Kid Millions

In a recent and long overdue biography of Eddie Cantor it turns out that Cantor's daughter Marilyn was responsible for the casting of Ethel Merman in this and a subsequent film of her father's. The Cantors and the San Goldwyns saw each other socially quite a bit and young Marilyn Cantor became a fan of Merman's after seeing her on the Broadway stage. She lobbied with Goldwyn to get Merman opposite her father and the man relented.

Cantor and Merman did work well together here and in Strike Me Pink. Eddie is playing his usual bullied schnook who is living with what I guess would be considered a foster family on the New York docks. But it turns out he's the son of an archaeologist who went to Egypt and went missing, but who found a reputed treasure. All he has to do is claim the treasure over in Egypt. Of course there are some other people who think they have a claim.

Berton Churchill and daughter Ann Sothern helped finance the expedition and Ethel Merman claims a common-law relationship, a scheme cooked up by her hoodlum boy friend Warren Hymer.

All of these people perform well and I have to say that Warren Hymer who never exactly played intellectuals on the screen actually dumbs HIS usual character down for the film. But I have to say that the man who seemed to be enjoying himself most playing the villainous Arab sheik is character actor Paul Harvey. He overacts outrageously in his part and I'm sure he was grateful for the false beard and mustache he had to wear to contain the grins he must have had on his face.

Playing the Harvey's daughter and her beloved are the vaudeville team of Eva Sully and Jesse Block in their only screen appearance. I'm betting Cantor was responsible for their casting. Eva in her harem outfit and Jewish accent develops a crush on Cantor who's who'd rather be boiled in the sheik's oil than marry her. But that's part of the whole wonderfully silly plot.

A whole host of song writing talents contributed to this film, Irving Berlin, Walter Donaldson and Gus Kahn and Burton Lane and Harold Adamson. Some sharp ears might recognize a Lane tune that was revived with a different lyric by Alan Jay Lerner and danced to by Fred Astaire in Royal Wedding then called You're All the World To Me.

There is also one of the strangest minstrel numbers ever shot on screen where no one but Cantor is in blackface. During it he has to dance with the Nicholas Brothers and I'm sure in the primitive minds back then it was felt he'd better look like them. He shouldn't have tried because Fayard and Harold dance him right off the screen.

Other than the minstrel number, Kid Millions is one of the best musicals from out of the Thirties and another showcase of the talented Eddie Cantor.

All of the films of Eddie Cantor are great, but my two favorites have to be "Whoopee!" and this one. The storyline has our hero going to Egypt to inherit a 77 million dollar fortune, followed by a platoon of other people who would like to lay a prior claim to it. Among the co-stars are lovely Ann Sothern, in one of her earliest roles as the ingénue, and amazing Ethel Merman who really gives us "An Earful Of Music" in the opening sequence. Also along for the ride are the very young Nicholas Brothers who prove why they were so popular, and if you blink, you'll miss a glimpse of young Lucille Ball as one of the famed Goldwyn Girls. The finale is shot in spectacular three-color Technicolor, which was in an experimental stage at this point. Love this film.

First Post-Code film for Eddie Cantor (though just barely), so there are a few things that slip in here and there, particularly with Eva Sully as a giggling moron of a princess. The formula from previous efforts is replicated here, mostly successfully. Yes, they bring things to a halt in the middle to give a condensed minstrel/vaudeville show, complete with blackface, but at least we got the Nicholas Brothers doing a tap dance break. Oh, and Ethel Merman was in this too. And the random Technicolor sequence at the end, which gave preternatural vibes of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Overall, not my favorite of Eddie Cantor's, but it was solid enough.

A goodhearted New York barge boy becomes KID MILLIONS after inheriting an Egyptian treasure.

Comedian Eddie Cantor has a wonderful time, prancing through this lavish, nonsensical musical comedy while entertaining the viewers with his abundant high spirits. Don't expect the plot to make any sense--it doesn't--but just enjoy the laughs and the songs as Cantor and his costars present quite a romp.

The film enjoys quality production values, both in the shipboard scenes and in the Egyptian sequence which follows. Midway through the film the cast presents a minstrel show, complete with Eddie in blackface, which strays a bit into racial stereotyping but also offers an excellent venue for the young Nicholas Brothers' fancy terpsichorean footwork. (The choreographed numbers cry out for a Busby Berkeley in control, but they are still competent and even include Irving Berlin's rousing ‘Mandy.') The joyous finale erupts into Technicolor as Eddie shares the delights of his new ice cream factory with the audience.

A bold & brassy Ethel Merman, belting out both songs & dialogue, gives Cantor a real run for his money as to who will dominate the picture. The scene in which she convinces him that she's actually his long-lost mother, although younger than he, is hilarious. She's after Eddie's treasure, and so is her luggish boyfriend, Warren Hymer, who would rather kill than kiss his new ‘nephew.' Blustery Berton Churchill plays a Dixie colonel who also wants to appropriate the fortune; his lovely niece, Ann Sothern, yearns to merely appropriate Eddie's honest assistant, good guy George Murphy. Strangely, the plot completely abandons Churchill, Sothern & Murphy in a most precarious situation, leaving their fate a mystery. It also quickly dumps the rowdy bullies, including Stanley Fields & Edgar Kennedy, we met early in the proceedings.

While Paul Harvey, as a greedy Sheik, is given rather lackluster dialogue, zany Eve Sully, as his wacky Princess, proves a worthy match for Eddie. Wizened Otto Hoffman, made up to look like Gandhi, provides some funny moments as the royal advisor. Pretty Doris Davenport makes the most of her short screen time as Cantor's girlfriend.

Movie mavens should have no difficulty in spotting various OUR GANG members, including Matthew ‘Stymie' Beard and bad boys Leonard Kibrick & Tommy Bond, as barge kids, as well as Clarence Muse as a ship's steward and Lucille Ball as one of the chorus girls--all uncredited.

A musical comedy about a Brooklyn boy (Eddie Cantor) who inherits a fortune from his archaeologist father but must go to Egypt to claim it.

He's on a ship headed for Africa. Ethel Merman tags along for the singing parts.

So does Ann Southern who later had her own sitcom on television.

It's a big production that made a lot of money. Some Little Rascals make a surprise appearance at the beginning. Loan out from Hal Roach?

The musical numbers are good. Eddie Cantor even does his black face Minstrel Man routine. So weird. But what's weirder is that his uncle and mother are older than Eddie and no one says anything.