Transatlantic Merry-Go-Round

Transatlantic Merry-Go-Round
Transatlantic Merry-Go-Round
Directed by	Benjamin Stoloff
Written by	Leon Gordon
Produced by	Edward Small
Cinematography	Ted Tetzlaff
Edited by	Hanson T. Fritch; Grant Whytock
Music by	Alfred Newman; Richard A. Whiting
Production; company	Reliance Pictures
Distributed by	United Artists
Release date	November 2, 1934;
Running time	91 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Transatlantic Merry-Go-Round is a 1934 American drama film with musical and comedic elements, directed by Benjamin Stoloff.

Plot

Gangster Lee Lother (Sidney Blackmer) is shot and killed during an ocean liner cruise, and we're introduced in flashback to the interwoven stories and characters of the suspects: con-man and jewel-thief Jimmy Brett and his accomplice, a wife who bids goodbye to her husband without realizing he'll stowaway to spy on her, the star of the ship's entertainment revue and her brother with gambling debts, and the Inspector who interrupts his vacation to solve the case.

The film's many musical numbers include a Busby Berkeley-like number with chorus girls in geometric patterns filmed from overhead. A song performed by The Boswell Sisters titled "Rock and Roll", written by Richard A. Whiting and Sidney Clare, is sometimes credited as the first use of that term in a popular song,^[1] although in this case the lyrics referred to the motion of the ocean.^[2]

Cast

Gene Raymond as Jimmy Brett
Nancy Carroll as Sally Marsh
Jack Benny as Chad Denby
Sydney Howard as Dan Campbell, the Drunk
Mitzi Green as Mitzi^[3]
Sid Silvers as Shorty
Frank Parker as Frank, the Tenor
Sidney Blackmer as Lee Lother
Ralph Morgan as Herbert Rosson
Shirley Grey as Anya Rosson
Patsy Kelly as Patsy Clarke
Sam Hardy as Jack Summers
William 'Stage' Boyd as Joe Saunders
Robert Elliott as Inspector 'Mac' McKinney
The Boswell Sisters as themselves
Allan Cavan as Ship's Officer (uncredited)
André Cheron as Frenchman (uncredited)
Wallis Clark as Ship's Captain (uncredited)
Don Douglas as Purser (uncredited)
Bess Flowers as Woman in Audience (uncredited)
Mary Forbes as Passenger (uncredited)
Esther Howard as Passenger (uncredited)
Wilfred Lucas as Policeman at Dock (uncredited)
Tom McGuire as Detective (uncredited)
Wedgwood Nowell as Waiter (uncredited)
Dennis O'Keefe as Passenger Watching Revue (uncredited)
Lee Phelps as Porter at Dock (uncredited)
Syd Saylor as Campbell's Taxi Driver (uncredited)
Larry Steers as Passenger Asked to Get Purser (uncredited)

Production

London comic Sydney Howard was imported to star. The original title was London Showboat or Showboat of 1934.^[4]

References

^ Young, William H.; Young, Nancy K. (2007). The Great Depression in America: A Cultural Encyclopedia, Volume 1. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. p. 506. ISBN 978-0-313-33521-1. Retrieved March 13, 2012.
^ "Rock and Roll - the Boswell Sisters".
^ Schallert, Edwin (July 19, 1934). "Mitzi Green, Former Child Star, Gets First Grown-up Role in Edward Small Feature: ACTRESS SCHEDULED TO DO HER IMPERSONATIONS D. W. Griffith Signs to Direct English Pictures; Jack Oakie Stays on at Paramount". Los Angeles Times. p. 11.
^ Schallert, Edwin (May 3, 1934). "Sydney Howard, Top-Notch Comedy Star of England, Signed for Work in Hollywood: "LONDON SHOW BOAT" TO EXPLOIT STAR'S TALENT "Serenade" by Rex Beach May Be Lilian Harvey Film; Peggy Wood Leaves for East". Los Angeles Times. p. 13.

External links

[1] Young, William H.; Young, Nancy K. (2007). The Great Depression in America: A Cultural Encyclopedia, Volume 1. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. p. 506. ISBN 978-0-313-33521-1. Retrieved March 13, 2012.

[2] "Rock and Roll - the Boswell Sisters".

[3] Schallert, Edwin (July 19, 1934). "Mitzi Green, Former Child Star, Gets First Grown-up Role in Edward Small Feature: ACTRESS SCHEDULED TO DO HER IMPERSONATIONS D. W. Griffith Signs to Direct English Pictures; Jack Oakie Stays on at Paramount". Los Angeles Times. p. 11.

[4] Schallert, Edwin (May 3, 1934). "Sydney Howard, Top-Notch Comedy Star of England, Signed for Work in Hollywood: "LONDON SHOW BOAT" TO EXPLOIT STAR'S TALENT "Serenade" by Rex Beach May Be Lilian Harvey Film; Peggy Wood Leaves for East". Los Angeles Times. p. 13.

