Come Up Smiling

Come Up Smiling
Theatrical release poster
Directed byWilliam Freshman
Screenplay byWilliam Freshman
Story byKen G. Hall (as "John Addison Chandler")
Produced byKen G. Hall
Starring
CinematographyGeorge Heath
Edited byWilliam Shepherd
Music byHenry Krips
Production
company
Distributed byBritish Empire Films
Release date
  • 3 November 1939 (1939-11-03) (Tasmania)[1]
Running time
  • 77 minutes (Australia)
  • 65 mins (UK)
  • 71 mins (Aust re-release)
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish
Budget£22,000[2][3]

Come Up Smiling (also known as Ants in His Pants) is a 1939 Australian comedy film starring popular American stage comedian Will Mahoney and his wife Evie Hayes. It was the only feature from Cinesound Productions not directed by Ken G. Hall.[4]

Synopsis

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Barney O'Hara is a performer in a touring carnival. He runs a sideshow act with his daughter, Pat, and ex-Shakespearean actor, Horace Worthington Howard, which is struggling to make money. One of the main attractions is Pat's voice.

One day Pat is invited to sing at a party held by Colonel Cameron and his daughter Eve, but her voice fails her. A specialist tells Barney that Pat requires an expensive operation.

To raise the money, Barney agrees to fight a boxer known as 'The Killer'. He is helped in his training by dancer Kitty Katkin. On the day of the fight, ants are slipped into Barney's shorts, causing him to defeat the Killer. He wins the money to enable Pat to have her operation.

Cast

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Production

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The film was developed as a star vehicle for popular comedian Will Mahoney, an American vaudevillian who toured Australia successfully in 1938. Ken G. Hall also hired Mahoney's regular co-stars, his wife Evie Hayes and manager, Bob Geraghty.[6] Mahoney had previously made a British film Said O'Reilluy to MacNab.

Hall hoped that Mahoney's appeal would help the film outside Australia:

This is the most important contract that has been signed at Cinesound as Mahoney is the highest paid star we have ever signed up. In fact, I think he's the highest paid stage artist ever to have toured Australia. It is only the improved conditions of the Australian film industry, due to recent legislation, that has made it possible for us to enlarge our production budget. If any artist can carry an Australian film to overseas markets, it's Will Mahoney.[7]

Mahoney later said, "I think I'll be a big success in this film, but don't get me wrong. It's only because I'm playing myself and I feel I know me pretty well."[8] He described his role a "a nice little bloke trying to make something of himself."[9]

In June 1939 it was announced the film would be called Come Up Smiling and would be the first film from Cinesound Productions not directed by Hall. The writer-director, William Freshman, was born in Australia but had been working in the British film industry. Freshman was hired along with his wife, scriptwriter Lydia Hayward.[10][11]

"We are now planning bigger things, as we are well able to do, by reason of the additional time at my disposal", said Hall at the time. "Opportunity will be taken to find big subjects from which to make big pictures – like Robbery Under Arms, which I expect to direct personally, Overland Telegraph, Eureka Stockade, and others of that calibre, though not all necessarily historic."[12] (None of these movies ended up being made by Hall.)

The Freshmans arrived in Australia in April 1939[13] and the script was ready by June.[14] Hall later wrote that Freshman "seemed to lack the vital comedy sense we needed, but he was a good constructor in a general way of screenplay writing. The boxing ring sequence was, I think, one of the funniest things we did at Cinesound."[15]

Casting

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The romantic leads were played by Cinesound regular Shirley Ann Richards and John Fleeting. Fleeting had previously appeared in Gone to the Dogs (1939).[16] Singing star Jean Hatton appeared in her second movie, after Mr. Chedworth Steps Out (1938).

The film is known as the first featuring future Australian filmstar Chips Rafferty (as an uncredited extra). Ken G. Hall insists he cast Rafferty in Dad Rudd MP and used him afterwards in reshoots he did on Come Up Smiling (see below).[17] However Raffety says he ws cast in this film first as a "hayseed" through the assistant casting director.[18]

Shooting

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Filming began in late June 1939.[19]

The movie was mostly shot at Cinesound's Bondi studios, with carnival scenes filmed at the Sydney Showground. An estimated 16,000 extras were used.[20][21]

A week into filming, Jean Hatton was injured falling down two flights of stairs but managed to recover.[22]

The fight scene reportedly took ten nights to film with audiences of one thousand a night.[23]

Adolph Zukor of Paramount visited the set during filming in August. He had seen Dad and Dave Come to Town on the boat out to Australia and was so impressed by its quality that he asked to visit Cinesound. Zukor watched Hall direct a sequence of Come Up Smiling and told reporters, "I watched that director at work and he certainly seems to be fully conversant with film technique. I've been pleasantly surprised with what I have seen to-day. I didn't expect to find anything like the facilities that this studio possesses. I would say that Clnesound is just as good as anything we have to Hollywood."[24]

