The Eddie Cantor Story is a 1953 American musical drama film directed by Alfred E. Green and starring Keefe Brasselle, Marilyn Erskine and Aline MacMahon. It is a biopic based on the life of Eddie Cantor featuring Brasselle as Cantor. It was produced and distributed by Warner Brothers.[2] Cantor himself appeared briefly in the film in a cameo role.
| The Eddie Cantor Story | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Alfred E. Green |
| Written by | Jerome Weidman Ted Sherdeman Sidney Skolsky |
| Produced by | Sidney Skolsky |
| Starring | Keefe Brasselle Marilyn Erskine Aline MacMahon |
| Cinematography | Edwin B. DuPar |
| Edited by | William H. Ziegler |
| Music by | Ray Heindorf |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 115 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $2.3 million (US)[1] |
Plot
editRaised by his grandmother on New York's East Side, 13-year-old Eddie sings while another neighborhood kid, Rocky Kramer, and his gang pick pockets. Eddie is sent by Grandma Esther to a boys' camp, where he entertains the others with his songs and routines.
Ida Tobias, daughter of a local merchant, elopes with Eddie a few years later. Rocky is now a local politician and gets Eddie a job in a nightclub. Eddie tells the family he's the star performer there, but he's actually a singing waiter. But piano player Jimmy Durante helps land him a job in a California show.
A headline performer envious of Eddie's popularity pulls a prank, telling him Flo Ziegfeld wants him for the Follies show in New York. It turns out Ziegfeld has never heard of Eddie when he arrives at the theater, but an audition by Eddie is so good, Ziegfeld does indeed hire him.
Ida gives birth to several children while Eddie becomes a big success. She's upset that his family doesn't seem to come first, and matters are complicated when Eddie's fortune is lost in the 1929 stock-market crash. A heart attack slows Eddie, as well, but he prospers on the radio as his health improves, and soon he is happy at work and at home.
Cast
edit- Keefe Brasselle as Eddie Cantor
- Marilyn Erskine as Ida
- Aline MacMahon as Grandma Esther
- Gerald Mohr as Rocky
- Arthur Franz as Harry Harris
- Alex Gerry as David Tobias
- Greta Granstedt as Rachel Tobias
- Jackie Barnett as Jimmy Durante
- Dick Monda as Eddie Cantor Eddie - aged 13
- Marie Windsor as Cleo Abbott
- Douglas Evans as Leo Raymond
- Ann Doran as Lillian Edwards
- Hal March as Gus Edwards
- Susan Odin as Ida - age 11
- Owen Pritchard as Harry Harris - as a Boy
- Will Rogers Jr. as Will Rogers
- William Forrest as Flo Ziegfeld
- Nedrick Young as Jack
- James Craven as Bert Glenville
- Kathleen Case as Francey
- Chick Chandler as Lesser
- Kermit Maynard as Willie
- James Flavin as Kelly - Policeman
- Julie Newmar as Showgirl
- Barbara Pepper as Patron
- Eddie Cantor as Audience Member
Production
editThe film was announced in 1948 with a budget of $3 million.[3]
References
edit- ^ 'The Top Box-Office Hits of 1954', Variety Weekly, January 5, 1955
- ^ "The Eddie Cantor Story", New York Times, December 26, 1953 accessed July 6, 2012
- ^ Variety 18 February 1948 p 14