The Eddie Cantor Story
The Eddie Cantor Story is a 1953 American film about the life of Eddie Cantor, starring Keefe Brasselle as Cantor, and released by Warner Brothers.[2]
| The Eddie Cantor Story | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Alfred E. Green |
| Produced by | Sidney Skolsky |
| Starring | Keefe Brasselle Marilyn Erskine Aline MacMahon |
| Cinematography | Edwin B. DuPar |
| Edited by | William H. Ziegler |
| Distributed by | Warner Brothers |
Release date | 25 December 1953 (NYC) 20 January 1954 (US) |
Running time | 115 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $2.3 million (US)[1] |
Plot
Raised by his grandmother on New York's East Side, 13-year-old Eddie sings while another neighborhood kid, Rocky Kramer, and his gang pick pockets. Eddie is sent by Grandma Esther to a boys' camp, where he entertains the others with his songs and routines.
Ida Tobias, daughter of a local merchant, elopes with Eddie a few years later. Rocky is now a local politician and gets Eddie a job in a nightclub. Eddie tells the family he's the star performer there, but he's actually a singing waiter. But piano player Jimmy Durante helps land him a job in a California show.
A headline performer envious of Eddie's popularity pulls a prank, telling him Flo Ziegfeld wants him for the Follies show in New York. It turns out Ziegfeld has never heard of Eddie when he arrives at the theater, but an audition by Eddie is so good, Ziegfeld does indeed hire him.
Ida gives birth to several children while Eddie becomes a big success. She's upset that his family doesn't seem to come first, and matters are complicated when Eddie's fortune is lost in the 1929 stock-market crash. A heart attack slows Eddie, as well, but he prospers on the radio as his health improves, and soon he is happy at work and at home.
Cast
- Keefe Brasselle as Eddie Cantor
- Dick Monda as Eddie Cantor as a boy
- Marilyn Erskine as Ida
- Gerald Mohr as Rocky
- Aline MacMahon as Grandma Esther
- William Forrest as Flo Ziegfeld
- Eddie Cantor (cameo)
Production
The film was announced in 1948 with a budget of $3 million.[3]
References
- 'The Top Box-Office Hits of 1954', Variety Weekly, January 5, 1955
- "The Eddie Cantor Story", New York Times, December 26, 1953 accessed July 6, 2012
- Variety 18 February 1948 p 14