It's in the Bag! (United Artists) (1945)

Allen's Adventures In Hollywood Or Lost Among the Picture Makers Producer Is Sure Of Hit In Comedy IT Out in Hollywood they speak of^ a certain motion picture producers as the man who wanted to make^ a picture called “When The Laughs Come On Again All Over The World.” The producer was Jack H. Skirball. He hasn’t made that picture. He may never make it and anyhow he admits the title is too long for a movie. But he did decide to do something about laughs A all over the world. He made a deal ^ for Fred Allen to star in a pic¬ ture. They both had the same idea about the world needing laughter. then they shook hands and said, “It’s In The Bag.” ' Mr. Skirball decided to call the picture “It’s In The Bag.” He pro- ; duced it. It is now at the. ; Theatre with Fred Allen starred [along with Jack Benny, Don Ame- ;he, William Bendix, Victor Moore ind Rudy Vallee. Other notables in the fabulous cast are Binnie Barnes, Robert Benchley and Jerry Colonna. Allen created much of the com¬ ical material in the story which was designed exclusively for laugh¬ ing purposes. In many respects the film is similar to the hilarious Allen radio programs. To guar¬ antee the fun, Skirball engaged Richard Wallace to direct. That the producer had the right idea is evidenced by the whole¬ hearted reception accorded “It’s In The Bag” wherever it has been shown. It is another demonstra¬ tion of Skirball’s showmanship and appreciation of popular moods and trends. His recent outstand¬ ing pictures such as “Saboteur” and “Shadow Of A Doubt,” proved his unfailing accuracy in judging public entertainment tastes. Skirball, who has been identi¬ fied with all departments of film production, sales, distribution, and exhibition, is known as one of the 'best informed executives in Holly¬ wood. “It’s In The Bag” will probably be remembered as his most lavish achievement. It is a United Artists release. OIU The laughs provided by Fred Allen during the filming of his new comedy extravaganza, “It’s In The Bag,” were as entertaining to Hollywood as the picture itself is to audiences throughout the land. Cast crew and correspondents of the nation’s newspapers and mag¬ azines were regaled without letup by the comedian’s ad lib quips be¬ tween scenes, which he dispensed from a “dead-pan” countenance completely disarming to his listen¬ ers. “The business of moviemaking is boring—and bothersome—every¬ thing is done the hard way—any¬ thing done the easy way is purely coincidental,” he declared. “If all the hours wasted in motion picture production were laid end to end it would mean eternity for every¬ body.” “It’s In The Bag,” a Jack H. Skirball production for United Artists, which is now convulsing audiences everywhere, is Allen’s first film ventui’e since “Love Thy Neighbor,” in which he was co- starred with Jack Benny four years ago. “It takes about four years for one of my pictures to blow over,” said Allen. “I came to Hollywood a year ago to start this one, then gave it up when the story wasn’t right. This time we have gone too far to stop.” One of the humorist’s chief com¬ plaints is the way an actor has to subordinate himself to the mechan¬ ics of movie-making. You can’t be human—you have to stand in a certain spot in front of the cam¬ era—you have to stay in focus and you can’t spoil the lighting”—he moaned. “The ideal actor in Holly¬ wood would be a man with rigor mortis in his body and a neon head. The rigor mortis would keep him from moving, and the neon would light him up.” “You can’t depend on the equip¬ ment, either. In the middle of one of my best scenes — with Robert Benchley—a cable fouled, and the take was ruined. And the roofs of the sound stages are so thin that we have to stop shooting every time a sparrow walks across it.” Getting up at 6 a.m. daily dur¬ ing shooting of “It’s In The Bag” was also annoying to Fred. “It’s like giving up drinking,” he quip¬ ped, “you discover there is a fore¬ noon. And when I report on the set, made up and ready to shoot, at 9 a.m., they don’t use me until after noon. One day they called me at 6 a.m., and at 2 p.m. they made one shot of me crawling through a window. I lost eight hours sleep. And is that scene in the picture? No—they cut it out after the first preview because I was out of focus.” The human element also annoyed the comedian, if you believe what he says, as for example: “Just count the people on this set who are trying to hamper two or three actors from doing their work. You come on the set in the morn¬ ing, and you know your lines. Then the cameraman says you’ll have