Varsity Show (film)

1937 film by William Keighley

This article is about the 1937 film. For the Columbia University stage show, see Varsity Show.

Varsity Show

Directed by| William Keighley
Screenplay by| Jerry Wald
Reichard Macaulay
Sig Herzig
Warren Duff
Story by| Warren Duff
Sig Herzig
Starring| Dick Powell
Fred Waring and Waring's Pennsylvanians
Ted Healy
Priscilla Lane
Cinematography| Sol Polito
George Barnes (finale)
Edited by| George Amy
Music by| Ray Heindorf (uncredited)
Heinz Roemheld (uncredited)
Distributed by| Warner Bros.

Release date

* October 4, 1937 (1937-10-04)

Running time

| 121 minutes (original release)
80 minutes (edited release)
Country| United States
Language| English
Budget| over $1 million[1]

Varsity Show is a 1937 American musical film directed by William Keighley from a script by Jerry Wald, Richard Macaulay, Warren Duff and Sig Herzig and starring Dick Powell, Fred Waring and Waring's Pennsylvanians, Ted Healy, and Priscilla Lane. Released by Warner Bros., it features songs by Richard A. Whiting and many others. The finale was directed by Busby Berkeley.

## Plot

[edit]

The film follows a group of students at fictional Winfield College who butt heads with their faculty advisor while producing the annual Varsity Show. They decide to enlist help from an alumnus, Chuck Daly (Dick Powell), who is now a Broadway producer, to direct the show. What they don't know is that Daly's last three shows were big flops.

Professor Biddle, Winfield's drama professor, wants a production in the fine tradition of College Circa 1900. The students want to stage a show that is au courant, backed by Professor Mason, Biddle's assistant. Inevitably, Daly and the students clash with the stodgy Biddle. There is also the complication that Hollywood wants Chuck to come out and direct a musical, and is pressing him for an answer.

A series of humorous events ensues, including an outbreak of mumps Chuck uses to temporarily get Biddle out of the picture; a counterstroke by Biddle involving exams that must be passed for the students to maintain eligibility for student activities; and a student strike protesting Biddle's continuing as producer of the Varsity Show that attracts national attention. On learning the Hollywood offer has been withdrawn and in need of money, Daly returns to New York City and signs a contract to perform in another show.

The Winfield students aren't willing to give up on Chuck. Led by Professor Mason, they follow him to the city. They take over the Stuyvesant Theater, and give their first performance to a significant percentage of the NYPD, the local National Guard unit, and the Mayor, who all came to eject them from their illegal occupation of the theater. The Varsity Show opens on Broadway with great success, and Daly's reputation as a producer is rehabilitated.

## Cast

[edit]

* Dick Powell as Charles 'Chuck' Daly
* Fred Waring and His Pennsylvanians as Fred Waring Orchestra
* Ted Healy as William Williams
* Rosemary Lane as Barbara 'Babs' Steward
* Priscilla Lane as Betty Bradley
* Walter Catlett as Professor Sylvester Biddle
* Johnnie Davis as Buzz Bolton
* Ford Washington Lee as Buck
* John William Sublett as Bubbles
* Fred Waring as Ernie Mason
* Lee Dixon (actor) as Johnny 'Rubberlegs' Stevens
* Sterling Holloway as Trout
* Mabel Todd as Cuddles
* Scotty Bates as Scotty
* George MacFarland as Hap
* Poley McClintock as Poley

## Production

[edit]

Almost the entirety of Varsity Show was filmed on the campus of Pomona College ("Winfield College" in the movie), which lead to students cutting classes.[2] In 1937, Fred Waring was approached to play a starring role in this film. He brought his famous glee club, the Pennsylvanians, to the shoot and planned on using the college glee club from Pomona College for additional singers. When Waring arrived at the campus he found the Glee Club conductor was ill but his replacement was Robert Shaw.[3][4] Shaw followed Fred Waring, after the movie was finished, to New York. There, Shaw founded the Collegiate Chorale and the Robert Shaw Chorale. Robert Shaw went on to be one of the most important personalities in American choral music in the 20th century.[5]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "College Cycle in Brisk Play". Variety. 14 July 1937. p. 25.
2. ^ "1937 | Pomona Timeline". www.pomona.edu. 2020-09-15. Retrieved 2024-03-18.
3. ^ "Beginning of Career - Fred Waring". RobertShaw.Website. Retrieved 2024-03-18.
4. ^ "Discovered by Fred Waring". RobertShaw.Website. Retrieved 2024-03-18.
5. ^ "1930's and 40's- Radio Days". Penn State University Libraries. 2016-09-16. Retrieved 2024-03-18.

