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Bupp Filmology
Week Thirty-two

"Kid Millions" 1934

MOVIE NAME: KID MILLIONS
STUDIO: HOWARD PRODUCTIONS-UNITED ARTISTS
PRODUCER: SAMUEL GOLDWYN
DIRECTOR: ROY DEL RUTH
DATE: 1934
TYPE: COMEDY
CAST:
EDDIE CANTOR as Edward Grant Wilson Jr. , ANN SOTHERN as Joan Larrabee, ETHEL MERMAN as Mrs. Edward Grant Wilson Sr., DORIS DAVENPORT as NORA "Toots", GEORGE MURPHY as Jerry Lane , BURTON CHURCHILL as Col. Harry Larrabee , WARREN HYMER as Louis, PAUL HARVEY as Sheik Mulhulla, JESSE BLOCK as Ben Ali, EDGAR KENNEDY as Herman, EVE SULLY as Princess Fanya,, THE NICHOLAS BROTHERS as Themselves, LUCILLE BALL as Girl in the "Ice Cream Fantasy" sequence , TOMMY BOND as Tommy, MATTHEW BEARD as Stymie, TOMMY BUPP as one of the band members, BOBBY JORDAN, WALLY ALBRIGHT, JACQUELINE TAYLOR, ANN BUPP, SONNY BUPP as Other kids seen in the movie

SONGS: "Mandy," "An Earful of Music," "When My Ship Comes In", "Your Head on my Shoulder", "I want to be a Minstrel Man", "Okay Toots", and " Ice Cream Fantasy"

SOURCE: A F I, Catalog of Feature Films 1931-1940

STORY:   When Egyptologist Edward Grant Wilson dies, his seventy-seven million dollar fortune is supposed to go to his long-lost son Eddie, but others are eager to have it for themselves. Eddie, who has been living on a barge, is sent to Egypt on an ocean liner to claim his inheritance, leaving his sweetheart Nora "Toots" behind. Also on board the ship, however, are his father's common law wife and her boyfriend Louis, who want to murder Eddie for the money, and Col. Larrabee, whose foundation claims the valuable treasure that Wilson found. Nothing goes right for Louis and Mrs. Edward Wilson Sr., who convince the gullible Eddie, that she is his "mama," even though she is only nineteen and he is twenty-five. Colonel Larrabee's claim is claimed invalid when Gerald "Jerry" Lane, his niece Joan's fiancé, reveals that Wilson had never received financial support from the foundation. When they arrive in Egypt, Eddie saves the Princess Fanya from a barking dog, which she thinks is a bear, and falls in love with him. She takes him home to her father, sheik Mulhalla, who coincidentally is planning to kill whomever claims the treasure. Life in a harem proves too much for Eddie, who wants to remain loyal to Toots. He is further distressed when Joan, the Colonel, Jerry, mama and Louis are captured. Because they have grown fond of him, they all deny that he is Wilson Jr., hoping to save his life. When his identity is confirmed by the perplexed Eddie himself, though, the sheik decides to boil him in oil. Fanya saves him by telling her fatherthat Eddie has committed Tramofatch, kissing her on a camel, and therefore must marry her. Eddie, however, thinks death would be bettewr than marrying her. He finds a way out when Ben Ali, who really loves Fanya, helps him escape in a plane. After a rough flight accross the Atlantic, Eddie arrives in New York and finally realizes his dream of opening up a free ice cream factory for children. He is assisted by Mama, Louis and Toots.

Note: The Technicolor "Ice Cream Fantasy" sequence was the first color venture for Goldwyn. "Mandy" was written by Irving Berlin, for a 1918 Broadway musical. It became Eddie Cantor's trademark number on stage and radio.

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