Local Boy Makes Good

1931 film

Local Boy Makes Good

Theatrical release poster

Directed by| Mervyn LeRoy
Screenplay by| Robert Lord
Raymond Griffith
Ray Enright
Starring| Joe E. Brown
Dorothy Lee
Ruth Hall
Edward Woods
Edward Nugent
Wade Boteler
Cinematography| Sol Polito
Edited by| Jack Killifer

Production
company

First National Pictures

Distributed by| Warner Bros.

Release date

* November 27, 1931 (1931-11-27)

Running time

| 68 minutes
Country| United States
Language| English
Budget| $310,000[1]
Box office| $643,000[1]

Local Boy Makes Good is a 1931 American Pre-Code comedy film directed by Mervyn LeRoy and written by Robert Lord, Raymond Griffith and Ray Enright.[2] The film stars Joe E. Brown, Dorothy Lee, Ruth Hall, Edward Woods, Edward Nugent and Wade Boteler. The film was released by Warner Bros. on November 27, 1931.[3][4]

## Plot

[edit]

Sheepish bookstore employee John Miller has become infatuated with a college girl, Julia Winters, he has never met. His love letters to her are accidentally mailed, so Julia comes to visit, under the mistaken impression John is a college track star.

While co-worker Marjorie helps continue his deception, John tries to join the school's team. His wild javelin throw nearly kills other athletes, who chase him off the field. The college's coach is amazed at how fast John can run.

Julia figures out she's been had. A psychology student, she analyzes John as a boy with an inferiority complex. After the coach finds John and invites him to run, Julia persuades him to race against her old boyfriend, Spike Hoyt, a star athlete and a bully. Majorie eventually talks John into it, even getting him drunk enough to do it.

## Cast

[edit]

* Joe E. Brown as John Augustus Miller
* Dorothy Lee as Julia Winters
* Ruth Hall as Marjorie Blake
* Edward Woods as Spike Hoyt
* Edward Nugent as Wally Pierce
* Wade Boteler as Doc
* John Harrington as Coach Jackson
* William Burress as Colonel Small

## Box office

[edit]

According to Warner Bros records the film earned $500,000 domestically and $143,000 foreign.[1]

## Preservation status

[edit]

* A print is housed in the Library of Congress collection.[5]

## See also

[edit]

* List of films about the sport of athletics

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c Warner Bros financial information in The William Schaefer Ledger. See Appendix 1, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, (1995) 15:sup1, 1-31 p 13 DOI: 10.1080/01439689508604551
2. ^ The AFI Catalog of Feature Films 1893-1993:Local Boy Makes Good
3. ^ "Local Boy Makes Good (1931) - Overview". TCM.com. Retrieved August 9, 2015.
4. ^ Hall, Mordaunt (November 27, 1931). "Movie Review - Local Boy Makes Good - THE SCREFN; A Mighty Failure. A Comic Botany Student". The New York Times. Retrieved August 9, 2015.
5. ^ Catalog of Holdings The American Film Institute Collection and The United Artists Collection at The Library of Congress, (<-book title) p.105 c.1978 by The American Film Institute

## External links

[edit]

* Local Boy Makes Good at IMDb

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by Mervyn LeRoy

1920s|

* No Place to Go (1927)
* Flying Romeos (1928)
* Harold Teen (1928)
* Oh, Kay! (1928)
* Naughty Baby (1928)
* Hot Stuff (1929)
* Broadway Babies (1929)
* Little Johnny Jones (1929)

1930s|

* Playing Around (1930)
* Showgirl in Hollywood (1930)
* Numbered Men (1930)
* Top Speed (1930)
* Little Caesar (1931)
* Gentleman's Fate (1931)
* Too Young to Marry (1931)
* Broadminded (1931)
* Five Star Final (1931)
* Local Boy Makes Good (1931)
* Tonight or Never (1931)
* Big City Blues (1932)
* Two Seconds (1932)
* Three on a Match (1932)
* The Heart of New York (1932)
* I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932)
* High Pressure (1932)
* Elmer, the Great (1933)
* Hard to Handle (1933)
* Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933)
* Tugboat Annie (1933)
* The World Changes (1933)
* Heat Lightning (1934)
* Hi Nellie! (1934)
* Sweet Adeline (1934)
* Happiness Ahead (1934)
* Page Miss Glory (1935)
* I Found Stella Parish (1935)
* Oil for the Lamps of China (1935)
* Anthony Adverse (1936)
* Three Men on a Horse (1936)
* The King and the Chorus Girl (1937)
* They Won't Forget (1937, uncredited)
* Fools for Scandal (1938)
* The Wizard of Oz (1939, uncredited)

1940s|

* Waterloo Bridge (1940)
* Escape (1940)
* Blossoms in the Dust (1941)
* Unholy Partners (1941)
* Johnny Eager (1941)
* Random Harvest (1942)
* Madame Curie (1943)
* Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944)
* The House I Live In (1945)
* Without Reservations (1946)
* Desire Me (1947)
* Homecoming (1948)
* Any Number Can Play (1949)
* East Side, West Side (1949)
* Little Women (1949)

1950s|

* Quo Vadis (1951)
* Lovely to Look At (1952)
* Million Dollar Mermaid (1952)
* Latin Lovers (1953)
* Rose Marie (1954)
* Mister Roberts (1955)
* Strange Lady in Town (1955)
* The Bad Seed (1956)
* Toward the Unknown (1956)
* No Time for Sergeants (1958)
* Home Before Dark (1958)
* The FBI Story (1959)

1960s|

* Wake Me When It's Over (1960)
* A Majority of One (1961)
* The Devil at 4 O'Clock (1961)
* Gypsy (1962)
* Mary, Mary (1963)
* Moment to Moment (1966)
* The Green Berets (1968)

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