Palooka (film)

Palooka
Palooka
	Lobby card
Directed by	Benjamin Stoloff
Written by	Murray Roth (additional dialogue); Ben Ryan (additional dialogue)
Screenplay by	Jack Jevne; Arthur Kober; Gertrude Purcell
Based on	Joe Palooka; comic strip; by Ham Fisher
Produced by	Edward Small; Harry M. Goetz
Starring	Stuart Erwin; Lupe Vélez; Jimmy Durante
Cinematography	Arthur Edeson
Edited by	Grant Whytock
Production; company	Reliance Picture Corporation
Distributed by	United Artists
Release date	January 26, 1934;
Running time	86 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Palooka is a 1934 American pre-Code comedy film directed by Benjamin Stoloff and starring Stuart Erwin in the title role, Lupe Velez and Jimmy Durante, and based on the comic strip by Ham Fisher. The film was adapted by Jack Jevne, Arthur Kober, Gertrude Purcell, Murray Roth and Ben Ryan from the comic strip. The film is also known as The Great Schnozzle in the United Kingdom.

The film also stars William Cagney, the younger brother of actor James Cagney in the role of the adversary prize fighter to Knobby.

Plot

Joe Palooka is a naive young man whose father Pete was a champion boxer, but his lifestyle caused Joe's mother Mayme to leave him and to take young Joe to the country to raise him. When a shady boxing manager discovers Joe's natural boxing talent, Joe decides to follow him to the big city, where he becomes a champion and begins to follow his father's path of debauchery, much of it including the glamorous cabaret singer and fortune hunter Nina Madero.

Cast

Jimmy Durante as Knobby Walsh / Junior
Lupe Vélez as Nina Madero
Stuart Erwin as Joe Palooka
Marjorie Rambeau as Mayme Palooka
Robert Armstrong as Pete 'Goodtime' Palooka
Mary Carlisle as Anne
Thelma Todd as Trixie
Gus Arnheim as orchestra bandleader
Franklyn Ardell as Doc Wise
Tom Dugan as Whitey, Joe's trainer
Louise Beavers as Crystal, Mayme's housekeeper
Fred Toones as Smokey
William Cagney, brother of James Cagney as Al McSwatt
Rolfe Sedan as Alphonse

Production

Palooka was the second film Edward Small made under an agreement with United Artists.^[1] Small bought the rights to the song "Inka Dinka Doo" specifically for the film.^[2]

Soundtrack

"The Band Played On" (music by Charles B. Ward, lyrics by John F. Palmer)
Lupe Vélez - "Like Me a Little Bit Less (Love Me a Little Bit More)" (music by Burton Lane, lyrics by Harold Adamson)
Jimmy Durante - "Inka Dinka Doo" (written by Jimmy Durante and Ben Ryan)^[3]
Jimmy Durante - "M-O-T-H-E-R, a Word That Means the World To Me" (music by Theodore Morse, lyrics by Howard Johnson)
"Count Your Blessings" (written by Irving Caesar, Ferde Grofé Sr. and Edgar A. Guest)
"Palooka, It's a Grand Old Name" (music by Joseph Burke, lyrics by Ann Ronell)

References

↑ Prize Ring Comedy Goes Into Work at Early Date at U.A. The Washington Post (1923-1954) [Washington, D.C] 28 May 1933: S5.
↑ Noted Funster Goes Composer By Scant Nose. The Washington Post (1923-1954) [Washington, D.C] 10 Dec 1933: A2.
↑ "Track Search: Inka Dinka Doo". AllMusic. Archived from the original on August 8, 2011. Retrieved January 3, 2011.

External links

Palooka on YouTube
Palooka at IMDb
Palooka is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive

Listen to this article (3 minutes)

This audio file was created from a revision of this article dated 28 June 2019, and does not reflect subsequent edits.

[1] Prize Ring Comedy Goes Into Work at Early Date at U.A. The Washington Post (1923-1954) [Washington, D.C] 28 May 1933: S5.

[2] Noted Funster Goes Composer By Scant Nose. The Washington Post (1923-1954) [Washington, D.C] 10 Dec 1933: A2.

[3] "Track Search: Inka Dinka Doo". AllMusic. Archived from the original on August 8, 2011. Retrieved January 3, 2011.

