''The Eddie Cantor Story'' is a 1953 American

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 Character (arts), charac ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by Alfred E. Green and starring

Keefe Brasselle Keefe Brasselle (February 7, 1923 – July 7, 1981) was an American film actor, television actor/producer, and author. He is best remembered for the starring role in '' The Eddie Cantor Story'' (1953). Early years and career He was born Henr ...

, Marilyn Erskine and

Aline MacMahon Aline Laveen MacMahon (May 3, 1899 – October 12, 1991) was an American actress. Her Broadway stage career began under producer Edgar Selwyn in ''The Mirage'' during 1920. She made her screen debut in 1931, and worked extensively in film, the ...

. It is a

biopic A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of an actual person or group of people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudrama films and histo ...

based on the life of

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. Cantor was one of the prominent entertainers of his era. Some of h ...

featuring Brasselle as Cantor. It was produced and distributed by

Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

. Cantor himself appeared briefly in the film in a cameo role.

Plot

Raised by his grandmother on New York's East Side, 13-year-old Eddie sings while another neighborhood kid, Rocky Kramer, and his gang pick pockets. Eddie is sent by Grandma Esther to a boys' camp, where he entertains the others with his songs and routines. Ida Tobias, daughter of a local merchant, elopes with Eddie a few years later. Rocky is now a local politician and gets Eddie a job in a nightclub. Eddie tells the family he's the star performer there, but he's actually a singing waiter. But piano player

Jimmy Durante James Francis Durante ( , ; February 10, 1893 – January 29, 1980) was an American comedian, actor, singer, and pianist. His distinctive gravelly speech, Lower East Side New York accent, accent, comic language-butchery, jazz-influenced son ...

helps land him a job in a California show. A headline performer envious of Eddie's popularity pulls a prank, telling him Flo Ziegfeld wants him for the Follies show in New York. It turns out Ziegfeld has never heard of Eddie when he arrives at the theater, but an audition by Eddie is so good, Ziegfeld does indeed hire him. Ida gives birth to several children while Eddie becomes a big success. She's upset that his family doesn't seem to come first, and matters are complicated when Eddie's fortune is lost in the 1929 stock-market crash. A heart attack slows Eddie, as well, but he prospers on the radio as his health improves, and soon he is happy at work and at home.

Production and reception

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

attempted to duplicate the box-office success of '' The Jolson Story'', even hiring the Jolson film's producer Sidney Skolsky and director Alfred E. Green. ''The Eddie Cantor Story'' found an audience but might have fared better with a different leading man. Actor

played Cantor as a caricature with high-pressure dialogue and bulging eyes wide open; Brasselle was considerably taller than Cantor, which did not help the illusion. Cantor recorded 20 songs for the soundtrack, which Brasselle lip-synched. Eddie and Ida Cantor themselves are seen in a brief prologue and epilogue set in a projection room, where they are watching Brasselle in action; at the end of the film, Eddie tells Ida "I never looked better in my life"... and gives the audience a knowing, incredulous look. George Burns, in his memoir ''All My Best Friends'', claimed that Warner Bros. created a miracle producing the movie in that "it made Eddie Cantor's life boring". ''Motion Picture Daily'' drew a parallel with ''The Jolson Story'': " he producershave brought forth a directly comparable picture, with Eddie Cantor singing 20 of his great songs. All in all, it is an expertly wrought film record of a great entertainer's finely lived and happily continuing career." The reviewer spoke fondly of Cantor but had little to say about Brasselle: "Eddie had full approval right over the casting, and if he okayed Brasselle for the role, it would seem the rest of us haven't much qualification for quibbling about it."

Cast

* Marilyn Erskine as Ida *

as Grandma Esther * Gerald Mohr as Rocky * Arthur Franz as Harry Harris * Alex Gerry as David Tobias * Greta Granstedt as Rachel Tobias * Jackie Barnett as

* Dick Monda as Eddie Cantor Eddie - aged 13 * Marie Windsor as Cleo Abbott * Douglas Evans as Leo Raymond * Ann Doran as Lillian Edwards *

Hal March Hal March (born Harold Mendelson; April 22, 1920 – January 19, 1970) was an American comedian, actor, and television quiz show emcee. Early career March entered show business as a straight man in the vaudeville act the Hollywood Rioteers, b ...

as Gus Edwards * Susan Odin as Ida - age 11 * Owen Pritchard as Harry Harris - as a Boy * Will Rogers Jr. as

Will Rogers William Penn Adair Rogers (November 4, 1879 – August 15, 1935) was an American vaudeville performer, actor, and humorous social commentator. He was born as a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, in the Indian Territory (now part of Oklahoma ...

* William Forrest as Flo Ziegfeld * Nedrick Young as Jack * James Craven as Bert Glenville * Kathleen Case as Francey *

Chick Chandler Fehmer Christy "Chick" Chandler (January 18, 1905 – September 30, 1988) was an American film character actor who appeared in more than 130 films from 1925 through the mid-1950s. Chandler was known for his starring role as Toubo Smith in ...

as Lesser * Kermit Maynard as Willie * James Flavin as Kelly - Policeman *

Julie Newmar Julie Newmar (born Julia Chalene Newmeyer; August 16, 1933) is an American actress, dancer, and singer known for a variety of stage, screen, and television roles. She is also a writer, lingerie designer, and real estate Business magnate, mogul. ...

as Showgirl *

Barbara Pepper Barbara Pepper (born Marion Pepper; May 31, 1915 – July 18, 1969) was an American stage, television, radio, and film actress. She is best known as the first Doris Ziffel on the sitcom '' Green Acres''. Early life and career Marion Pepper ...

as Patron *

as Audience Member

Production

The film was announced in 1948 with a budget of $3 million.''Variety'' 18 February 1948 p 14
/ref>

References

External links

*
''The Eddie Cantor Story'' at TCM Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eddie Cantor Story 1953 films 1950s biographical films 1953 musical films American biographical films American musical films Biographical films about entertainers Films about musical theatre Films directed by Alfred E. Green Warner Bros. films Films set in 1905 Films set in the 1920s 1950s English-language films 1950s American films English-language musical films English-language biographical films