Panama Hattie (film)

Panama Hattie
Ben Blue, Red Skelton, Ann Sothern and Rags Ragland in Panama Hattie
Directed by	Norman Z. McLeod
Written by	Jack McGowan (screenplay) Wilkie C. Mahoney (screenplay)
Based on	Panama Hattie 1940 musical by Herbert Fields Buddy G. DeSylva
Produced by	Arthur Freed
Starring	Red Skelton Ann Sothern Rags Ragland
Cinematography	George J. Folsey
Edited by	Blanche Sewell
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date	1942 (1942)
Running time	79-80 mins
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$1.1 million^[1]
Box office	$2.3 million^[1]

Panama Hattie is a 1942 American film based upon the Broadway musical of the same name. It was produced by Arthur Freed and directed by Norman Z. McLeod.

Plot summary

Substantial retakes were directed by Roy Del Ruth with choreography by Danny Dare and musical numbers staged by Vincente Minnelli. The film used only four of Porter's songs and substituted other songs.^[2] The cast featured Red Skelton as Red, Ann Sothern as Hattie Maloney, Rags Ragland as Rags, Ben Blue as Rowdy, Marsha Hunt as Leila Tree, Virginia O'Brien as Flo Foster, Alan Mowbray as Jay Jerkins, Dan Dailey as Dick Bulliard and Lena Horne as Singer in Phil's Place.^[2] Songs used in the film are as follows:^[2]

"Hattie from Panama" (Roger Edens) – Chorus
"I've Still Got My Health" (Porter) – Ann Sothern
"Berry Me Not" (Phil Moore) [instrumental, danced by the Berry Brothers]
"Just One of Those Things" (Porter) – Lena Horne [from Jubilee]
"Fresh As a Daisy" (Porter) – Virginia O'Brien
"Good Neighbors" (Edens) – Red Skelton, Rags Ragland, Ben Blue and Chorus
"Let's Be Buddies" (Porter) – Sothern with Jackie Horner, and O'Brien with Alan Mowbray
"Hail, Hail, the Gang's All Here" (Arthur Sullivan; Theodore F. Morse) [instrumental]
"Did I Get Stinkin' At the Savoy" (E. Y. Harburg and Walter Donaldson) – O'Brien
"The Sping" (Moore and J. LeGon) – Horne [danced by the Berry Brothers]
"The Son of a Gun Who Picks on Uncle Sam" (Harburg and Burton Lane) – Company

According to MGM records the film earned $1,798,000 in the US and Canada, $528,000 elsewhere, making the studio a profit of $474,000.^[1]^[3]

^ ^a ^b ^c The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
^ ^a ^b ^c "'Panama Hattie' Film Version" sondheimguide.com, accessed January 11, 2011
^ "101 Pix Gross in Millions" Variety 6 Jan 1943 p 58