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v t e Films produced by Edward Small
1910-20s	Who's Your Neighbor? (1917) The Sporting Lover (1926) The Cohens and Kellys (1926) The Gorilla (1927) McFadden's Flats (1927) Ladies' Night in a Turkish Bath (1928) The Cohens and the Kellys in Paris (1928) My Man (1928) Companionate Marriage (1928) Song of Love (1929)
1930s	Clancy in Wall Street (1930) Igloo (1932) I Cover the Waterfront (1933) Palooka (1933) The Count of Monte Cristo (1934) Transatlantic Merry-Go-Round (1934) Let 'Em Have It (1935) Red Salute (1935) The Melody Lingers On (1935) The Last of the Mohicans (1936) The Bride Walks Out (1936) We Who Are About to Die (1937) Sea Devils (1937) New Faces of 1937 (1937) Super-Sleuth (1937) The Toast of New York (1937) The Duke of West Point (1938) King of the Turf (1939) The Man in the Iron Mask (1939)
1940s	My Son, My Son! (1940) The Son of Monte Cristo (1940) South of Pago Pago (1940) Kit Carson (1940) International Lady (1941) The Corsican Brothers (1941) A Gentleman After Dark (1942) Twin Beds (1942) Miss Annie Rooney (1942) Friendly Enemies (1942) Up in Mabel's Room (1944) Abroad with Two Yanks (1944) Brewster's Millions (1945) Getting Gertie's Garter (1945) Temptation (1946) The Return of Monte Cristo (1946) T-Men (1947) The Black Arrow (1948) The Fuller Brush Man (1948) Raw Deal (1948) Walk a Crooked Mile (1948) Black Magic (1949)
1950s	Davy Crockett, Indian Scout (1950) The Iroquois Trail (1950) Valentino (1951) Lorna Doone (1951) The Texas Rangers (1951) Indian Uprising (1952) Scandal Sheet (1952) The Brigand (1952) Cripple Creek (1952) Kansas City Confidential (1952) The Bandits of Corsica (1953) Captain John Smith and Pocahontas (1953) Dragon's Gold (1953) Gun Belt (1953) The Neanderthal Man (1953) 99 River Street (1953) Raiders of the Seven Seas (1953) Sabre Jet (1953) The Steel Lady (1953) Wicked Woman (1953) Captain Kidd and the Slave Girl (1954) Khyber Patrol (1954) The Lone Gun (1954) Overland Pacific (1954) Return to Treasure Island (1954) Southwest Passage (1954) Down Three Dark Streets (1954) New York Confidential (1955) The Naked Street (1955) Top Gun (1955) Comanche (1955) Gun Brothers (1956) UFO (1956) Chicago Confidential (1957) 5 Steps to Danger (1957) Gun Duel in Durango (1957) The Iron Sheriff (1957) Monkey on My Back (1957) Curse of the Faceless Man (1958) Hong Kong Confidential (1958) It! The Terror from Beyond Space (1958) Toughest Gun in Tombstone (1958) Witness for the Prosecution (1958) The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake (1959) Guns, Girls and Gangsters (1959) Inside the Mafia (1959) Invisible Invaders (1959) Pier 5, Havana (1959) Riot in Juvenile Prison (1959) Solomon and Sheba (1959) Timbuktu (1959) (had name removed from credits) Vice Raid (1959)
1960s	Cage of Evil (1960) A Dog's Best Friend (1960) Gunfighters of Abilene (1960) The Music Box Kid (1960) Noose for a Gunman (1960) Oklahoma Territory (1960) Three Came to Kill (1960) The Walking Target (1960) Boy Who Caught a Crook (1961) The Cat Burglar (1961) Doctor Blood's Coffin (1961) Frontier Uprising (1961) Five Guns to Tombstone (1961) The Flight That Disappeared (1961) The Gambler Wore a Gun (1961) Gun Fight (1961) Mary Had a Little... (1961) Operation Bottleneck (1961) Police Dog Story (1961) Secret of Deep Harbor (1961) The Snake Woman (1961) Three on a Spree (1961) When the Clock Strikes (1961) You Have to Run Fast (1961) The Greengage Summer (1961) Beauty and the Beast (1962) The Clown and the Kid (1962) Deadly Duo (1962) Gun Street (1962) Incident in an Alley (1962) Jack the Giant Killer (1962) Saintly Sinners (1962) Tower of London (1962) Diary of a Madman (1963) Twice Told Tales (1963) I'll Take Sweden (1965) Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number! (1966) Frankie and Johnny (1966) The Wicked Dreams of Paula Schultz (1968) The File of the Golden Goose (1969) The Christine Jorgensen Story (1970)