Radio sensation Kay Kyser and his band are lured to Hollywood to make a movie, but the screenwriters assigned to the project have difficulty tailoring a script to Kyser's persona.Radio sensation Kay Kyser and his band are lured to Hollywood to make a movie, but the screenwriters assigned to the project have difficulty tailoring a script to Kyser's persona.Radio sensation Kay Kyser and his band are lured to Hollywood to make a movie, but the screenwriters assigned to the project have difficulty tailoring a script to Kyser's persona.
Kay Kyser Band
- Kay Kyser's Band
- (as Kay Kyser's Band)
M.A. Bogue
- Ish Kabibble
- (as Ish Kabibble)
Kathryn Adams
- Mrs. Elizabeth Ralston
- (uncredited)
Mary Bayless
- Party Guest
- (uncredited)
Ernani Bernardi
- Clarinetist
- (uncredited)
Harrison Carroll
- Harrison Carroll
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThis movie provides a rare opportunity to see three of the most influential Hollywood columnists active at the time. Sheilah Graham, Hedda Hopper and Jimmy Starr all appear as themselves in the press conference / party scene at the house.
- GoofsThe title card for Kyser's screen test lists him as age 32. The movie was released in 1939, when Kyser turned 34 (b. 1905).
- Crazy creditsListed in the acting credits were "The College of Musical Knowledge", but that referred to Kay Kyser's audience at the radio program, which he called "students."
- ConnectionsReferenced in Africa Squeaks (1940)
- SoundtracksThe Little Red Fox (N'Ya N'Ya You Can't Catch Me)
(1939)
Music by Lew Porter
Lyrics by James V. Kern, Hy Heath, Johnny Lange
Played by the Kay Kyser Band (uncredited) and sung by Ginny Simms (uncredited), Harry Babbitt (uncredited), Sully Mason (uncredited), M.A. Bogue (uncredited) and Kay Kyser (uncredited) at the studio
Reprised on the radio show at the end
Featured review
An introduction to the wacky world of Kay Kyser and his Kollege of Musical Knowledge
Saw this on TCM. Had no idea that band leader and radio personality Kay Kyser headed a series of 7 RKO films, around 1940. This film, available free at YouTube will give you a taste of Kyser's personality and comedic talent...........The first and last parts give you a sampling of what Kyser's radio program Kollege of of Musical Knowledge was like: a mix of music and low key comedy, including a sampling of the portion that gives the film it's title, and a comedic sketch for the live radio audience.......... In between, his band members convinced him to take up a Hollywood offer to do some pictures with him and his band and singers. Actually, most of the time is taken up with trying to devise a good script for such a film. E. E. Horton and Hobart Canonaugh serve as the dunce script writers, who fail to come up with anything other than an improbable screenplay where Kay plays a romantic gondolier from the isle of Capri, who woos the princess Angelica(Lucille Ball), overlooking the canal where he is. She lets down a rope ladder for Kay to climb up to her window. Kay plays it for slapstick laughs, giving the producer, played by charismatic Adolphe Menjou, a massive headache. Adolphe is his usual bombastic self. Dennis O'Keef plays Kay's tall band manager, while Kay's actual band manager for many years : M. A. Bogus, plays his usual somewhat comical Ish Kubble character, with Three Stooges' Moe's bangs as his outstanding visual characteristic............Veteran actress May Robson play's Kay's Grandma, from Rocky Mount, N. C., where Kay actually spent his youth, accounting for his southern lingo and informal manner. She adds some humor and common sense advice. .............Kay had a male and female singer attached to his band, who do a bit singing here and there. They were the gorgeous Ginny Simms, with the million dollar smile, and Harry Babbit. Unfortunately, the songs are all quite forgettable. I was already familiar with Ginny in the later Technicolor films "Broadway Rhythm" and "Night and Day", in which she sings a variety of well recognized classic songs. Somehow, she never became a big name film singing star.
- estherwalker-34710
- Oct 29, 2021
- Permalink
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $271,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 34 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content
Top Gap
By what name was That's Right - You're Wrong (1939) officially released in Canada in English?
Answer