Misplaced Pages

#447552

34-447: This was the final film Jean Arthur owed Columbia as part of her long contract which included periods of fights with studio boss Harry Cohn and resulted in a number of suspensions. Arthur was known to be thrilled her contract was over. Andy ( Lee Bowman ) and Janie ( Jean Arthur ) Anderson are seated on opposite sides of a court room filing for a divorce. As the judge is about to render his verdict, Janie's father ( Charles Coburn ) makes

68-457: A horizontally integrated company that only controlled production and distribution, Columbia had been at the mercy of theater owners. Columbia expanded its scope to offer moviegoers a regular program of economically made features, short subjects, serials, travelogues, sports reels, and cartoons. Columbia released a few "class" productions each year ( Lost Horizon , Holiday , Mr. Smith Goes to Washington , The Jolson Story , Gilda , All

102-700: A sheet music printer. He also appeared in a vaudeville act with Harry Ruby . He entered the film industry when he got a job with Independent Moving Pictures (which had recently merged to become part of Universal Film Manufacturing Company ), where his elder brother, Jack Cohn , was already employed. The brothers made their first film there, Traffic in Souls . Cohn became personal secretary to Universal president, Carl Laemmle . In 1919, Cohn joined his brother and fellow IMP employee Joe Brandt , to found CBC Film Sales Corporation . The initials officially stood for Cohn, Brandt, and Cohn, but Hollywood wags noted

136-542: A Blu-Ray release on September 8, 2020). Warner Archives released the "RKO Comedy Classics Collection Vol. 2" in October 2016. This includes six films: Too Many Cooks (Wheeler only); Everything's Rosie (Woolsey only); Dixiana ; The Cuckoos ; Cockeyed Cavaliers ; and Silly Billies . So This Is Africa has yet to be released on DVD. Three films have entered the public domain ( Dixiana , Half Shot at Sunrise , and Hook, Line and Sinker ). Dixiana

170-646: A hallmark of early Wheeler & Woolsey comedies, although they were severely curtailed after the reconstitution of the Production Code in 1934. Dressing in drag and other forms of gender inversion were also staples of their films. By 1931 Wheeler & Woolsey were so popular that RKO attempted to generate twice the Wheeler & Woolsey income by making two solo pictures—one with Wheeler ( Too Many Cooks ) and one with Woolsey ( Everything's Rosie ). This experiment failed, and they returned to performing as

204-660: A pre-sold audience. Columbia's own stars generally rose from the ranks of small-part actors and featured players ( Jean Arthur , Rita Hayworth , Larry Parks , Julie Bishop , Lloyd Bridges , Bruce Bennett , Jock Mahoney , etc.). Some of Columbia's producers and directors also graduated from lesser positions as actors, writers, musicians, and assistant directors. Cohn was known for his autocratic and intimidating management style. When he took over as Columbia's president, he remained production chief as well, thus concentrating enormous power in his hands. He respected talent above any personal attribute, but he made sure his employees knew who

238-402: A stubborn streak of conscience. Bespectacled Robert Woolsey played a genially leering, cigar-smoking, fast-talking idea man who often got the pair in trouble. The vivacious Dorothy Lee usually played Wheeler's romantic interest . The Wheeler & Woolsey movies are loaded with joke-book dialogue, original songs, puns, and sometimes racy double-entendre gags: Such double-entendre gags were

272-605: A suggestion. In an attempt to save the marriage, William suggests that the couple return to San Francisco (where they met a year and a half ago) for four days and retrace all of their steps to include getting married. The film is available on DVD as part of the Jean Arthur Comedy Collection, released by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. This article about a romantic comedy film is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Harry Cohn Harry Cohn (July 23, 1891 – February 27, 1958)

306-466: A team. Among the team's features are The Cuckoos (based on Clark and McCullough 's Broadway show The Ramblers ), Caught Plastered , Peach O'Reno , Diplomaniacs , and Hips Hips Hooray and Cockeyed Cavaliers (both 1934, both co-starring Thelma Todd and Dorothy Lee, and both directed by Mark Sandrich just before he was promoted to the Fred Astaire - Ginger Rogers musicals). Sandrich

340-518: The CBS western series Brave Eagle . Wheeler also starred with John Raitt and Anne Jeffreys in the Broadway musical Three Wishes for Jamie in 1952, and continued to perform in summer stock theater and in nightclubs, either alone or with a partner (first writer-comedian Hank Ladd, later comedian-singer Tom Dillon). The duo, although largely forgotten now, were at the peak of their careers in

374-452: The film version . The film's success convinced them to become a permanent team, and they continued to make very popular comedy feature films from 1930 until 1937, all for RKO Radio Pictures —except the 1933 Columbia Pictures release So This Is Africa (which was made during a contract dispute with RKO). Curly-haired Bert Wheeler played an ever-smiling innocent, who was easily led and not very bright, but who would also sometimes display

