''Mister Universe'' is a 1951 American

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by Joseph Lerner and starring

Jack Carson John Elmer Carson (October 27, 1910 – January 2, 1963), known as Jack Carson, was a Canadian-born American film actor. Carson often played the role of comedic friend in films of the 1940s and 1950s, including '' The Strawberry Blonde'' ...

, Janis Paige and

Vince Edwards Vince Edwards (born Vincent Edward Zoine; July 9, 1928 – March 11, 1996) was an American actor, director, and singer. He was best known for his TV role as Dr. Ben Casey and as Major Cliff Bricker in the 1968 war film '' The Devil's Brigade' ...

. It was produced independently and distributed by

Eagle-Lion Films Eagle-Lion Films was the name of two distinct, though related, companies. In 1944, UK film magnate J. Arthur Rank created an American distribution company with the name to handle his British films. The following year, under a reciprocal distrib ...

. A number of

professional wrestler Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to real-life wrest ...

s of the era appeared as themselves.

Plot

Honest " Mister Universe" winner Tommy Tompkins is recruited by a con-man

wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

promoter and wins match after match. However he is horrified when he is told to lose a wrestling match and proves simply unable to do so due to his natural honesty.

Cast

as Jeff Clayton * Janis Paige as Lorraine *

as Tommy Tompkins *

Bert Lahr Irving Lahrheim (August 13, 1895 – December 4, 1967), known professionally as Bert Lahr, was an American stage and screen actor and comedian. He was best known for his role as the Cowardly Lion, as well as his counterpart Kansas farmworker "Z ...

as Joe Pulaski *

Robert Alda Robert Alda (born Alfonso Giuseppe Giovanni Roberto D'Abruzzo; February 26, 1914 – May 3, 1986) was an American theatrical and film actor. He was the father of actors Alan and Antony Alda. Alda was featured in a number of Broadway productio ...

as Fingers Maroni * Maxie Rosenbloom as Big Ears, the trainer * Joyce Mathews as Maroni's Moll * Harry Landers as Henchman * Donald Novis as Singer * Murray Rothenberg as Reporter *

Dennis James Dennis James (born Demie James Sposa, August 24, 1917 – June 3, 1997) was an American television personality, philanthropist, and commercial spokesman. Until 1976, he had appeared on TV more times and for a longer period than any other televi ...

as Self - Announcer *

Joan Rivers Joan Alexandra Molinsky (June 8, 1933 – September 4, 2014), known professionally as Joan Rivers, was an American comedienne, actress, producer, writer and television host. She was noted for her blunt, often controversial comedic persona that w ...

as Teenage girl in audience (uncredited) ''Mister Universe'' marked the film debut of Vince Edwards.

Production

''Mister Universe'' was filmed in New York.

Reception

''Variety'' found the dialogue "weak" but the film "quite funny" with good performances. ''Variety'' noted that the film did not treat the wrestling business "with its phoney grapplers and decisions, and crooked promoters" lightly, but that it probably took it more seriously than the press and sports communities. ''

Picturegoer ''Picturegoer'' was a fan magazine published in the United Kingdom between 1911 and 23 April 1960. Background The magazine was started in 1911 under the name ''The Pictures'' and in 1914 it merged with ''Picturegoer''. Following the merge it was ...

'' wrote "True, much of the fun springs from the mauling of stooges, but the humour is no less effective for being elementary, or rather primitive." The cast was praised by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''.

Comic book adaption

A comic adaptation of the film was published by Eastern Color in the December 1950 issue of the anthology comic book ''Movie Love'', only a month before the film's release.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0043823, Mister Universe 1951 films American sports comedy films American wrestling films Eagle-Lion Films films 1951 comedy films American black-and-white films 1950s American films 1950s English-language films 1950s sports films