Hello, Pop! (1933)

 

Studio: MGM. Runtime: 17 minutes. Production Number 696. Release Date: September 16, 1933. Director: Jack Cummings. Story: Ted Healy. Screenplay: Matty Brooks. Cast: Ted Healy, Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard (Themselves), Bonnie Bonnell (Bonny Latour), Henry Armetta (Italian musician), Edward Brophy (himself), Grace Hayes (herself), Jack 'Tiny' Lipson (strongman), The Albertina Rasch Girls (dancers), Lawrence Gray (I'm Sailing on a Sunbeam singer). Songwriters: Dimitri Tiomkin, Ballard MacDonald, Al Goodhart, Dave Dreyer. Working Titles: Back Stage; New Musical Short by Suber and Ted Healy Short. 

Ted Healy and His Stooges' third short film for MGM is very much in the same vein as their first (Nertsery Rhymes (1933)). It is again a color film (the second they made), features Jack Cummings in the director's seat, is a musical revue film, features Bonnie Bonnell in a supporting role and even has the Stooges once again playing Ted Healy's sons. 

In this short film, Ted Healy is a theatrical producer, who is attempting to put on his stage show, The Ted Healy Follies. However, his sons (Moe, Larry and Curly) cause much trouble for their father. 

This is not a bad film, but one can't help but feel that it should be better. Many Stooge fans will be disappointed that this short never really allows Moe, Larry and Curly a chance to shine. They get a decent amount of screen time but each scene they are in is dominated by Healy. While Healy is a better comedian than many of his detractors give him credit for, this film hardly shows him to his best advantage. Most of the comedy simply comes from Ted getting more and more frustrated. However, nothing really funny is done with this mounting frustration. If he was trying to repress his rage in the style of Edgar Kenndy or if his anger was shown in an over-the-top comedic way, it might be funny. Simply having him get angry and frustrated though is not funny in and of itself. The only really funny moment here comes not from Ted Healy and his Stooges but rather from Grace Hayes. Still the two-stirp Technicolor has a real charm to it and the musical numbers are delightful. 

Unlike the previous musical revue shorts featuring Ted Healy and his Stooges, the song numbers were not originally filmed for this short. I'm Sailing on a Sunbeam was originally from the MGM feature film, It's a Great Life (1929). The source of the Moon Ballet number is uncertain, but some sources believe that it is from an unreleased MGM feature film entitled The March of Time (1930). 

I'm Sailing on a Sunbeam was written by Dave Dreyer (music) and Ballard MacDonald (lyrics). Dave Dryer wrote music for such songs as Me and My Shadow, There's a Rainbow 'Round My Shoulder and Back in Your Own Backyard. Ballard MacDonald wrote lyrics for such songs as On the Mississippi, The Trail of the Lonesome Pine (which many of you might know from Laurel and Hardy singing it in their feature film, Way Out West (1937)) and Three Wonderful Letters from Home. 

Henry Armetta (born July 4, 1888; passed away October 21, 1945) plays an Italian musician in this film. Born in Palermo, Sicily, Italy, he stowed away to the United States at the age of 14. The immigration authorities were prepared to send him back, but he found an Italian family to sponsor him. He spent much of his young life working any menial jobs he could find. One day while working as a pants presser, he was noticed by actor/producer Raymond Hitchcock, who got him a job in the chorus of the play A Yankee Consul. In 1920 he hitchhiked to Hollywood. He went on to appear in a great number of films often played stereotyped Italians. His portrayal of these characters often was both comedic and empathetic at the same time. His filmography includes such movies as Street Angel (1928), The Passionate Plumber (1932), Speak Easily (1932), What! No Beer? (1933) (the previous three with Buster Keaton), Fra Diavolo (1933) (with Laurel and Hardy), The Black Cat (1934), Imitation of Life (1934), Magnificent Obsession (1935), The Big Store (1941) (with the Marx Brothers) and Anchors Aweigh (1945). 

Lawerance Gray (born July 27, 1898; passed away February 2, 1970) appears in the reused scenes from It's a Great Life. Probably his best remembered movie role is as the playboy, who Marion Davies tries to get the attention of by impersonating movie stars in the silent classic The Patsy (1928). He would again co-star with Davies in Marianne (1929) and Marianne (1929). His other films include Kid Boots (1926), Pajamas (1927), Marriage by Contract (1928) and Sunny (1930).

Actress Grace Hayes (born August 23, 1896; passed away February 1, 1989) was born in Springfield, Missouri but moved to San Fransico at the age of ten. She began to sing at nightclubs at the age of fourteen. She married Joseph Lind in 1912, and they had a son, Peter Lind Hayes, in 1915. Her son would join an act with her at The Palace in New York. Starting in 1922 she began appearing in Broadway shows including The Bunch and Judy, The Merry World, A Night in Spain, Ballyhoo of 1930 and A Little Racketeer. Her screen work included such films as King of Jazz (1930), Myrt and Marge (1933) (which would also feature Ted Healy and his Stooges), Rainbow Over Broadway (1933), Babes in Arms (1939), Zis Boom Bah (1941) and Always Leave Them Laughing (1949). From 1939 to 1941 she would perform at various resorts in Las Vegas. Soon after she moved to Las Vegas and in 1947 she purchased the Red Rooster club. Changing the name to the Grace Hayes Lodge, she ran the nightclub until she sold it to Steve Wynn in 1960. She would remain in Las Vegas until her death. 

In 1932, the year before this film was released, Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle starred in a short with the same title. That would be Arbuckle's first film in front of the camera since 1921, when the infamous scandal (he was accused of raping and killing a young woman, though he would be acquitted) ruined his career.

The following are some exhibitor's reviews from the Motion Picture Herald. 

"Hello Pop: Ted Healy - A good example of how to butcher a musical comedy with no material for the comedians. - Charles Bern, Elk Theatre, Prescott, Ariz. General Patronage." 

"Hello Pop: Musical Revue - This is only fair entertainment with Ted Healy and his Stooges in the lead. In spite of the fact that it is in color, it does not add to the entertainment. Come on, Metro, give us good shorts or don't give us any. Running time, 20 minutes. - J.J. Medford, Orpheum Theatre, Oxford, N.C. General Patronage." 

"HELLO, POP!: Ted Healy and his Boys— In color. Musical numbers great. Ted Healy and his boys try to be funny, but the Four Marx Brothers have got him beat for entertainment. Play it. Running time, 18 minutes. - Edmund M. Burke, Fort Plain Theatre, Fort Plain Theatre, N. Y., General Patronage." 

"HELLO, POP!: Ted Healy— Color and music are good. The dancing is beautiful. The comedy is punk. - Harold C. Allision, Baldwin Theatre, Baldwin, Mich. Small Town Patronage."

You can watch this film below. 

-Michael J. Ruhland

Resources Used

The Three Stooges Scrapbook by Jeff Lenburg, Joan Howard Maurer and Greg Lenburg

https://lantern.mediahist.org/

https://www.library.unlv.edu/speccol/finding-aids/MS-00271.pdf

https://threestooges.net/filmography/view/201/

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/obituary-peter-lind-hayes-1161769.html