Filming was completed on 1 September.[25]

A half hour radio special promoting the film broadcast on 17 September.[26]

A patriotic song "It's Up To You It's Up to Me" was included in the film.[27]

The film opened in Tasmania in November 1939.[28][29]

Ants in His Pants

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According to Hall, the film was not an immediate success at the box office so he had it re-cut and re-released as Ants in His Pants, adding a new song to explain the title. This decision was announced mid November.[30]

Hall said in December, "It is hot an unusual procedure, as many American pictures change titles on release When the film was run through for executives, Mahoney's comedy musical number. 'I've Got Ants In My Pants' was so successful it was agreed that it should be stressed In the title."[31]

According to one journalist "Personally it seemed that "Come Up Smiling" was a good title — but who knows? The crowds may find the predicament Of the ants and the owner of the pants a far greater lure."[32]

The retitled film was released on 29 December.[33]

Reception

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The Sydney Morning Herald said " There is nothing in "Ants in His Pants" that a boy oftwelve could fail to appreciate.... Will Mahoney on the stage used to be colossal fun.... But on the screen he provides only meandering entertainment."[34]

The Sun said "The picture makes no contribution to the important! side of Australian production. It is pure slapstick, the story being a thread on which to hang a variety entertainment, given principally by Will Mahoney."[35]

Smith's Weekly said the film "has the marking of a Hollywood piece of work — not a very good l-lollywood work, but nevertheless not deserving of that terrible label: "typically Australian." It has decided polish, and some of the stadium-scenes are decidedly amusing — thanks to the technicians. In fact it's a credit to the technical department of Cinesound— cutters, effectmen, and sound-men — rather than to any special b'illiance of its stage people. Only Mahoney stands clearly out."[36]

The Bulletin said "Cinesound’s latest gift to the nation is not its best work by any means, chief fault being one that has hindered several earlier productions—disjointedness and a tendency to cram too much into the film. There’s no reason why comedy, villainy, songandance and the thread of a plot shouldn’t be the components of a good filmplay, but they should be blended to-gether to run in perfect accord and carry the whole set-up with them. In “Ants in His Pants” each ingredient seems to remain a separate part, each seems to butt in on the other and be played out to its utmost length, and, consequently, each seems a too-obvious artifice to pad the film out to a respectable running-time. "[37]

According to Hall, the movie performed much better on re-release.[20] "It was quite successful too after a bad start. It was well received on television because it’s a funny picture —- that fight scene, for example, with Alec Kellaway and little Will Mahoney."[38]

