''Riverboat Rhythm'' is a 1946 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

Leslie Goodwins Leslie Goodwins (17 September 1899 – 8 January 1969) was an English film director and screenwriter. He directed nearly 100 films between 1926 and 1967, notably 27 features and shorts with Leon Errol, including the Mexican Spitfire series. ...

and written by Charles E. Roberts. The film stars

Leon Errol Leon Errol (born Leonce Errol Sims, July 3, 1881 – October 12, 1951) was an Australian-American comedian and actor in the United States, popular in the first half of the 20th century for his appearances in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in film ...

Glenn Vernon Glen Vernon (born Glenn Vernon; October 27, 1923 – October 27, 1999) was an American actor. Early life Glenn Vernon hailed from Fall River, Massachusetts, and joined his father's song-and-dance vaudeville act at the age of six. The elder Verno ...

Walter Catlett Walter Leland Catlett (February 4, 1889 – November 14, 1960) was an American actor and comedian. He made a career of playing excitable, meddlesome, temperamental, and officious blowhards. Career Catlett was born on February 4, 1889, in S ...

, Joan Newton, Marc Cramer, and

Jonathan Hale Jonathan Hale (born Jonathan Hatley; March 21, 1891 – February 28, 1966) was a Canadian-born film and television actor. Life and career Hale was born in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Before his acting career, Hale worked in the Diplomatic Co ...

. The film was released on February 13, 1946, by

RKO Radio Pictures RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, is an American film production and distribution company, historically one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Kei ...

Plot

Matt Lindsay is the owner of a broken-down showboat, perpetually one small step ahead of his creditors and the law. At one point, he disguises himself as Col. Witherspoon, a con artist he'd met earlier, only to find himself in the middle of a blood feud with Col. Beeler, who aims to settle things once and for all—with a pistol.

Cast

as Matt Lindsay/Colonel Witherspoon imposter *

as John Beeler *

as Colonel Jeffrey "Smitty" Witherspoon * Marc Cramer as Lionel Beeler *

as Colonel Edward Beeler * Joan Newton as Midge Lindsay *

Emory Parnell Emory Parnell (December 29, 1892 – June 22, 1979) was an American vaudeville performer and actor who appeared in over 250 films in his 36-year career. Early years Parnell was born in St. Paul, Minnesota. He spent eight months in the Arct ...

as Sheriff Martin *

Harry Harvey, Sr. Harry William Harvey, Sr. (January 10, 1901 – November 27, 1985) was an American actor of theatre, film, and television, with more than 300 movies and TV episodes to his credit. Movie fans know Harry Harvey as Leon Errol's perennial conf ...

as Ezra Beeler *

Florence Lake Florence Lake Owens (born Florence Silverlake; November 27, 1904 – April 11, 1980) was an American actress best known as the leading lady in most of the Edgar Kennedy comedy shorts. Early life Florence Lake (née Silverlake) was born on ...

as Penelope Beeler Witherspoon *

Dorothy Vaughan Dorothy Jean Johnson Vaughan (September 20, 1910 – November 10, 2008) was an American mathematician and human computer who worked for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), and NASA, at Langley Research Center in Hampton, ...

as Belle Crowley * Ben Carter as Benjamin *

Mantan Moreland Mantan Moreland (September 3, 1902 – September 28, 1973) was an American actor and comedian most popular in the 1930s and 1940s. He starred in numerous films. His daughter Marcella Moreland appeared as a child actor in several films. Ear ...

as Mantan *

Frankie Carle Frankie Carle (born Francis Nunzio Carlone, March 25, 1903 – March 7, 2001) was an American pianist and bandleader. As a very popular bandleader in the 1940s and 1950s, Carle was nicknamed "The Wizard of the Keyboard" for his piano skills. " Su ...

and His Orchestra

Production

''Riverboat Rhythm'' was originally conceived in September 1944 as a vehicle for its juvenile musical-comedy team of Glenn Vernon and

Marcy McGuire Marilyn Jeanne McGuire (February 22, 1926 – August 7, 2021) was an American actress and contralto singer who was active in the 1940s. Life and career McGuire was born on February 22, 1926, to James Joseph McGuire, a film projectionist and Anno ...

. When RKO suddenly released McGuire, Vernon suggested his erstwhile Broadway co-star Joan Newton to fill McGuire's role. The project was retooled as a Leon Errol comedy along the lines of his ''

Mexican Spitfire ''Mexican Spitfire'' refers to a series of eight comedy films released by RKO Pictures between 1940 and 1943 starring Lupe Vélez and Leon Errol. The movies featured the character of Carmelita Fuentes (Lupe Vélez), a sympathetic but temperamen ...

'' features, with Spitfire veterans Charles E. Roberts and Leslie Goodwins writing and directing, respectively. Errol joined the cast in May 1945''Box Office Digest'', May 19, 1945, p. 10. as "Matt Lindsay," the familiar character he'd played in the Spitfire comedies, and the script gave him opportunities for mistaken-identity masquerades (a Spitfire hallmark).

References

External links

* * * 1946 films American black-and-white films RKO Pictures films Films directed by Leslie Goodwins American comedy films 1946 comedy films 1940s English-language films 1940s American films {{1940s-US-comedy-film-stub