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Animal Crackers (musical)
''Animal Crackers'' is a musical theatre, musical play with music and lyrics by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby and a book by George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind. The musical starred the Marx Brothers and is set at the Long Island Home of Mrs. Rittenhouse; a character portrayed by Margaret Dumont in the 1928 production on Broadway. The lyrics and music of several songs in ''Animal Crackers'' entered the public domain in the United States in 2024. The full script, copyrighted in 1929, entered the public domain in the United States in 2025. Original production ''Animal Crackers'' opened on Broadway theatre, Broadway on October 23, 1928, at the 44th Street Theatre, and closed April 6, 1929, running for 191 performances. The musical was produced by Sam H. Harris (producer), Sam H. Harris, staged by Oscar Eagle, and starred the four Marx Brothers and Margaret Dumont in the Brothers' second Broadway hit. Hermes Pan (choreographer), Hermes Pan appeared as a chorus boy. The play was Animal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bert Kalmar
Bert Kalmar (February 10, 1884 – September 18, 1947) was an American songwriter. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970. He was also a screenwriter. Biography Kalmar, a native of New York City, left school at an early age and began working in vaudeville. He appeared on stage as a magician, comedian and dancer before switching to songwriting, after a knee injury ended his performing career. By this time, he had earned enough to start a music publishing company, Kalmar and Puck, where he collaborated with a number of songwriters, including Eva_Puck#Early_life, Harry Puck (1891–1964) and Harry Ruby.Kalmar profile AllMusic.com. Retrieved April 29, 2013. The publishing firm also operated under the name Kalmar, Puck, Abrahams, Consolidated, Inc., the other named partner being Belle_Baker#Personal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vaudeville
Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition or light poetry, interspersed with songs and dances. Vaudeville became popular in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s, while changing over time. In some ways analogous to music hall from Victorian Britain, a typical North American vaudeville performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill. Types of acts have included popular and classical musicians, singers, dancers, comedians, trained animals, magicians, ventriloquists, strongmen, female and male impersonators, acrobats, clowns, illustrated songs, jugglers, one-act plays or scenes from plays, athletes, lecturing celebrities, minstrels, and films. A vaudeville performer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Captain Spaulding
Captain Jeffrey T. Spaulding is a fictional character in the Broadway musical '' Animal Crackers'' and the film of the same name. He was originally played by actor Groucho Marx, one of the Marx Brothers, in both productions. Despite his middle name being Edgar, he is known as Jeffrey T. Spaulding; his first name is also spelled as "Geoffrey" in parts of the film. Spaulding had a theme song entitled " Hooray for Captain Spaulding", composed by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby, which all of the guests sing upon his arrival. This song would go on to be associated with Marx for the rest of his life in public; it was the theme for his television series '' You Bet Your Life'' and was often played when he was introduced as a guest on television shows. At Marx's Carnegie Hall concert in the early 1970s, accompanist Marvin Hamlisch played the song as Marx made his entrance onstage. Role in ''Animal Crackers'' Spaulding is a famous explorer on return from a trek across Africa to be the guest ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zeppo Marx
Herbert Manfred "Zeppo" Marx (February 25, 1901 – November 30, 1979) was an American comedic actor. He was the youngest, and last survivor, of the five Marx Brothers. He appeared in the first five Marx Brothers feature films from 1929 to 1933, usually performing in a more subdued style than his brothers and serving as a romantic lead and/or straight man. He abandoned performing for careers as an engineer and theatrical agent. Early life Marx was born in Manhattan. His parents were Sam Marx (called "Frenchie" throughout his life) and Minnie Schönberg Marx, both Jewish. Minnie's brother was Al Shean, who later gained fame as half of the vaudeville team Gallagher and Shean. His mother was from East Frisia in Germany and his father was a tailor from Alsace, France. Name As with all of the Marx Brothers, various theories exist regarding the origin of Zeppo's stage name. His older brother Groucho said in his Carnegie Hall concert in 1972 that the name was derived from the Zeppe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Margaret Irving
Margaret Irving (January 18, 1898 – March 5, 1988) was an American stage and film actress. Biography Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1898, Irving is best remembered today for her roles as Aunt Gus in the 1950s sitcom '' The People's Choice'' and as Mrs. Whitehead in '' Animal Crackers'' (1930) starring the Marx Brothers, a role she originated on the Broadway stage. Her other films included ''San Francisco'' (1936), '' Captain Calamity'' (1936), '' Follow Your Heart'' (1936), '' Charlie Chan at the Opera'' (1936), '' Mr. Moto's Last Warning'' (1939), and '' In Society'' (1944). She was married to William Frederick James. She died in 1988 in San Francisco, California San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ..., at the age of 90. Filmography References External l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Louis Sorin
Louis Sorin was an American actor of stage, screen, radio, and television. He is probably best known to modern audiences for his performance as art patron Roscoe W. Chandler in the 1930 Marx Brothers feature film '' Animal Crackers'', a role he created on the Broadway stage; and for his appearance as Mr. Manicotti in the '' Honeymooners'' episode "Mama Loves Mambo" (1956). Biography Louis Sorin was born in New York City, and appeared on Broadway in more than 20 productions between 1923 and 1952. Sorin worked in New York almost exclusively, appearing in a handful of feature films produced on the east coast. He specialized in dialect roles, often affecting a Jewish accent. In Paramount Pictures' musical revue '' Glorifying the American Girl'' (1929), Sorin and Eddie Cantor appeared as two opportunistic tailors in a comedy sketch. While at Paramount, Sorin re-created his Broadway role in the film adaptation of ''Animal Crackers''. His only other feature-film credit of the 1930s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Greig
