Curtain Call

This film is interesting because it serves as the prototype for the film, "The Producers". Though the story lines differ slightly, the plot is the same. Get the most horrible play you can find, produce it and ruin careers and reputations. The same sort of reckless abandon of "The Producrs" does not exist in this film. The producers want to get revenge on their star who is jumping ship to go to another producer at the end of her contract. They present her with a piece of garbage written by an aspiring young female playwright. They expect her to hate it...instead, she loves it. Making life uncomfortable for the star with script changes, and watching a naive young girl become wise to the ways of Broadway comprises the better part of the film. It's worth a watch because of the cast. Alan Mowbray manages to pull it off in believable fashion, with help from Don McBride, Frank Faylen, and other notable stalwarts of the period. If it comes on, give it a whirl.

This version of "Curtain Call" (the title has been used frequently) is a lot of fun, with a superb cast of remarkably talented performers. Strangely, few of the stars are household names, but they have all the ability in the world. The three female leads are also extremely attractive, both in their physical appearances and their personalities. "Curtain Call" has a cute story, and it's very well done. It's an odd type of script, in my opinion, for Dalton Trumbo to be connected to, but he must have had a good original story. "Curtain Call" is well worth seeing more than once just for the interplay of the characters.

Helen vinson is "charlotte", the star, playing a star, in this sixty three minute shortie from rko pictures. She's been a complete pain, so the producer (donald macbride) and director (alan mowbray) give her a script that they think is just awful. Helen (barbara read) is the playwright, and when the producers try to make changes, charlotte convinces helen to stop them from making any changes, per her contract. It's all okay. The only character we root for is helen. Everyone else is evil and scheming. And when we get to the end, we're not really sure what lesson we learned. Donald macbride was always yelling at people in the marx brothers films. Directed by frank woodruff. Story by howard green. Read died young at 45 by suicide. Married four times. The irony of read, playing a writer who writes a play about suicide.

Barbara Read has written the worst play in the history of American theater. Producer Donald MacBride and his director, Alan Mowbray, decide to produce it to sabotage their star Helen Vinson, and keep her from leaving them.

This variation on Kaufman & Hart's THE BUTTER AND EGG MAN is kept afloat largely by MacBride's over-the-top performance, although there are some good moments for Mowbray as he tries to romance Miss Read into letting him rewrite her script. Kudos also to Leona Maricle as MacBride's secretary, who carries out MacBride's senseless orders, from buying the worst script in the slush pile to renting a horse at 8 in the morning with a disdainful aplomb. With Frank Faylen and Tom Kennedy.

I wondered if Mel Brooks saw this film and got the idea for Producers, The (1968) from it. Both movies involve producers looking for the worst possible play - in this case for revenge, not for money. Helen Vinson is under contract to do one more play for Donald MacBride, but then plans to sign with another producer. So he and director Alan Mowbray decide to get her a bad play, and the one which naive would-be playwright Barbara Read has just sent them fits the bill. The problem is that Vinson adores the play and thinks it is a work of art. The movie bogs down a bit as Mowbray tries to get Read's permission to make changes in her play, and I didn't think much of the romance between Read and John Archer. Nonetheless, there's enough cute comedy throughout to enjoy, although the ending is a bit predictable.