International House (1933)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

A. Edward Sutherland

Writers:

Neil Brant (story)
Walter DeLeon (writer)

Release Date:

27 May 1933 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

Grand Hotel of comedy

Plot:

Assorted wacky characters converge on a Chinese hotel to bid on a new invention...television.

Plot Keywords:

Hotel | Professor | Television | China | Autogyro

Cast

Peggy Hopkins Joyce	...	Herself
W.C. Fields	...	Prof. Henry R. Quail
Rudy Vallee	...	Himself
Stuart Erwin	...	Tommy Nash
George Burns	...	Doctor Burns
Gracie Allen	...	Nurse Allen
Sari Maritza	...	Carol Fortescue
F. Chase Taylor	...	Colonel Stoopnagle (as Colonel Stoopnagle)
Budd Hulick	...	Budd (as Budd)
Cab Calloway	...	Himself
Bela Lugosi	...	Gen. Nicholas Petronovich
Rose Marie	...	Herself (as Baby Rose Marie)
Franklin Pangborn	...	Hotel Manager
Edmund Breese	...	Doctor Wong
Lumsden Hare	...	Sir Mortimer Fortescue

Runtime:

70 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

During the filming of one of W.C. Fields' scenes, a mild earthquake struck Los Angeles. The earthquake was supposedly captured on film. In the film clip, Fields and his co-stars are speaking their lines on the hotel lobby set, when the picture begins to shake as if the camera is vibrating. A chandelier on the set begins to swing back and forth, and a lamp suddenly falls over. Fields calmly ushers his co-stars off the soundstage, telling them to stay calm and walk slowly. The "earthquake footage" of Fields was played in newsreels across the country in the weeks following the 1933 quake. Nearly forty years later, however, director Eddie Sutherland admitted that the "earthquake footage" was a hoax concocted by Fields and himself. It was done by rigging wires on the lamp and chandelier, and shaking the camera to simulate an earthquake. Sutherland claimed that he and Fields were amazed when the "earthquake footage" was accepted as genuine by newsreel distributors. "We shared a big laugh and an even bigger drink," the director recalled. To this day, the fake "earthquake footage" is occasionally broadcast and accepted as genuine by entertainment TV shows such as "Access Hollywood."

Goofs:

Continuity: The hole in the roof of Prof. Quail's car disappears and reappears during the chase.

Quotes:

Tommy Nash: Are you going to marry a millionaire ?
Peggy: I never marry anything else.

Movie Connections:

Featured in 100 Years of Comedy (1997) (V)

Soundtrack:

My Bluebird's Singing the Blues

For old time movie fans, there's a lot to please in this strange melange

I've always wanted to use the word 'melange' in a review and here I finally have done it. That word is appropriate because this film is jam-packed with a wide variety of items--like a chef salad of films! There's a lot of comedy with W.C. Fields as well as Burns and Allen, romance with Stu Erwin and his sweetie, a jealous ex-husband (Bela Lugosi) and a lot of special appearances by radio stars (such as Baby Rose Marie--the same lady who later starred on "The Dick Van Dyke Show") and Cab Calloway--singing the ultra-bizarre "Reefer Man"--a film that makes fun of pot smoking! Yes, I did mean marijuana! This Pre-Code film has a lot of racy material other than the film--such as plenty of double-entendres by Fields, cohabitation and a song and dance number with surprisingly scantily clad ladies. Only a year later, after a tougher Production Code was enacted, much of this film simply wouldn't have been allowed--it just wasn't "proper family entertainment" according to the Hays Office (which is lampooned in a comment by Fields late in the film).

In many ways, the film is like a variety show and the plot really is rather irrelevant, though it is interesting to see such an early film talk about and supposedly demonstrate television. With so much variety in the film, many of the segments fall a bit short, but since they come and go so quickly, you're bound to be entertained only a moment later. Not great entertainment, but clearly an important film for lovers of classic cinema.