It Pays to Advertise (1931)

Director:

Frank Tuttle

Writers:

Ethel Doherty (writer)
Walter C. Hackett (play)

Release Date:

19 February 1931 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

To prove his thesis that any product--even one that doesn't exist--can be merchandized if it is advertised properly...

Plot Keywords:

Based On Play

Cast

Norman Foster	...	Rodney Martin
Carole Lombard	...	Mary Grayson
Richard 'Skeets' Gallagher	...	Ambrose Peale
Eugene Pallette	...	Cyrus Martin
Lucien Littlefield	...	Adams
Judith Wood	...	Countess de Beaurien (as Helen Johnson)
Louise Brooks	...	Thelma Temple
Morgan Wallace	...	Donald McChesney
Tom Kennedy	...	Perkins
Marcia Manners	...	Miss Burke
Frank Coghlan Jr.	...	Office boy (as Junior Coghlan)
John Howell	...	Johnson
John Sinclair	...	Window cleaner

Runtime:

63 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since. However, because of legal complications, this particular title was not included in the original television package and may not have ever been televised.

Movie Connections:

Version of It Pays to Advertise (1919)

forgotten and forgettable comedy

In the year that this was made all of the major studios were busily making over 50 films a year.Some of them masterpieces,some of them still remembered but the majority of them forgotten.This is one such film.I had never heard of it when i purchased a copy.I bought it on the strength of the cast.It is a familiar story.Son of wealthy businessman wants to strike out on his own and prove his worth to his father.It is difficult to believe that the Carole Lombard here is the same woman who only 6 years later would star in such films as Nothing Sacred or Swing High Swing Low.In this film she seems a little gawky and unsure of herself.Norman Foster is not one of my favourite actors and his performance in this film is just as poor as in orher films of the same period.So this film is only of historical interest for watching a nascent Carol Lombard