Bottoms Up (1934)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

David Butler

Writers:

David Butler (screenplay)
David Butler (story)

Release Date:

13 April 1934 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Musical

Tagline:

For those who like to laugh and sing when tears get in their eyes!

Plot:

Promoter Smoothe King helps a pair of phonies con their way into a movie company. As Wanda heads toward stardom...

Cast

Spencer Tracy	...	'Smoothie' King
Pat Paterson	...	Wanda Gale
John Boles	...	Hal Reed
Sid Silvers	...	Spud Mosco aka Reginald Morris
Herbert Mundin	...	Limey Brook aka Lord Brocklehurst
Harry Green	...	Louis Baer aka Wolf
Thelma Todd	...	Judith Marlowe
Robert Emmett O'Connor	...	Detective Rooney
Dell Henderson	...	Lane Worthing
Suzanne Kaaren	...	Wolf's Secretary
Douglas Wood	...	Baldwin

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Fox Film Corporation

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Maude: Maude's Good Deed (#1.20)" (1973)

Soundtrack:

Turn on the Moon

The New York Times said `Bottoms Up is Tip-Top, in the form of the Once In A Life Time school of Hollywood kidding.'

The New York Times said `Bottoms Up is Tip-Top, in the form of the Once In A Life Time school of Hollywood kidding.' Spencer Tracy (Smoothie) in a Lee Tracy type role as a star promoter and his comic-relief sidekicks Herbert Mundin (Limey) and Sid Silvers (Spud) discover a perky beauty, Pat Paterson (later married to Charles Boyer) at a dime-store counter and decide to make her a movie star. John Boles is perfectly cast as an overrated actor who is bored and drinks too much. Tracy manipulates the shells until his little pearl is forcibly discovered by having his protégé pretend to be visiting royalty. Problems arise as this new starlet starts to fall her leading man and not Tracy. Sexy Thelma Todd and former silent film director and frequent Hal Roach star Del Henderson are featured in minor roles. Bottoms Up had some of the best quotes of the weekend as when a song hawker, fast-talking his list of titles for sale, ends the rigmarole with, `…and ‘I Surrender To You' for only ten cents.' Or later when Smoothie suggests to Spud that he see a plastic surgeon to help his career: `You can pick any nose you like.' To which Spud replies, `But I don't want to pick any body else's nose.' When asked, `Where do you wash around here?' and the answer comes back, `The spring.' The retort is, `I asked where, not when.' Thank god for film festivals like this one that make rare films like this available and the folks who provide comments to IMDB for others to share. Please support the IMDB and early film festivals!