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Released September 04, 1937
Featuring Ted Healy (Solo)
Warner Bros.
120 min. (Feature Film)

The students of Winfield College are determined to produce a modern musical-comedy extravaganza, but faculty adviser Prof. Biddle will only permit a mundane production with turn of the century values. With the help of music professor Ernie Mason (Fred Waring), the kids head for New York with their $1000 treasury to ask Winfield alumnus, and Broadway producer, Chuck Daly for help. Unknown to the students, Daly is broke after producing a string of Broadway flops. Daly's publicist/manager Willy Williams (Ted Healy) jumps at the money and hopes that the publicity will buy Chuck a job in Hollywood. Daly's arrival at Winfield angers Biddle, forcing a showdown with the Dean. So when the students learn of Chuck's professional woes, they stage a sit-down in an empty Broadway theatre.

Another typical entry in Warner Brothers' 1930s Broadway-based musicals, starring their top crooner Dick Powell, with choreography by Busby Berkeley and music & lyrics from Johnny Mercer and Dick Whiting. Ted Healy has a few opportunities to join in the singing and dancing, aptly displaying some of his vaudeville roots.

The original 1937 release had a runtime of 120 minutes. Re-released in Dec. 1942 to capitalize on the radio popularity of Fred Waring and His Pennsylvanians, and allowing it to fit on double bills, Warner Bros. cut 40 minutes and reduced it to 1 hour & 20 minutes. Evidence implies that the cuts were made to the original negative, and the shorter version is all that exists in Warner's library archives. A search for the missing footage has been ongoing for years, particularly during preparation of the DVD, but nothing has turned up.

View the original theatrical trailer at TCM.com

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Avg. Rating: [7.00/10]
 
VARSITY SHOW on IMDb

Dick Powell
Chuck Daly

Rosemary Lane
Babs Steward

Ted Healy
Willy Williams

Fred Waring and His Pennsylvanians
Ernie Mason and His Orchestra

Priscilla Lane
Betty Bradley

Mabel Todd
Cuddles

Lee Dixon
Lee ''Rubberlegs'' Stevens

Edward Brophy
Mike ''Curly'' Barclay

Halliwell Hobbes
Dean Meredith

Walter Catlett
Prof. Sylvester Biddle

Roy Atwell
Prof. Washburn

Ben Welden
Mr. Hammer

Sarah Edwards
Mrs. Biddle

Ferris Taylor
Mayor Jones

Emma Dunn
Ma Smith

Stuart Holmes
Professor

Earl Dwire
Professor

Wade Lane
Professor

Walter Young
Professor

Wilfred Lucas
Police Commissioner

Robert Homans
Police Sgt. Murphy

Jack Mower
Desk Sergeant

Tom Kennedy
Policeman

Spec O'Donnell
Student with money box

Jane Doyle
Student

Carole Landis
Trout's dancing partner

Al Lloyd
Taxi driver

Don Downen
Elevator operator

Glen Cavender
Stagehand

Sol Gorss
Stagehand

Tom Wilson
Stagehand


Jack L. Warner
Executive Producer

Busby Berkeley
Director, finale

Louis F. Edelman
Associate Producer

Sid Herzig
Story and Screenplay

Warren Duff
Story and Screenplay

Jerry Wald
Screenplay

Sol Polito
Photography

George Barnes
Finale Photography

George Amy
Film Editor

Carl Jules Weyl
Art Director

Fred Waring
Musical Director

Johnny Mercer
Music and Lyrics

Richard Whiting
Music and Lyrics

Charles Henderson
Music and Lyrics

Don Raye
Lyrics

Roy Ringwald
Vocal Arrangements

Frank Perkins
Vocal Arrangements

Steve Mougin
Orchestral Arrangements

Frank Perkins
Orchestral Arrangements

Virgil Davis
Orchestral Arrangements

Drew Eberson
Assistant Director


















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