Cantor,

Clara Bow Clara Gordon Bow (; July 29, 1905 – September 27, 1965) was an American actress who rose to stardom during the silent film era of the 1920s and successfully made the transition to " talkies" in 1929. Her appearance as a plucky shopgirl in the ...

, and

Billie Dove Lillian Bohny (born Bertha Eugenie Bohny; May 14, 1903 – December 31, 1997), known professionally as Billie Dove, was an American actress. Early life and career Dove was born Bertha Eugenie Bohny in New York City in 1903 to Charles and Ber ...

.IMDB entry
/ref>

Songs

Act I * A Day at the Club * The Social Observer * When Your Heart's in the Game * Keep Your Eye on the Ball * The Same Old Way * Someone Loves You after All (The Rain Song) * The Intruder Dance * We've Got to Have More * Polly Put the Kettle On * Let's Do and Say We Didn't (Let's Don't and Say We Did) * In the Swim at Miami * Along the Old Lake Trail * On With the Game Act II * (Since Ma Is Playing) Mah Jong (by

Billy Rose Billy Rose (born William Samuel Rosenberg; September 6, 1899 – February 10, 1966) was an American impresario, theatrical showman and lyricist. For years both before and after World War II, Billy Rose was a major force in entertainment, with s ...

and

Con Conrad Con Conrad (born Conrad K. Dober, June 18, 1891 – September 28, 1938) was an American songwriter and producer. Biography Conrad was born in Manhattan, New York, and published his first song, "Down in Dear Old New Orleans", in 1912. Conrad p ...

) * Bet on the One You Fancy * I'm In My Glory * Play Fair, Man! * Win for Me * The Cake Eater's Ball * Down ‘Round the 19th Hole * En Route * When the Cocoanuts Call * In the Rough * That’s All There Is Also interpolated into the show: * If You Do What You Do (by Roy Turk, Lou Handman and Eddie Cantor) * He’s the Hottest Man in Town (by Owen Murphy and Jay Gorney) * Alabamy Bound (words by Bud DeSylva and

Bud Green Bud Green (19 November 1897 – 2 January 1981) was an American lyricist especially of Broadway musicals and show tunes Early life and family Green was born Moses David Green in the Austro-Hungarian Empire and immigrated to the United Stat ...

, music by

Ray Henderson Ray Henderson (born Raymond Brost; December 1, 1896 – December 31, 1970) was an American songwriter. Early life Born in Buffalo, New York, United States, Henderson moved to New York City and became a popular composer in Tin Pan Alley. He was o ...

) *

Dinah In the Book of Genesis, Dinah (; ) was the seventh child and only daughter of Leah and Jacob, and one of the matriarchs of the Israelites. The episode of her violation by Shechem, son of a Canaanite or Hivite prince, and the subsequent vengea ...

(by Sam M. Lewis, Joe Young and Harry Akst)

References

{{reflist

External links

''Kid Boots'' at Internet Broadway Database

''A Few Moments With Eddie Cantor, Star of 'Kid Boots (1923) at IMDB

''Kid Boots'' (1926 film version) at IMDB
1923 musicals Broadway musicals Musicals set in the Roaring Twenties Musicals by Otto Harbach

Film versions

Songs

See also

References

External links