Songs

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References

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  1. ^ "Advertising". Voice. Vol. 12, no. 44. Tasmania, Australia. 4 November 1939. p. 2. Retrieved 3 June 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. ^ Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, 186.
  3. ^ Pike, Andrew Franklin. "The History of an Australian Film Production Company: Cinesound, 1932-70" (PDF). Australian National University. p. 245.
  4. ^ Pike, Andrew Franklin. "The History of an Australian Film Production Company: Cinesound, 1932-70" (PDF). Australian National University. p. 96.
  5. ^ a b "Australian Web Archive". Archived from the original on 13 September 2006.
  6. ^ "WILL MAHONEY". The Sydney Morning Herald. 10 January 1939. p. 9. Retrieved 16 August 2012 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. ^ "Cinesound Signs Up Will Mahoney". The Courier-Mail. Brisbane. 12 January 1939. p. 4 Section: Second Section. Retrieved 16 August 2012 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. ^ "NEW CINESOUND FILM". Examiner (Launceston, Tas.: 1900 – 1954). 21 October 1939. p. 12. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  9. ^ "On the set with WILL MAHONEY". The Australian Women's Weekly. Vol. 7, no. 12. Australia, Australia. 26 August 1939. p. 4 (The Movie World). Retrieved 26 May 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  10. ^ "NEW LOCAL FILM". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 31, 656. New South Wales, Australia. 16 June 1939. p. 6. Retrieved 26 May 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  11. ^ "Will Mahoney On Screen". The Daily Telegraph. Vol. IV, no. 74. New South Wales, Australia. 16 June 1939. p. 11. Retrieved 26 May 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  12. ^ "Ken Hall Now Producer." The Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 3 August 1939: 7 Section: Second Section
  13. ^ "A Film Critic's Diary". The Argus. Melbourne. 12 April 1939. p. 12. Retrieved 16 August 2012 – via National Library of Australia.
  14. ^ "Will Mahoney Script Ready". The Courier-Mail. Brisbane. 8 June 1939. p. 6 Section: Second Section. Retrieved 16 August 2012 – via National Library of Australia.
  15. ^ Ken G. Hall, Directed by Ken G. Hall, Lansdowne Press, 1977 p 154.
  16. ^ "THE ROMANTIC LEADS". The Sydney Morning Herald. 15 June 1939. p. 30. Retrieved 14 August 2012 – via National Library of Australia.
  17. ^ Larkins, Bob (1986). Chips: The life and films of Chips Rafferty. Macmillan Company. pp. 7–10.
  18. ^ Australian Geographical Society.; Australian National Publicity Association.; Australian National Travel Association. (1 October 1970), "A Chip off the Great Australian Block", Walkabout, Melbourne: Australian National Travel Association, nla.obj-754313567, retrieved 3 June 2024 – via Trove
  19. ^ "Singing Star Falls at Sutdio". Daily News. Vol. 1, no. 182. New South Wales, Australia. 1 July 1939. p. 5. Retrieved 26 May 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  20. ^ a b ""Ants in His Pants."". The Sydney Morning Herald. 7 December 1939. p. 31. Retrieved 16 August 2012 – via National Library of Australia.
  21. ^ "CinesoundStarts Production on Mahoney Film". The Mercury. Hobart, Tas. 1 July 1939. p. 5. Retrieved 18 March 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  22. ^ "Jean Hatton Injured on Film Set." The Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 1 July 1939
  23. ^ "EVERY THURSDAY--FILMS". The Sun. No. 9355. New South Wales, Australia. 28 December 1939. p. 7 (LATE FINAL EXTRA). Retrieved 3 June 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  24. ^ "'GRAND OLD MEN' OF FILMS MEET IN SYDNEY". The Newcastle Sun. NSW. 5 August 1939. p. 7. Retrieved 18 March 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  25. ^ "SOCIAL AND PERSONAL". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 31, 723. New South Wales, Australia. 2 September 1939. p. 11. Retrieved 3 June 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  26. ^ Australasian Radio Relay League. (6 September 1939), "Will Mahoney And Evie Hayes On Air", The Wireless Weekly: The Hundred per Cent Australian Radio Journal, Sydney: Wireless Press, nla.obj-726421142, retrieved 26 May 2024 – via Trove
  27. ^ Australasian Radio Relay League. (27 September 1939), "Almost in Confidence", The Wireless Weekly: The Hundred per Cent Australian Radio Journal, Sydney: Wireless Press, nla.obj-726317496, retrieved 26 May 2024 – via Trove
  28. ^ "THE THEATRES". The Examiner (Tasmania). Vol. XCVIII, no. 205. Tasmania, Australia. 10 November 1939. p. 5 (LATE NEWS EDITION and DAILY). Retrieved 3 June 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  29. ^ "TALKIES". Voice. Vol. 12, no. 44. Tasmania, Australia. 4 November 1939. p. 1. Retrieved 3 June 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  30. ^ "'Ants In Your Pants'". The Courier-mail. No. 1937. Queensland, Australia. 16 November 1939. p. 16. Retrieved 3 June 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  31. ^ ""ANTS IN HIS PANTS"". The Sun. No. 9338. New South Wales, Australia. 7 December 1939. p. 24 (LATE FINAL EXTRA). Retrieved 3 June 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  32. ^ "WAS SHAKESPEARE WRONG?". The Sun. No. 1916. New South Wales, Australia. 17 December 1939. p. 10 (MAGAZINE SUPPLEMENT). Retrieved 3 June 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  33. ^ ""Ants in His Pants."". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 31, 823. New South Wales, Australia. 28 December 1939. p. 15. Retrieved 3 June 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  34. ^ "FILM REVIEWS". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 31, 826. New South Wales, Australia. 1 January 1940. p. 3. Retrieved 3 June 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  35. ^ "NEW FILMS OF THE WEEK". The Sun. No. 9358. New South Wales, Australia. 1 January 1940. p. 8 (LAST RACE ALL DETAILS). Retrieved 3 June 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  36. ^ ""ANTS IN HIS PANTS"". Smith's Weekly. Vol. XXI, no. 45. New South Wales, Australia. 6 January 1940. p. 17. Retrieved 3 June 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  37. ^ "SUNDRY SHOWS", The Bulletin, Sydney, N.S.W: John Haynes and J.F. Archibald, 10 January 1940, nla.obj-592780308, retrieved 3 June 2024 – via Trove
  38. ^ Taylor, Phillip (1 January 1974). "Ken G. Hall". Cinema Papers. p. 86. interview done on 25 October 1972
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