to add a line of dialogue so you can walk past an expensive sofa which they have rented. The dia¬ logue director is a verb fanatic. If you use the wrong tense of a verb, you have to do it all over again. Then the author shows up with some punctuation he had left over from what some other studio re¬ turned to him. Anything you thought you had to start with turns out to he either impractical or too long—or too short. So you end up by augmenting the trite and going home.” Matching up scenes shot several weeks apart likewise griped Allen. “We filmed a scene outside an opera house—and at the time I was mad about something,” he said. “Two weeks later we filmed the rest of the scene where I rush into the joint—and I have to remember how mad I was two weeks previously so it will match.” Also annoying to Fred are the visitors privileged to visit on the sets during production. “A man working in his office, or factory, doesn’t have to face starry-eyed strangers while he works,” he said. “Yet here I am doing an intimate scene with Binnie Barnes, and in the middle of the take I look up for a second and I’m looking right in the face of a sailor who is visiting the set. We both get a shock and I forget all my dialogue.” Allen’s ruthless ribbing of his fellow-players who included, in ad¬ dition to those already mentioned, Don Ameche, William Bendix, John Carradine, Jerry Colonna, Victor Moore, William Terry, Sid¬ ney Toler and Rudy Vallee, further enlivened proceedings on the set during the shooting of “It’s In The Bag.” Comparing Benchley and Benny, he quipped: “Benchley is had enough, but Benny is worse. You’re always worrying about Benny's hair-piece—he has to be assembled before every scene, and then you worry for fear he will fall apart while the scene is being shot.” All of Allen’s quips are natur¬ ally funniest coming from him, and many of his spontaneous wise¬ cracks on the sets were incorpor¬ ated in the picture. As for in¬ stance, when everything was go¬ ing badly on a certain day, he re¬ marked: “If it wasn’t so perman¬ ent, I wish I was dead.” And this is one of the humorist’s many orig¬ inal lines which you hear from his own lips, in the midst of amusing situations, in his now widely-ac¬ claimed film-hit, “It’s In The Bag.” Set Rumpus DueTo Housing Shortage Fred Allen has his own explana¬ tion of why they tear down movie sets in such frantic fashion these frenzied times. Normally, these studio-construct¬ ed backgrounds remain standing for*several days after they have served their purposes, but under stepped-up war production in Hol¬ lywood, there is a rapid turnover in sets. During filming of his current laugh hit, “It’s In The Bag,” the radio star was amazed at the manner in which studio workmen rushed onto the stages and began dismantling the sets immediately after he had finished his scenes. “It’s the housing shortage in Hollywood,” declared Fred during shooting of a night-club sequence and laborers began breaking doAvn scenery before he had left the set. --“If they don’t get this night-club razed tonight, there’ll be a dozen families moved in here by morn¬ ing.” “It’s In The Bag,” a pretentious comedy, was produced by Jack H. Skirball for United Artists release. Allen is supported by an all-star cast which includes Don Ameche, Binnie Barnes, Robert Benchley, William Bendix, Jack Benny, John ■ Carradine, Jerry Colonna, Victor Moore, William Terry, Sidney To¬ ler and Rudy Vallee. They Make" It’s InThe Bag” Funniest Film On Screen! FRED ALLEN . . . ,eal name John F. Sullivan . . . born in Cam¬ bridge, Mass. Fred Allen Broadway hits . orphaned at five . . • first job in public library . . . practiced juggling and en¬ tered vaudeville . • . changed name to Fred Allen . . . start¬ ed writing vaud¬ eville acts • . . headlined as comedian in switched to radio . . . later made a picture, “Thanks a Million . . . still loyal to radio but made another film, “Love Thy Neighbor” . . . radio remains his first love but consented to star in “It’s In The Bag,” Jack H. Skir¬ ball’s production for United Artists . . . married to Portland Hoffa . . . likes New York better than Hollywood. JACK BENNY. . . Waukegan, Ill. . . . studied music while working in his father’s hab¬ erdashery Rtore . . . played violin in local theatre . . . four lean years in vaude¬ ville . . . appear¬ ed in show at Great Lakes Na¬ val Station dur¬ ing World War I . . . returned Jack Benny |q vaudeville with monologue instead of violin . . . appeared in first movie, M.G.M.’s “Hollywood Revue of 1929” . . . headlined in Earl Car¬ roll’s “Vanities” on Broadway . . . made radio debut and continued on air . . . married to Mary Living¬ stone . . . toured battlefronts to entertain soldiers . . . considers his appearanice with Fred Allen in “It’s III The Bag” one of his hap¬ piest experiences. 