{"id":10212,"date":"2010-01-04T17:54:56","date_gmt":"2010-01-05T00:54:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=10212"},"modified":"2020-12-21T13:16:02","modified_gmt":"2020-12-21T20:16:02","slug":"whoopee-1930","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=10212","title":{"rendered":"Whoopee (1930)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;Why do you make overtures to me when I need intermissions so badly?&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/01\/Whoopee-Poster.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/01\/Whoopee-Poster-204x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"204\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-58815\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/01\/Whoopee-Poster-204x300.png 204w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/01\/Whoopee-Poster-696x1024.png 696w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/01\/Whoopee-Poster-87x128.png 87w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/01\/Whoopee-Poster-184x270.png 184w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/01\/Whoopee-Poster.png 751w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 204px) 100vw, 204px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nA hypochondriac (Eddie Cantor) watched over by a zealous, love-sick nurse (Ethel Shutta) is kidnapped by a woman (Eleanor Hunt) who&#8217;s engaged to a sheriff (Jack Rutherford) but hoping to pursue her true love, a part-Indian named Wanenis (Paul Gregory).\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Busby Berkeley Films<\/li>\n<li>Comedy<\/li>\n<li>Cross-Cultural Romance<\/li>\n<li>Eddie Cantor Films<\/li>\n<li>Musicals<\/li>\n<li>Native Americans<\/li>\n<li>Play Adaptation<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nAdapted from Flo Ziegfield&#8217;s popular Broadway musical (itself based on Owen Davis&#8217;s comedic play <em>The Nervous Wreck<\/em>), <em>Whoopee!<\/em> was the film that jump-started Eddie Cantor&#8217;s cinematic career, and remains a compelling showcase of his nebbishy, eye-rolling wit. The story &#8212; romantic fluff at its tritest &#8212; is really just an excuse for Ziegfield&#8217;s &#8220;girls&#8221; to strut their stuff (courtesy of Busby Berkeley&#8217;s iconic choreography) and for Cantor to sling one-liners left and right; when he drolly intones &#8220;Last week I looked so terrible, two undertakers left a deposit on me&#8221;, his influence on Woody Allen couldn&#8217;t be more distinct. Unfortunately, we&#8217;re forced to suffer through Cantor in characteristic blackface for a good section of the film, with the worst moment occurring when the cluelessly soot-covered Cantor greets Hunt, who responds with a hostile &#8220;How dare you speak to me!&#8221;. <\/p>\n<p>Barring this &#8212; and the use of cliched jokes about Native Americans &#8212; the remainder of the film is essentially an innocuous tale of mistaken identities and unrequited love, with Ethel Shutta particularly appealing as Cantor&#8217;s feisty love interest; she more than holds her own in concert with him. Also notable are Gus Kahn&#8217;s lyrics, which are quite fun (note in particular the clever stanzas in &#8220;A Girl Friend of a Boy Friend of Mine&#8221;). Strangely enough, Cantor&#8217;s rendition of the famed title song (&#8220;Making Whoopee&#8221;) is lackluster and too-slow; he&#8217;s much livelier when singing a spoof later on, &#8220;Making Waffles&#8221; (pronounced, curiously enough, like &#8220;Making Raffles&#8221;). <\/p>\n<p><strong>Note:<\/strong> Famed cinematographers Lee Garmes and Gregg Toland both served as DPs on the project, but what&#8217;s most noticeable about the film&#8217;s &#8220;look&#8221; is the effective use of two-tone Technicolor. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Plenty of zingy one-liners by Cantor<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/01\/whoopee-cantor-singing.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/01\/whoopee-cantor-singing.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"426\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-10214\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Ethel Shutta as Cantor&#8217;s romantically inclined nurse<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/01\/whoopee-shutta.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/01\/whoopee-shutta.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"426\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-10219\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Some fun Busby Berkeley productions<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/01\/whoopee-busby-berkeley.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/01\/whoopee-busby-berkeley.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"426\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-10215\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, simply as a representative (and reasonably enjoyable) Eddie Cantor film. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Historical Importance<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0021549\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1930\/06\/01\/archives\/whoopee-for-the-screen-some-of-the-stage-folk.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/allmovie.com\/work\/whoopee-54440\">All Movie Guide Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Why do you make overtures to me when I need intermissions so badly?&#8221; Synopsis: A hypochondriac (Eddie Cantor) watched over by a zealous, love-sick nurse (Ethel Shutta) is kidnapped by a woman (Eleanor Hunt) who&#8217;s engaged to a sheriff (Jack Rutherford) but hoping to pursue her true love, a part-Indian named Wanenis (Paul Gregory). Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Busby Berkeley Films Comedy Cross-Cultural Romance Eddie Cantor Films Musicals Native Americans Play Adaptation Review: Adapted from Flo Ziegfield&#8217;s popular Broadway&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=10212\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10212","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10212"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10212\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":58817,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10212\/revisions\/58817"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10212"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10212"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}