Hold 'Em Jail - Misplaced Pages

1932 film

Hold 'Em Jail

Directed by	Norman Taurog
Written by	Walter DeLeon (screenplay) S.J. Perelman (screenplay) Eddie Welch (screenplay) Mark Sandrich (screenplay) Tim Whelan (story) Lew Lipton (story) John P. Medbury (radio dialogue) Albert Ray (continuity)
Produced by	Harry Joe Brown (associate producer) David O. Selznick (executive producer)
Starring	Wheeler and Woolsey Edna May Oliver Edgar Kennedy Betty Grable
Cinematography	Leonard Smith
Edited by	Arthur Roberts
Music by	Max Steiner
Distributed by	RKO Radio Pictures
Release date	September 16, 1932 (1932-09-16)
Running time	66 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$408,000
Box office	$511,000

Hold 'Em Jail is a 1932 American pre-Code comedy film starring Wheeler and Woolsey. They play a couple of boobs who are wrongfully convicted for firearm possession and sent to prison, where they somehow end up playing on the warden's football team.

Warden Edgar Kennedy is not above framing innocent people into prison and blackmailing them into playing on his football team in exchange for being eventually proven innocent.

Wheeler and Woolsey are wise to the racket, but Kennedy has to treat them with kid gloves because his old maid sister (Oliver) is in love with one of them.

Rare for the duo, the film is a straight comedy with no musical numbers. It is also noteworthy for giving Betty Grable her first substantial role after appearances as a Goldwyn Girl and in bit parts. The title is a pun on the then-popular college football cheer, "Hold 'em, Yale."

Cast

Bert Wheeler as Curly Harris
Robert Woolsey as Spider Robbins
Edna May Oliver as Violet Jones
Robert Armstrong as Radio Announcer
Roscoe Ates as Sam
Edgar Kennedy as Warden Elmer Jones
Betty Grable as Barbara Jones
Warren Hymer as Steele
Paul Hurst as Butch
G. Pat Collins as Whitey
Stanley Blystone as Kravette
Jed Prouty as Warden Charles Clark
Spencer Charters as the Governor
John Sheehan as Mike Maloney

Box office

According to RKO records the film recorded a loss of $55,000.

References

^ Richard Jewel, 'RKO Film Grosses: 1931-1951', Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, Vol 14 No 1, 1994 p57

External links

Hold 'Em Jail at IMDb
Hold 'Em Jail at the TCM Movie Database

v t e Films directed by Norman Taurog
Lucky Boy (1929) The Diplomats (1929) In Holland (1929) The Medicine Men (1929) Troopers Three (1930) Sunny Skies (1930) Hot Curves (1930) Follow the Leader (1930) Finn and Hattie (1931) Skippy (1931) Forbidden Adventure (1931) Huckleberry Finn (1931) Sooky (1931) Hold 'Em Jail (1932) The Phantom President (1932) If I Had a Million (segments "Prologue" and "Epilogue", 1932) A Bedtime Story (1933) The Way to Love (1933) We're Not Dressing (1934) Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch (1934) College Rhythm (1934) The Big Broadcast of 1936 (1936) Strike Me Pink (1936) Rhythm on the Range (1936) Reunion (1936) Fifty Roads to Town (1937) You Can't Have Everything (1937) The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1938) Mad About Music (1938) Boys Town (1938) The Girl Downstairs (1938) Lucky Night (1939) Broadway Melody of 1940 (1940) Young Tom Edison (1940) Little Nellie Kelly (1940) Men of Boys Town (1941) Design for Scandal (1941) Are Husbands Necessary? (1942) A Yank at Eton (1942) Presenting Lily Mars (1943) Girl Crazy (1943) The Hoodlum Saint (1946) The Beginning or the End (1947) The Bride Goes Wild (1948) Big City (1948) Words and Music (1948) That Midnight Kiss (1949) Please Believe Me (1950) The Toast of New Orleans (1950) Mrs. O'Malley and Mr. Malone (1950) Rich, Young and Pretty (1951) Room for One More (1952) Jumping Jacks (1952) The Stooge (1953) The Stars Are Singing (1953) The Caddy (1953) Living It Up (1954) You're Never Too Young (1955) The Birds and the Bees (1956) Pardners (1956) Bundle of Joy (1956) The Fuzzy Pink Nightgown (1958) Onionhead (1958) Don't Give Up the Ship (1959) Visit to a Small Planet (1960) G.I. Blues (1960) All Hands on Deck (1961) Blue Hawaii (1961) Girls! Girls! Girls! (1962) It Happened at the World's Fair (1963) Palm Springs Weekend (1963) Tickle Me (1965) Sergeant Deadhead (1965) Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine (1965) Spinout (1966) Double Trouble (1967) Speedway (1968) Live a Little, Love a Little (1968)

Films directed by Norman Taurog

Lucky Boy (1929)
The Diplomats (1929)
In Holland (1929)
The Medicine Men (1929)
Troopers Three (1930)
Sunny Skies (1930)
Hot Curves (1930)
Follow the Leader (1930)
Finn and Hattie (1931)
Skippy (1931)
Forbidden Adventure (1931)
Huckleberry Finn (1931)
Sooky (1931)
Hold 'Em Jail (1932)
The Phantom President (1932)
If I Had a Million (segments "Prologue" and "Epilogue", 1932)
A Bedtime Story (1933)
The Way to Love (1933)
We're Not Dressing (1934)
Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch (1934)
College Rhythm (1934)
The Big Broadcast of 1936 (1936)
Strike Me Pink (1936)
Rhythm on the Range (1936)
Reunion (1936)
Fifty Roads to Town (1937)
You Can't Have Everything (1937)
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1938)
Mad About Music (1938)
Boys Town (1938)
The Girl Downstairs (1938)
Lucky Night (1939)
Broadway Melody of 1940 (1940)
Young Tom Edison (1940)
Little Nellie Kelly (1940)
Men of Boys Town (1941)
Design for Scandal (1941)
Are Husbands Necessary? (1942)
A Yank at Eton (1942)
Presenting Lily Mars (1943)
Girl Crazy (1943)
The Hoodlum Saint (1946)
The Beginning or the End (1947)
The Bride Goes Wild (1948)
Big City (1948)
Words and Music (1948)
That Midnight Kiss (1949)
Please Believe Me (1950)
The Toast of New Orleans (1950)
Mrs. O'Malley and Mr. Malone (1950)
Rich, Young and Pretty (1951)
Room for One More (1952)
Jumping Jacks (1952)
The Stooge (1953)
The Stars Are Singing (1953)
The Caddy (1953)
Living It Up (1954)
You're Never Too Young (1955)
The Birds and the Bees (1956)
Pardners (1956)
Bundle of Joy (1956)
The Fuzzy Pink Nightgown (1958)
Onionhead (1958)
Don't Give Up the Ship (1959)
Visit to a Small Planet (1960)
G.I. Blues (1960)
All Hands on Deck (1961)
Blue Hawaii (1961)
Girls! Girls! Girls! (1962)
It Happened at the World's Fair (1963)
Palm Springs Weekend (1963)
Tickle Me (1965)
Sergeant Deadhead (1965)
Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine (1965)
Spinout (1966)
Double Trouble (1967)
Speedway (1968)
Live a Little, Love a Little (1968)

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