- Come Up Smiling
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Come Up Smiling Directed by William Freshman Produced by Ken G. Hall Written by William Freshman
Ken G. Hall (story)Starring Will Mahoney
Shirley Ann RichardsCinematography George Heath Editing by William Shepherd Studio Cinesound Productions Release date(s) November 1939 Running time 77 minutes (Australia)
65 mins (UK)Country Australia Language English Budget ₤22,000[1] Come Up Smiling is a 1939 Australian comedy starring popular US stage comedian Will Mahoney.
Contents
Synopsis
Barney O'Hara (Will Mahoney) is a performer in a touring carnival who tries to raise money to save the voice of his talented singer daughter Pat (Jean Hatton. To do this he agrees to fight a boxer known as 'The Killer' (Alec Kellaway), and is helped in his training by dancer Kitty Katkin (Evie Hayes). Barney defeats the Killer and wins the money to enable Pat to have her operation.
Production
It was the only film from Cinesound Productions not directed by Ken G. Hall. The writer-director, William Freshman, was born in Australia but had been working in the British film industry. Freshman was hired to give Hall time to prepare for other projects.
"We are now planning bigger things, as we are well able to do, by reason of the additional time at my disposal," said Hall at the time. "Opportunity will be taken to find big subjects from which to make big pictures — like Robbery Under Arms, which I expect to direct personally, Overland Telegraph, Eureka Stockade, and others of that calibre, though not all necessarily historic."[2]. (NB None of these movies ended up being made.)
Hall later wrote that Freshman "seemed to lack the vital comedy sense we needed, but he was a good constructor in a general way of screenplay writing. The boxing ring sequence was, I think, one of the funniest things we did at Cinesound."[3]
The lead role was played by American vaudevillian Will Mahoney who was very popular in Australia. `During filming, Mahoney said, "I think I'll be a big success in this film, but don't get me wrong. It's only because I'm playing myself and I feel I know me pretty well."[4] He was joined in the film with his wife and regular stage co-star Evie Hayes.
The romantic leads were played by Shirley Ann Richards and John Fleeting. Fleeting had previously appeared in Gone to the Dogs (1939).
During filming, Jean Hatton was injured falling down two flights of stairs but managed to recover.[5]
Reception
The film was not an immediate success at the box office so Hall had it re-cut and re-released as Ants in His Pants, adding a new song to explain the title. The movie performed much better on re-release.[6] [7]
Cast
- Will Mahoney as Barney O'Hara
- Shirley Ann Richards as Eve Cameron
- Evie Hayes as Kitty Katkin
- Jean Hatton as Pat
- Sidney Wheeler as Worthington Howard
- Alec Kellaway as 'The Killer'
- Guy Hastings as Colonel Cameron
- John Fleeting as John Wynyard
- Ronald Whelan as Max
- Harry Abdy as Sharkey
- Lou Vernon as Signor Rudolpho
- Harold Meade as Sir James Hall
- Charles Zoli as Rudolpho's valet
- Bob Geraghty as pressman
- Jack Dunleavy as referee
- George Lloyd as men in crowd
- Chips Rafferty as an extra
- Charles Tingwell as extra[8]
- Owen Weingott as extra[9]
References
- ^ Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, 186.
- ^ "Ken Hall Now Producer." The Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 3 Aug 1939: 7 Section: Second Section
- ^ Ken G. Hall, Directed by Ken G. Hall, Lansdowne Press, 1977 p 154.
- ^ "NEW CINESOUND FILM." Examiner (Launceston) 21 Oct 1939: 12
- ^ "Jean Hatton Injured on Film Set." The Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 1 Jul 1939
- ^ "Ants in His Pants", The Sydney Morning Herald, 7 Dec 1939: 31
- ^ Philip Taylor, 'Ken G. Hall', Cinema Papers January 1974 p 86
- ^ http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/62513/20060914-0000/www.pdgv.com.au/news/2003-02-03_00.html
- ^ http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/62513/20060914-0000/www.pdgv.com.au/news/2003-02-03_00.html
External links
Categories:- English-language films
- 1939 films
- Australian films
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