Every Day's a Holiday (1937)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

A. Edward Sutherland

Writer:

Mae West (writer)

Release Date:

18 December 1937 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

Mlle. Fifi and her musketeers!

Plot Keywords:

Gay 90s

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Mae West	...	Peaches O'Day
Edmund Lowe	...	Capt. McCarey
Charles Butterworth	...	Larmadou Graves
Charles Winninger	...	Van Reighle Van Pelter Van Doon
Walter Catlett	...	Nifty Bailey
Lloyd Nolan	...	John Quade
Louis Armstrong	...	Himself
George Rector	...	Himself
Herman Bing	...	Fritz Krausmeyer
Roger Imhof	...	Trigger Mike
Chester Conklin	...	Cabby
Lucien Prival	...	Danny the Dip
Adrian Morris	...	Henchman
Francis McDonald	...	Henchman
John Indrisano	...	Henchman

Runtime:

80 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-16

Filming Locations:

General Service Studios - 1040 N. Las Palmas, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Emanuel Cohen Productions

Trivia:

One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Beerfest (2006)

Soundtrack:

Jubilee

Mae West's Last Paramount Pic is One of Her Funniest

This lesser-known Paramount frolic, directed by Edward Sutherland, is one of Mae West's funniest and breeziest vehicles in her late period. It turned out to be her last Paramount picture, from her own solidly crafted screenplay. I had the opportunity of watching it recently along with another West movie called "Klondike Annie"(1936), directed by Raoul Walsh. Though Walsh is a vastly superior director than Sutherland, I much prefer this one to "Klondike Annie."

Set in the 1890s New York, Mae delightfully plays Peaches O'Day, a notorious confidence woman who sells the Brooklyn Bridge and flees the city while the police are looking for her capture. She later returns disguising as a hilariously droll French singer, Madamoiselle Fifi. Then she promotes the city's election candidate Capt.McCarey (Edmund Lowe), who also plays the good cop tracking down the corrupt police chief (Lloyd Nolan). Mae is aided by uniformly fine supporting players: Charles Winninger, Herman Bing, Charles Butterworth, Chester Conklin, and Louis Armstrong as the musical street cleaner.

Mae's suggestive one-liners are sparkling and fresh, especially the moment when she impersonates the French dame. Sutherland's unpretentious direction flows breezily through several hugely entertaining moments.

Pleasant and thoroughly enjoyable, "Every Day's Holiday" is must viewing for Mae West fans or anyone looking for harmless, pleasurable escape.