## External links

[edit]

* Varsity Show at IMDb
* Varsity Show at the TCM Movie Database
* Varsity Show at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films

## Bibliography

[edit]

* Green, Stanley (1999) Hollywood Musicals Year by Year (2nd ed.), pub. Hal Leonard Corporation ISBN 0-634-00765-3 page 72

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by William Keighley

* The Match King (1932)
* Ladies They Talk About (1933)
* Easy to Love (1934)
* Journal of a Crime (1934)
* Big Hearted Herbert (1934)
* Kansas City Princess (1934)
* Dr. Monica (1934)
* Babbitt (1934)
* The Right to Live (1935)
* G Men (1935)
* Mary Jane's Pa (1935)
* Special Agent (1935)
* Stars over Broadway (1935)
* The Singing Kid (1936)
* Bullets or Ballots (1936)
* The Green Pastures (1936)
* God's Country and the Woman (1937)
* The Prince and the Pauper (1937)
* Varsity Show (1937)
* The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
* Valley of the Giants (1938)
* Secrets of an Actress (1938)
* Brother Rat (1938)
* Yes, My Darling Daughter (1939)
* Each Dawn I Die (1939)
* The Fighting 69th (1940)
* Torrid Zone (1940)
* No Time for Comedy (1940)
* Four Mothers (1941)
* The Bride Came C.O.D. (1941)
* The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942)
* George Washington Slept Here (1942)
* Target for Today (1944)
* Honeymoon (1947)
* The Street with No Name (1948)
* Rocky Mountain (1950)
* Close to My Heart (1951)
* The Master of Ballantrae (1953)

* v
* t
* e

Busby Berkeley

Broadway plays
choreographed|

* A Connecticut Yankee (1927)
* Present Arms (1928)
* Sweet and Low (1930)

Films directed|

* 42nd Street (musical numbers, 1933)
* She Had to Say Yes (1933)
* Footlight Parade (musical numbers, 1933)
* Dames (musical numbers, 1934)
* Fashions of 1934 (musical numbers, 1934)
* Gold Diggers of 1935 (1935)
* Bright Lights (1935)
* I Live for Love (1935)
* In Caliente (musical numbers, 1935)
* Stars over Broadway (musical numbers, 1935)
* Stage Struck (1936)
* Varsity Show (finale, 1937)
* The Singing Marine (musical numbers, 1937)
* Gold Diggers of 1937 (musical numbers, 1937)
* The Go Getter (1937)
* Hollywood Hotel (1937)
* Men Are Such Fools (1938)
* Gold Diggers in Paris (musical numbers, 1938)
* Garden of the Moon (1938)
* Comet over Broadway (1938)
* Broadway Serenade (finale, 1939)
* They Made Me a Criminal (1939)
* Fast and Furious (1939)
* Babes in Arms (1939)
* The Wizard of Oz (scenes cut, 1939)
* Forty Little Mothers (1940)
* Strike Up The Band (1940)
* Blonde Inspiration (1941)
* Lady Be Good (musical numbers, 1941)
* Ziegfeld Girl (musical numbers, 1941)
* Babes on Broadway (1941)
* For Me and My Gal (1942)
* Born to Sing (finale, 1942)
* Cabin in the Sky ("Shine" sequence, 1943)
* The Gang's All Here (1943)
* Girl Crazy ("I Got Rhythm" sequence, 1943)
* Cinderella Jones (1946)
* Take Me Out to the Ball Game (1949)
* Annie Get Your Gun (scenes cut, 1950)

Films
choreographed
only|

* Whoopee! (1930)
* Kiki (1931)
* Palmy Days (1931)
* Flying High (1931)
* Sky Devils (1932)
* Girl Crazy (1932)
* Night World (1932)
* Bird of Paradise (1932)
* The Kid From Spain (1932)
* Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933)
* Roman Scandals (1933)
* Wonder Bar (1934)
* Romance on the High Seas (1948)
* Call Me Mister (1951)
* Million Dollar Mermaid (1952)
* Small Town Girl (1953)
* Rose Marie (1954)
* Billy Rose's Jumbo (1962)

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