Every Night at Eight

Every Night at Eight

Directed by	Raoul Walsh
Written by	C. Graham Barker
Based on	story "Three on a Mike" by Stanley Garvey
Produced by	Walter Wanger
Starring	George Raft Alice Faye Patsy Kelly Frances Langford
Edited by	W. Donn Hayes
Music by	Frederick Hollander Paul Mertz Clifford Vaughan
Production company	Walter Wanger Productions Inc.
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date	August 2, 1935 (1935-08-02)
Running time	80 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$266,956^[1]
Box office	$507,117^[1]

Every Night at Eight is a 1935 American comedy musical film starring George Raft and Alice Faye and made by Walter Wanger Productions Inc. and Paramount Pictures. It was directed by Raoul Walsh and produced by Walter Wanger from a screenplay by C. Graham Baker, Bert Hanlon and Gene Towne based on the story Three On a Mike by Stanley Garvey.^[2]^[3]

The song "I'm in the Mood for Love" was introduced in this film by Frances Langford. "I Feel a Song Coming On" was performed by Harry Barris and a band and reprised by Alice Faye, Frances Langford and Patsy Kelly, and also sung by James Miller with chorus.

Pioneer scat singer and songwriter Harry Barris, formerly of Paul Whiteman's Rhythm Boys along with Bing Crosby and Al Rinker, has a small role as "Harry."

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Plot

The film involves a trio of young female singers trying to break into show business. Three young women working in an agency named Dixie Foley, Daphne O' Connor and Susan Moore ( Alice Faye, Patsy Kelly, and Frances Langford) have built a singing trio. They want to 'lease' the Dictaphone of their boss, Mr. Huxley (John Dilson) to make a record of their singing, but they are caught and fired. When they are not able to pay their rent any longer, they decide to try their luck on an amateur contest at a radio station, hosted by a Major Bowes-type named Colonel Dave (Walter Catlett). Several talents approach the microphone, including The Radio Rogues, an Italian who sings opera terribly, and an elderly chicken impersonator aptly named Henrietta (Florence Gill).

Due to lack of food, Susan becomes unconscious while singing and the contest is won by a blue-collar big band led by Tops Cardona (George Raft). They become involved with Tops after he is impressed by Susan's singing at a café run by a German named Joe Schmidt (Herman Bing). Tops offers them a job with his band at the radio station. They accept, are christened The Swanee Sisters by Tops to give them a southern flavor, and he buys them matching outfits. Tops and the girls soon become a nationwide hit once they land a sponsor (who happens to be their old boss, Mr. Huxley), but after a while, they grow tired of working constantly and not having any fun, and leave the band indefinitely. Daphne insists they attend a party (in the furs Tops bought for them), leaving Tops to fend for himself.

They accept an invitation to appear at a party held on a yacht by a Mrs. Reginald Herring-Smythe (Claudia Coleman). After meeting several unsavory rich people at the soiree, and feeling a bit sour after mixing with the "creme de la creme", they adjourn to an anteroom with a radio in it. Tops is on the air without them, and he tells everyone listening in that they are absent and how much he misses them, hoping they will to return to him. The girls soon realize they can't go on without him and return to the band.

Cast

George Raft as Tops Cardona
Alice Faye as Dixie Foley
Patsy Kelly as Daphne O'Connor
Frances Langford as Susan Moore
Walter Catlett as the Master of Ceremonies (M.C.)
Herman Bing as Joe Schmidt
John Dilson as Huxley
Louise Carver as Mrs. Snyder
Claud Allister as Mr. Vernon
Harry Holman as Col. Ratchfield
Florence Gill as Henrietta
Harry Barris as Harry
Claudia Coleman as Mrs. Reginald Herring-Smythe

Production

Alice Faye was cast in April 1935. Filming began the following month.^[4] It was completed by the end of June.^[5]

Songs

All songs with music by Jimmy McHugh, and lyrics by Dorothy Fields and George Oppenheimer except where noted.

"Take It Easy"
"Speaking Confidentially"
"Then You've Never Been Blue" (Ted Fio Rito/Frances Langford/Sam M. Lewis)
"Every Night at Eight"
"Il Bacio
"I Feel a Song Coming On"
"I'm in the Mood For Love"

Reception

The film made a profit of $148,782.^[1]

Filmink said Raft was "very animated".^[6]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Matthew Bernstein, Walter Wagner: Hollywood Independent, Minnesota Press, 2000 p435
^ Everett Aaker, The Films of George Raft, McFarland & Company, 2013 p 62-63
^ Every Night at Eight Monthly Film Bulletin; London Vol. 2, Iss. 13, (Jan 1, 1935): 123.
^ SCREEN NOTES. New York Times 25 Apr 1935: 18.
^ Studio Party Celebrates Completion of Production: More Than 150 Guests at Festive Evening Featured by Imnpromptu Acts Kester, Marshall. Los Angeles Times 30 June 1935: B4.
^ Vagg, Stephen (February 9, 2020). "Why Stars Stop Being Stars: George Raft". Filmink.