50 Million Frenchmen

1931 film

February 14, 1931 (1931-02-14)

Running time

74 minutesCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglishBudget$484,000^[1]Box office$430,000^[1]

Fifty Million Frenchmen is a 1931 American pre-Code Technicolor musical comedy film directed by Lloyd Bacon. The film was produced and released by Warner Brothers and was based on Cole Porter's 1929 Broadway musical Fifty Million Frenchmen.

The film was originally intended to be released late in 1930 but was shelved because of perceived public apathy toward musicals. Warner Bros. released the film in February 1931 after removing all of the music. The film was released outside the United States as a full musical comedy in 1931.

Plot

Wealthy Jack Forbes bets his friend Michael Cummins that he can woo and win Lu Lu Carroll without using any of his money or connections. Cummins hires Simon and Peter, a pair of erstwhile detectives, to ensure that Forbes does not win his bet. Instead, Simon and Peter befriend Cummins and decide to help him.

Cast

Ole Olsen as Simon Johanssen
Chic Johnson as Peter Swanson
William Gaxton as Jack Forbes
Helen Broderick as Violet
John Halliday as Michael Cummins
Claudia Dell as Lu Lu Carroll
Lester Crawford as Billy Baxter
Evalyn Knapp as Miss Wheeler-Smith
Charles Judels as Pernasse – Hotel Manager
Carmelita Geraghty as Marcelle Dubrey
Nat Carr and Vera Gordon as Jewish tourists
Bela Lugosi as Orizon the Magician (uncredited)

Music

50 Million Frenchmen was originally a Cole Porter musical, but the songs were omitted from all prints of the film in the United States because recent box-office receipts for musical films were below expectations and the studios perceived that the public had grown tired of musicals.

Release

According to Warner Bros. records, the film earned $401,000 domestically and $29,000 internationally.^[1]

Reception

In a contemporary review for The New York Times, critic Mordaunt Hall wrote: "Only a few mildly amusing episodes are depicted ... This film has been produced without the songs of Cole Porter and the prismatic work is at times poorly lighted. The players, including Olsen and Johnson, William Gaxton, Helen Broderick, John Halliday, Claudia Dell, go about their work with marked enthusiasm, but they are unfortunate in the vehicle."^[2]

Preservation status

Only a black-and-white copy of the cut print released in 1931 in the United States is known to have survived. It is unknown whether any copies exist of the complete film that was released intact in other countries.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Warner Bros financial information in The William Schaefer Ledger. See Appendix 1, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, (1995) 15:sup1, 1-31 p 11 DOI: 10.1080/01439689508604551
^ Hall, Mordaunt (March 26, 1931). "The Screen: Buffoonery in Paris". The New York Times. p. 31.