SECTION 10

#1732793785448

408-809: The 1930s. Nine of the 21 movies the duo made together were released in a DVD collection titled "Wheeler & Woolsey: RKO Comedy Classics Collection" in March 2013 by Warner Archive . Rio Rita made its way to DVD in February 2006. Girl Crazy and Peach O'Reno were released as a two disc set in December 2010. Four additional W&W films were released individually through the Warner Archive in May 2012: The Rainmakers ; Diplomaniacs ; On Again-Off Again ; and Kentucky Kernels (the latter receiving

442-483: The 2018 film Frank & Ava . Wheeler %26 Woolsey Wheeler & Woolsey were an American vaudeville comedy double act who performed together in comedy films from the late 1920s. The team comprised Bert Wheeler (1895–1968) of New Jersey and Robert Woolsey (1888–1938) of Illinois . The Broadway theatre performers were initially teamed as the comedy relief for the 1927 Broadway musical Rio Rita , and came to Hollywood to reprise these roles for

476-597: The King's Men , etc.), but depended on its popular "budget" productions to keep the company solvent. During Cohn's tenure, the studio always turned a profit. Cohn did not build a stable of movie stars like other studios. Instead, he generally signed actors who usually worked for more expensive studios ( Wheeler & Woolsey , Cary Grant , Katharine Hepburn , Mae West , Humphrey Bogart , Dorothy Lamour , Mickey Rooney , Chester Morris , Warren William , Warner Baxter , Sabu , Gloria Jean , Margaret O'Brien , etc.) to attract

510-491: The Three Stooges recalled that Cohn was "a real Jekyll-and-Hyde -type guy... socially, he could be very charming." Cohn was known to scream and curse at actors and directors in his office all afternoon, and greet them cordially at a dinner party that evening. There is some suggestion that Cohn deliberately cultivated his reputation as a tyrant, either to motivate his employees or simply because it increased his control of

544-465: The company's low-budget, low-class efforts and nicknamed CBC "Corned Beef and Cabbage." Harry Cohn managed the company's film production in Hollywood, while his brother managed its finances from New York. The relationship between the two brothers was not always good, and Brandt, finding the partnership stressful, eventually sold his third of the company to Harry, who took over as president, by which time

578-602: The early 1940s, after Woolsey had died, Wheeler struggled to restart his career and asked Dorothy Lee to tour with him in vaudeville . She agreed to help her old friend. In 1945, Wheeler headlined briefly with Jackie Gleason at Slapsy Maxie's, and would later appear on Gleason's Cavalcade of Stars TV program. Wheeler continued to work off and on through the 1960s. His later appearances were mostly on television ; his last theatrical films were two slapstick shorts for Columbia Pictures, filmed in 1950 and produced by Jules White . In 1955 Wheeler co-starred with Keith Larsen in

612-608: The eldest brother Maxwell was a shorts subject producer and Nathan was the New York division manager. Cohn's nephew, Ralph, one of Jack Cohn's three sons, founded Screen Gems . Another of Jack's sons, Robert, was also a Columbia executive. Maxwell's daughter was Leonore "Lee" Cohn Annenberg , the wife of billionaire publishing magnate Walter Annenberg of Philadelphia. Various accounts have claimed that Cohn asked for and expected sex from female stars in exchange for employment. According to writer Joseph McBride , Jean Arthur quit

646-709: The entire Hollywood community attended Cohn's extravagant funeral on stage 12 at the Columbia studios where Red Skelton made the famous (possibly apocryphal) quote: "It proves what Harry always said: Give the public what they want and they'll come out for it." Cohn is interred in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood. Cohn was portrayed by Michael Lerner in the 1983 TV film Rita Hayworth: The Love Goddess , Linal Haft in The Three Stooges bio drama in 2000, and Eric Roberts in

680-409: The film industry when her Columbia Pictures' contract expired in 1944 because Cohn was known to harass actresses. When Joan Crawford was subjected to Cohn's advances after signing a three-picture contract with Columbia, she quickly stopped him by saying "Keep it in your pants, Harry. I'm having lunch with Joan [his wife] and the boys [his children] tomorrow." Rita Hayworth 's relationship with Cohn

714-479: The firm had been renamed Columbia Pictures Corporation. Most of Columbia's early work was action fare starring rock-jawed leading man Jack Holt . Columbia was unable to shake off its stigma as a Poverty Row studio until 1934, when director Frank Capra 's Columbia comedy It Happened One Night swept the Academy Awards . Exhibitors who formerly wouldn't touch Columbia products became steady customers. As

SECTION 20

#1732793785448

748-524: The joke and barred Niven from the Columbia lot; Niven would be hired by Columbia only after Harry Cohn's death. Cohn also resented Loretta Young having a dress redesigned expensively, which he regarded as overcharging him for her wardrobe, and wouldn't speak to her for many years until she apologized to him in person. Cohn was married to Rose Barker from 1923 to 1941, and to actress Joan Perry (1911–1996) from July 1941 until his death in 1958. His brothers all worked at Columbia. As well as co-founder Jack,