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v t e Films produced by Edward Small
1910-20s	Who's Your Neighbor? (1917) The Sporting Lover (1926) The Cohens and Kellys (1926) The Gorilla (1927) McFadden's Flats (1927) Ladies' Night in a Turkish Bath (1928) The Cohens and the Kellys in Paris (1928) My Man (1928) Companionate Marriage (1928) Song of Love (1929)
1930s	Clancy in Wall Street (1930) Igloo (1932) I Cover the Waterfront (1933) Palooka (1933) The Count of Monte Cristo (1934) Transatlantic Merry-Go-Round (1934) Let 'Em Have It (1935) Red Salute (1935) The Melody Lingers On (1935) The Last of the Mohicans (1936) The Bride Walks Out (1936) We Who Are About to Die (1937) Sea Devils (1937) New Faces of 1937 (1937) Super-Sleuth (1937) The Toast of New York (1937) The Duke of West Point (1938) King of the Turf (1939) The Man in the Iron Mask (1939)
1940s	My Son, My Son! (1940) The Son of Monte Cristo (1940) South of Pago Pago (1940) Kit Carson (1940) International Lady (1941) The Corsican Brothers (1941) A Gentleman After Dark (1942) Twin Beds (1942) Miss Annie Rooney (1942) Friendly Enemies (1942) Up in Mabel's Room (1944) Abroad with Two Yanks (1944) Brewster's Millions (1945) Getting Gertie's Garter (1945) Temptation (1946) The Return of Monte Cristo (1946) T-Men (1947) The Black Arrow (1948) The Fuller Brush Man (1948) Raw Deal (1948) Walk a Crooked Mile (1948) Black Magic (1949)
1950s	Davy Crockett, Indian Scout (1950) The Iroquois Trail (1950) Valentino (1951) Lorna Doone (1951) The Texas Rangers (1951) Indian Uprising (1952) Scandal Sheet (1952) The Brigand (1952) Cripple Creek (1952) Kansas City Confidential (1952) The Bandits of Corsica (1953) Captain John Smith and Pocahontas (1953) Dragon's Gold (1953) Gun Belt (1953) The Neanderthal Man (1953) 99 River Street (1953) Raiders of the Seven Seas (1953) Sabre Jet (1953) The Steel Lady (1953) Wicked Woman (1953) Captain Kidd and the Slave Girl (1954) Khyber Patrol (1954) The Lone Gun (1954) Overland Pacific (1954) Return to Treasure Island (1954) Southwest Passage (1954) Down Three Dark Streets (1954) New York Confidential (1955) The Naked Street (1955) Top Gun (1955) Comanche (1955) Gun Brothers (1956) UFO (1956) Chicago Confidential (1957) 5 Steps to Danger (1957) Gun Duel in Durango (1957) The Iron Sheriff (1957) Monkey on My Back (1957) Curse of the Faceless Man (1958) Hong Kong Confidential (1958) It! The Terror from Beyond Space (1958) Toughest Gun in Tombstone (1958) Witness for the Prosecution (1958) The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake (1959) Guns, Girls and Gangsters (1959) Inside the Mafia (1959) Invisible Invaders (1959) Pier 5, Havana (1959) Riot in Juvenile Prison (1959) Solomon and Sheba (1959) Timbuktu (1959) (had name removed from credits) Vice Raid (1959)
1960s	Cage of Evil (1960) A Dog's Best Friend (1960) Gunfighters of Abilene (1960) The Music Box Kid (1960) Noose for a Gunman (1960) Oklahoma Territory (1960) Three Came to Kill (1960) The Walking Target (1960) Boy Who Caught a Crook (1961) The Cat Burglar (1961) Doctor Blood's Coffin (1961) Frontier Uprising (1961) Five Guns to Tombstone (1961) The Flight That Disappeared (1961) The Gambler Wore a Gun (1961) Gun Fight (1961) Mary Had a Little... (1961) Operation Bottleneck (1961) Police Dog Story (1961) Secret of Deep Harbor (1961) The Snake Woman (1961) Three on a Spree (1961) When the Clock Strikes (1961) You Have to Run Fast (1961) The Greengage Summer (1961) Beauty and the Beast (1962) The Clown and the Kid (1962) Deadly Duo (1962) Gun Street (1962) Incident in an Alley (1962) Jack the Giant Killer (1962) Saintly Sinners (1962) Tower of London (1962) Diary of a Madman (1963) Twice Told Tales (1963) I'll Take Sweden (1965) Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number! (1966) Frankie and Johnny (1966) The Wicked Dreams of Paula Schultz (1968) The File of the Golden Goose (1969) The Christine Jorgensen Story (1970)