''The Big Show-Off'' is a 1945 American comedy film directed by

Howard Bretherton Howard Bretherton (13 February 1890, in Tacoma, Washington – 12 April 1969, in San Diego, California) was an American film director, film editor, and the father of film editor David Bretherton. Career He began his career as a propman and then ...

and distributed by

Republic Pictures Republic Pictures Corporation (currently held under Melange Pictures, LLC) was an American motion picture production-distribution corporation in operation from 1935 to 1967, that was based in Los Angeles. It had studio facilities in Studio City a ...

. It teams Arthur Lake before his return to the '' Blondie''

film series A film series or movie series (also referred to as a film franchise or movie franchise) is a collection of related films in succession that share the same fictional universe, or are marketed as a series. This article explains what film series are ...

and

Dale Evans Dale Evans Rogers (born Frances Octavia Smith; October 31, 1912 – February 7, 2001) was an American actress, singer, and songwriter. She was the third wife of singing cowboy Roy Rogers. Early life Evans was born Frances Octavia Smith on ...

, most frequently seen with her husband

Roy Rogers Roy Rogers (born Leonard Franklin Slye; November 5, 1911 – July 6, 1998) was an American singer, actor, and television host. Following early work under his given name, first as co-founder of the Sons of the Pioneers and then acting, the rebra ...

Plot

Nightclub pianist Sandy Elliott is madly in love with

nightclub singer A nightclub act is a production, usually of nightclub music or comedy, designed for performance at a nightclub, a type of drinking establishment, by a nightclub performer such as a nightclub singer or nightclub dancer, whose performance may ...

June Mayfield, who ignores his existence, preferring the obnoxious Wally Porter, the nightclub emcee. Sandy follows June to discover to his disgust that she is a big fan of

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

. Sandy's friend Joe the night club owner decides to make the shy Sandy attractive to June by paying a thug to disrupt June's singing, then being thrown out by Sandy. Joe adds fuel to June's new, smoldering love for Sandy by making her promise not to tell a secret: that Sandy is really the masked wrestler known as "The Devil".

Cast

* Arthur Lake as Sandy Elliott, Shy Pianist *

as June Mayfield, Night Club Singer *

Lionel Stander Lionel Jay Stander (January 11, 1908 – November 30, 1994) was an American actor in films, radio, theater and television. He is best remembered for his role as majordomo Max on the 1980s mystery television series '' Hart to Hart''. Early ...

as Joe Bagley, Club Owner * George Meeker as Wally Porter, Club MC *

Paul Hurst Paul Michael Hurst (born 25 September 1974) is an English football manager and former player who is the manager of club Grimsby Town. As a player, he was a defender from 1993 to 2008, notably playing his entire career at Rotherham United, b ...

as The Devil, Masked Wrestling Champion *

Marjorie Manners Marjorie is a female given name derived from Margaret, which means pearl. It can also be spelled as Margery or Marjory. Marjorie is a medieval variant of Margery, influenced by the name of the herb marjoram. It came into English from the Old Fr ...

as Mitzi *

Sammy Stein Samuel Stein (April 1, 1905 – March 30, 1966) was an American football player, actor, and professional wrestler. He played four seasons in the National Football League (NFL) as an end and tackle for the Staten Island Stapletons (1929-1930), New ...

as Boris the Bulgar, Wrestler *

Louis Adlon Louis Adlon (7 October 1907 – 31 March 1947), also known as Duke Adlon, was a German-born film actor. Biography Adlon was the grandson of Lorenz Adlon, founder of the famous Adlon Hotel in Berlin, where he spent much of his childhood. Adl ...

as Muckenfuss * Dan Tobey as Wrestling Announcer * Douglas Wood as Dr. Dinwiddle *

Emmett Lynn Emmett Earl Lynn (February 14, 1897 – October 20, 1958) was an American actor of the stage and screen. Early life Lynn was born in Muscatine, Iowa. When he was nine years old, Lynn became a song plugger in Denver, Colorado. From that ...

as Hobo * Sherry Cameron as Dancer, Cameron and Kirby Team * Klayton Kirby as Dancer, Cameron and Kirby Team *

Anson Weeks Anson Weeks (February 14, 1896, Oakland, California – February 7, 1969, Sacramento, California) was an American pianist and the leader of a popular west coast dance band from the late 1920s through the 1960s, primarily in San Francisco. He made ...

as Orchestra Leader

Soundtrack

* Dale Evans with the Anson Weeks Orchestra - "There's Only One You" (Written by

) * Dale Evans with the Anson Weeks Orchestra - "Cleo From Rio" (Written by Dave Oppenheim and

Roy Ingraham Roy is a masculine given name and a family surname with varied origin. In Anglo-Norman England, the name derived from the Norman ''roy'', meaning "king", while its Old French cognate, ''rey'' or ''roy'' (modern ''roi''), likewise gave rise t ...

) * Sherry Cameron and Klayton Kirby with the Anson Weeks Orchestra - "Memories of Old Vienna" * "Hoops My Dear" (Written by Dave Oppenheim)

External links

*
Review of film
at ''Variety'' * * 1945 films 1940s musical comedy-drama films American musical comedy-drama films American black-and-white films Professional wrestling films Republic Pictures films 1940s English-language films 1940s American films {{musical-comedy-film-stub