29A—Fred Allen and Jack Benny (.15) DON AMECHE bom in Kenosha, Wis. . . . attended public schools in Kenosha rolled in St. Berchman’s Se¬ minary, Marion, la. . . . then Co¬ lumbia College, Dubuque . . . studied law but joined Drama Club . . . later attended Mar¬ quette Univer¬ sity, Georgetown Don Ameche University and University of Wis¬ consin where he starred in college plays . . . substituted for injured actor in the Jackson Stock Com¬ pany . . . successful but failed to impress Broadway . . . toured with small companies . . . tried radio in Chicago . . . scored hit which led to film contract . . . first picture “Sins of Man” . . . latest comedy riot “It’s In The Bag.” WILLIAM BENDIX... bom in New York City . . . reared on East Side . . . was mascot of New York Giants . . . played semi-pro¬ fessional b a s e - ball and football . . . lost grocery clerking job during depres¬ sion . . . joined Federal Theatre Project out of desperation . . . suddenly signed for Saroyan hit, Life” on Broadway . . . was un¬ noticed by studios when show played Los Angeles . . . back in New York he was unexpectedly signed by M.G.M. for role with Katherine Hepburn in “Woman of the Year” . . . Hollywood still un¬ impressed until his performance in Hal Roach’s “Brooklyn Orchid.” . . . zoomed to prominence on. screen. 30A—Don Ameche and William Bendix (.15) William Bendix “Time of Your VICTOR MOORE . . bom in Hammonton, N.Y. . . . schooled there . . . worked as waiter in father’s restaurant when family moved to Boston ... at 18 tried acting in “Babes in the Wood,” at $3.50 per week . . . joined stock company finally landing minor role in Erlanger show on Broad¬ way . . .advised to quit but re¬ mained . . . tried vaudeville in sketch “Change your act or back to the woods” which he parlay- ed from $60 to $2,000 a week Victor Moore . . . signed by George M. Cohan and Sam Harris . . . scored in top musical successes winning Pulitzer Drama Prize in 1932 . . . first movie was “Romance In The Rain” now’ “It’s In The Bag.” RUDY VALLEE . . . bom in Island Pond, Vermont . . . was soda clerk in his father’s drug store . . . studied saxophone in spare time . . . attended Maine University and Yale . . . organized local dance orchestras through college . . necticut Yankees” York and scored to pay way . took his “Con- band to New in nightclub . . . was instant hit on radio as the first and fore¬ most “crooner” . . . brought to Hollywood he merged his radio work with mo- ' " tion picture ap- Rudy Vallee pearances . . . scores one of his most interesting hits with Fred Allen in “It’s In The Bag.” 31A—Victor Moore and Rudy Vallee (.15) ROBERT BENCHLEY . . . bom in Worcester, Mass. . . . grad- graduated from Harvard . . . es. tablished as a Writer - humorist, he became an actor “by mis¬ take” ... at an intimate show staged for his N. Y. critic friends, he was asked to do an impromp¬ tu sketch, “The Treasurer’s Re- benchley port” . . . Irving Berlin heard it and forced the astonished Bench- ley into the “Music Box Revue” . . . the sketch became a sensation which took Benchley into vaude¬ ville and motion pictures . . . short subjects and feature films followed . . . the star is married and has two sons . . . his latest outstanding performance is with Fred Allen in “It’s In The Bag.” JERRY COLONNA . , born in Boston, Mass. . . . educated there and studied music . . . liked drums and trom¬ bone . . . en¬ couraged by par¬ ents he formed his own orches¬ tra . . . appear¬ ed on the Fred Allen radio pro- I gram . . . at-1 tracted immedi¬ ate attention as a comic . . . became broadcast favorite . . . of¬ fered motion picture role and scored first screen success in “52nd Street” . . . traveled through the war zones with Bob Hope U.S.O. entertainment troupe ... he is mar¬ ried and has an adopted son . . . portrays the zaney psychiatrist in Fred Allen’s latest comedy, “It’s In The Bag.” 32A—Robert Benchley and Jerry Colonna (.15) Jerry Colonna Bendix Is Soft Toughie In Hit Any list of the year’s outstand¬ ing movie performances will cer¬ tainly include the one delivered by William Bendix in Fred Allen’s latest comedy riot, “It’s In The Bag.” Bendix appears as an un- , derworld tyrant in the new film which is now at the . Theatre. The role, conceived by Allen himself, is probably the most extraordinary in cinema history, for here is a gangster with a vita¬ min complex. Other distinguished stars in the picture include Jack Benny, Don Ameche, Victor Moore and Rudy Vallee. Binnie Barnes has the leading feminine role while Rob¬ ert Benchley and Jerry Colonna appear conspicuously in many up¬ roarious sequences. Jack H. Skir¬ ball produced “It’s In The Bag” for United Artists. His Secret's Out! Allen Was juggler Fred Allen’s chief complaint against radio is that you can’t broadcast a juggling act. Allen was a professional juggler before he became a radio performer and juggling is probably the only vaudeville specialty which doesn’t register on the air. Any good -juggler must practice constantly. Allen quit practicing several years ago when his radio programs began to demand all of bis time. It was suggested that he revive the nimble art for a scene in his new comedy, “It’s In The Bag”—now playing at the. Theatre through United Artists re¬ lease—but the ex-juggler said, “the only juggling I do these day^ is verbal.” Allen began his career by prac¬ ticing various juggling tricks at home. He started with library books and progressed to billiard balls and Indian Clubs. As Allen put it, “one thing led to another.” A ’-: The Strange Tale Of Sinbad Brittle Have you ever heard of Sinbad Brittle? Neither had Fred Allen, who is returning to local screen for the first time in four years in “It’s In The Bag,” the Jack Skirball comedy at the.Theatre through United Artists release. Unhappy Fred Allen totes Wil¬ liam Bendix in one of the scenes from the former’s starring comedy hit “It’s In The Bag,” playing at the . Theatre through United Artists release. 24A—1 Col. Scene (.15) Allen invented the name some years ago for one of his radio shows. He thought the combina¬ tion of Sinbad (for Sailor) and Brittle (for Peanut) would be an amusing label for a comic charac¬ ter. And so it proved to be, draw¬ ing a fair share of laughs, after which Allen forgot all about it. The following summer the co¬ median was lying on a beach in Maine when he was approached by a native he had never seen before. “You this Fred Allen?” asked the local boy. Allen nodded and the native shuffled his feet and beamed. “How’d ye know?” he said. “Know what?” asked a com- . Theatre. The apart- pletely puzzled Allen. _, if I’d plagiarized some really ob¬ scure name like John Smith or Henry Brown? Hereafter I’m playing safe by calling everyone ‘Mr. X.’ ” Allen Innovations In Benny Apartment Jack Benny’s apartment, con¬ ceived and designed by Fred Allen, provides a background for one of the outstanding sequences in “It’s In The Bag,” Allen’s new comedy which comes . to the '‘My name. I heard it on the air. I’m Sinbad Brittle.” “Jumping horsefeathers!” says Allen, telling the story. What do you suppose would have happened ment, said to contain several sur¬ prising innovations, was also a source of considerable amazement to Benny when he arrived at the studio for scenes with his amiable antagonist. Reading up and down, this gentle¬ man is none other than that famous radio wil, Fred Allen earnestly in search for the wherewithal to main¬ tain his witty reputation. We are told that these mental contortions are routine with the aspiring hu- niorist—so if you have any idea of emulating the talented Mr. Allen study his progress to a successful punch line as revealed in this set of pictures and decide if you wish to go and do likewise. Fred’s cur¬ rently causing all sorts of hysteria in his starring vehicle “It’s In The Bag,” now at the.'Thea¬ tre through United Artists release. Others aiding and abetting him are Jack Benny, Don Ameche, Robert Benchley, Jerry Colonna, Rudy Val¬ lee, Victor Moore and Binnie Barnes. 14A~1 Col. Scene (.15) Ameche Adds Singing To Dramatic Ability A new baritone voice, ringing loud and clear, is greeting movie audiences at the.The¬ atre, where “It’s In The Bag” is currently attracting capacity crowds. The voice belongs to Don Ameche who appears in a singing- waiter quartette with such talent¬ ed vocalists as Fred Allen, Victor Moore and Rudy Vallee. Ameche’s harmonizing, one of the picture’s most startling sur¬ prises, takes place in a nightclub sequence of the hilarious film. Jack Benny, William Bendix, Bin¬ nie Barnes, Robert Benchley and Jerry Colonna are other notables in the Jack H. Skirball production. It is a United Artists release. Highlighted with Allen and Ben¬ ny in the picture are Don Ameche, William Bendix, Victor Moore Rudy Vallee, Binnie Barnes, Rob¬ ert Benchley, Jerry Colonna and a host of other favorites. Jack H. Skirball produced the unusual fun- film for United Artists. Page Twenty-one