782-440: The performer was involved with actress Kim Novak , who was under contract with Columbia Pictures. There are several accounts of what happened, but most agree that the organized crime figures that threatened Davis were close to Cohn; according to these accounts, as Novak was white, Cohn was worried a backlash against the interracial relationship would hurt the studio. According to one account, Cohn called racketeer John Roselli , who

816-588: The studio premises. Cohn remembered the valuable contributions of Jack Holt during Columbia's struggling years, and kept him under contract until 1941. Cohn hired the Three Stooges in 1934 and, according to Stooge Larry Fine , "he thought we brought him luck." Cohn kept the Stooges on his payroll until the end of 1957. Cohn was fond of what he termed "those lousy little 'B' pictures", and kept making them, along with two-reel comedies and serials , after other studios had abandoned them. Cohn could also hold grudges. He

850-470: The studio. Cohn is said to have kept a signed photograph of Benito Mussolini , whom he met in Italy in 1933, on his desk until the beginning of World War II. (Columbia produced the documentary Mussolini Speaks in 1933, narrated by Lowell Thomas .) Cohn also had a number of ties to organized crime . He had a long-standing friendship with Chicago mobster John Roselli , and New Jersey mob boss Abner Zwillman

884-568: Was a co-founder, president, and production director of Columbia Pictures Corporation . Cohn was born to a working-class Jewish family in New York City. His father, Joseph Cohn, was a tailor from Germany, and his mother, Bella Joseph, was from the Pale of Settlement , Russian Empire . He left school early and had a variety of jobs, including chorus boy, fur salesman, pool hustler , shipping clerk, streetcar conductor and song plugger for

918-409: Was boss. Writer Ben Hecht referred to him as " White Fang ". An employee of Columbia called him "as absolute a monarch as Hollywood ever knew." It was said "he had listening devices on all sound stages and could tune in any conversation on the set, then boom in over a loudspeaker if he heard anything that displeased him." Throughout his tenure, his most popular moniker was "King Cohn." Moe Howard of

952-523: Was fraught with aggravation. Her biography, If This Was Happiness , describes how Cohn was angered when she refused his demands to have sex with him. However, he kept her under contract because she made him money. During these Columbia years, each did their best to irritate the other despite their successful working relationship. Cohn tried to groom Mary Castle as Hayworth's successor. Cohn has been accused of having ties with organized crime. In 1957, mobsters threatened Sammy Davis Jr. with violence because

986-645: Was one of the influences (as well as Louis B. Mayer ) for the character of studio boss Jack Woltz in the 1972 crime film The Godfather . Cohn had been suffering from an enlarged heart when he had a heart attack while flying back from New York in December 1957. He was told to slow down. In February 1958, he suffered another heart attack at the Arizona Biltmore Hotel in Phoenix, Arizona, shortly after he had finished dinner. Cohn died in an ambulance en route to St. Joseph's Hospital. Practically

1020-414: Was replaced by George Stevens . After Stevens left the series, the team faltered. In some of these later films Bert and Bob do not even appear as a team, but as strangers who encounter each other by chance. Woolsey's health deteriorated in 1936, and after struggling to complete High Flyers in 1937, he was no longer able to work; he died of kidney disease on October 31, 1938, ending the partnership. In

1054-431: Was responsible for the abrupt end to Hazel Scott 's film career after Scott protested the degrading costumes black women were scripted to wear on Mae West's 1943 film The Heat's On . Cohn eventually relented, but made good on his vow that Hazel Scott would never set foot on a Hollywood studio as long as he lived. After David Niven playfully sent Cohn a lawyer's letter claiming Cohn's yacht as salvage, Cohn failed to see

The Impatient Years - Misplaced Pages Continue

1088-480: Was sentimental about certain professional matters. During his early years as a producer he had signed comedian Billy West for a series of comedies, but failed to fulfill West's contract; 12 years later, when West was a struggling bit player, Cohn not only kept him working as an actor but made him an assistant director, and then allowed Mr. and Mrs. West to operate the Columbia Grill, a restaurant concession on

1122-668: Was the source of the loan that allowed Cohn to buy out his partner Brandt. Cohn's brash, loud, intimidating style has become Hollywood legend and was reportedly portrayed in various movies. The characters played by Broderick Crawford in All the King's Men (1949) and Born Yesterday (1950), both Columbia pictures, are allegedly based on Cohn, as is Jack Woltz, a movie mogul who appears in The Godfather (1972) as well as Rod Steiger in The Big Knife . In his own way, Harry Cohn

1156-557: Was told to inform Davis that he must stop seeing Novak. To try to scare Davis, Roselli had him kidnapped for a few hours. Another account relates that the threat was conveyed to Davis's father by mobster Mickey Cohen . Davis was threatened with the loss of his other eye or a broken leg if he did not marry a black woman within two days. Davis in turn sought the protection of Chicago mobster Sam Giancana , who said that he could protect him in Chicago and Las Vegas but not California. Cohn

#447552