Robert Greig (December 27, 1879 – June 27, 1958) was an Australian-American actor who appeared in more than 100 films between 1930 and 1949, usually as the dutiful butler. Born Arthur Alfred Bede Greig, he was the nephew of Australian politician and solicitor William Bede Dalley. He was commonly known as "Bob". Career Greig was born near Melbourne, in 1878. He married fellow actor Beatrice Denver Holloway in 1912. After a successful career in Melbourne, he and his wife sailed for the United States, and he made his Broadway theatre, Broadway debut in 1928 in an operetta, ''Countess Maritza''. His next production was the Marx Brothers' comedy ''Animal Crackers (musical), Animal Crackers'', in which he portrayed "Hives" the butler. He reprised the role in the Animal Crackers (1930 film), 1930 film version, which was his movie debut and set the pattern for much of his career, as he was often cast as a butler or other servant.Erickson, HaBiography (Allmovie)/ref> He performe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
I Wanna Be Loved By You
"I Wanna Be Loved by You" is a song written by Herbert Stothart and Harry Ruby, with lyrics by Bert Kalmar, for the 1928 musical ''Good Boy''. It was first performed on September 5, 1928, by Helen Kane, who was the inspiration for the cartoon character Betty Boop. "I Wanna Be Loved by You" was chosen as one of the Songs of the Century in a survey by the RIAA to which 200 people responded (out of 1300 asked). One of Marilyn Monroe's most famous musical performances is her singing the song in Billy Wilder's classic 1959 farce ''Some Like It Hot''. The original lyrics and music of the song entered the public domain in the United States in 2024. Background The song was first performed in 1928 by Helen Kane, who became known as the 'Boop-Boop-a-Doop Girl' because of her baby-talk, scat-singing tag line to the song. This version was recorded when Kane's popularity started to reach its peak, and became her signature song. Two years later, a cartoon character named Betty Boop was m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oh By Jingo!
"Oh By Jingo!" (also "Oh By Jingo! Oh By Gee You're The Only Girl For Me"), is a 1919 in music, 1919 novelty song by Albert Von Tilzer with lyrics by Lew Brown. The song was featured in the Broadway theatre, Broadway show "Linger Longer Letty", and became one of the biggest Tin Pan Alley hits of the post-World War I era. While the song lyrics say it is set in "the land of San Domingo", no geographic nor anthropological accuracy is found nor intended in the silly lyrics, set in a generic "exotic" and "primitive" location. The song was much imitated over the next decade. The song appeared several times in film and television: it was performed by Betty Hutton in the film ''Incendiary Blonde'' (1945); by Debbie Reynolds and Bobby Van as a specialty number in the Esther Williams MGM vehicle, ''Skirts Ahoy!''; sung in the ''I Love Lucy'' TV show (Season 4, ep. 2, "Mertz and Kurtz", October 11, 1954); and sung by Hugh Laurie in P. G. Wodehouse's ''Jeeves and Wooster'' (Season 4, ep. 5 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Three Little Words (song)
"Three Little Words" is a popular song with music by Harry Ruby and lyrics by Bert Kalmar, published in 1930. The Rhythm Boys (including Bing Crosby), accompanied by the Duke Ellington orchestra, recorded it on August 26, 1930 and it enjoyed great success. Their version was used in the 1930 Amos 'n' Andy film '' Check and Double Check,'' with orchestra members miming to it. The film was co-written by Kalmar and Ruby along with J. Walter Ruben. The song also figured prominently in the film '' Three Little Words'', a 1950 biopic about Kalmar and Ruby. Popular culture *In the mid-1970s the Advertising Council used a fully orchestrated instrumental version of the song in a series of PSAs about seat belt safety; the tag line of these spots was "Seat belts: a nice way to say 'I Love You'." *Between 1977 and 2002, the channel Saeta TV (Channel 10) from Montevideo, Uruguay had it as a musical curtain for the humor program '' Decalegrón'' (English: Ten Big Joy) *Actress Judit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hooray For Captain Spaulding
"Hooray for Captain Spaulding" is a song composed by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby, originally from the 1928 Marx Brothers Broadway musical '' Animal Crackers'' and the 1930 film version. It later became well known as the theme song for the Groucho Marx television show '' You Bet Your Life'' (1950–1961), and became Groucho's signature tune and was usually played when he was introduced on various talk shows and the like. The modern version of the situation comedy radio show '' Flywheel, Shyster, and Flywheel'' uses this song for its opening theme. The line "I think I'll try to make her" from the musical, included in the initial release, was cut from rereleases, being considered too risqué. In 1951, Groucho recorded the song for release by Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Broadway World
BroadwayWorld is a theatre news website based in New York City, New York. Launched in 2003, the site covers Broadway, Off-Broadway, regional, and international theater productions, with sections devoted to particular countries, cities, or regions. The website publishes theatre news, interviews, reviews, and other coverage related to theater. It also includes an online message board for theater fans. The UK / West End section awards the UK / West End BroadwayWorld Awards each year, based on votes by theater-goers to productions in the UK. History Published by Wisdom Digital Media Publishing (launched in 2001), BroadwayWorld.com was founded in 2003 to cover theater news. As of September 2018, the website had a readership of 5.5 million monthly online visitors and an Alexa PageRank of 16,156 worldwide. The site also produces annual fan-voted awards and competitions related to various types of production. In 2020, the site underwent a major redesign, and which included the cr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
