Movie Time: "Varsity Show" (1937)

Another movie of the older variety I just watched is "Varsity Show" from Warner Brothers in 1937.

I'm kinda fascinated by the college musical genre that was popular during the 1930s, things like "College Humor" (1933), "Pigskin Parade" (1936), "College Swing" (1938), etc.

"Varsity Show" is another in that line and it's enjoyable if you like that sort of thing, but it has a few things of interest to separate it from the pack a bit.

The star is Dick Powell, who plays an alumnus of the fictional Winfield College who's now a Broadway producer and is called upon current students to help them with the... Varsity Show!

Dick Powell was about 32 when the movie was filmed and he was youthful looking, but I think it was smart not to cast him as a current college student, which would have been the case just a couple of years earlier.

He's totally convincing in this movie and I can't imagine that anyone in 1937 would have thought that he'd be a hard-boiled, film noir type actor within a decade!

Powell's sidekick in "Varsity Show" is Ted Healy, who's best (only?) remembered these days as the star comedian to whom the Three Stooges were the stooges. He seems to be largely dismissed as a footnote of entertainment history, but was actually a talented comedian who could toss off a cynical one liner with the best of them. 

Second-billed to Dick Powell, though, was bandleader Fred Waring and his Pennsylvanians. Waring plays a music professor at the college and is pretty good for a non-actor, as those things go.

Members of the Pennsylvanians aggregation appear as students at the college and that's where things really get interesting...

Rosemary (above right) and Priscilla Lane had been featured singers with Fred Waring and came to Hollywood to make this movie. They have featured parts and do quite well, which led to each appearing in several subsequent movies for Warner Brothers, including the "Four Daughters" series with older sister Lola Lane and not-actual-sister Gale Page.

Of all the main players, Priscilla seems the most age-appropriate to play a college student and she was about 21-22 at the time. She's adorable!

Rosemary was a little older, so she got to be Dick Powell's romantic interest!

The other member of the Pennsylvanians to get a contract from Warner Brothers was Johnny "Scat" Davis, who's kind of a bizarre 1930s caricature of a singing, trumpet-playing swing musician. You can see him as the rather square Fred Waring's concession to the swing movement. Everything about Davis is exaggerated but he's sure enthusiastic!

Fred Waring always seemed to have a lot of siblings in his group, including his own brother Tom, and in additional to the Lane Sisters, he also featured the McFarland Twins who were both saxophone players.

They both appear in "Varsity Show," but only George (and not Arthur) is credited for some reason. They have the look of 1930s college students!

The McFarlands later had their own band, and the idea of identical twin bandleaders is fun!

A longtime member of the Fred Waring band was drummer Poley McClintock, who also supplied a wacky Popeye-type voice. He was too old in 1937 to be a college student, so they explained it away by Dick Powell's character remarking that Poley was junior when he (Powell) was a freshman. Apparently Poley could never pass Latin!

Left to right: Carole Landis, Sterling Holloway, Priscilla Lane, Lee Dixon, Rosemary Lane, Dick Powell, Mabel Todd, Ted Healy.

The other main students are played by non-Waring actors Sterling Holloway, Mabel Todd and Lee Dixon, who vaguely seem college-age.

A then 18 year old Carole Landis also pops up, dancing with Holloway (of all people!) in the finale.

The outstanding dance team Buck & Bubbles appear in the stereotypical role of janitors, but they get to show off their skills a couple of times. John Bubbles in particular is brilliant!

So, I think the cast is interesting, but that may not even be the most interesting thing about the movie.

The tantalizing thing is that "Varsity Show" was originally about 120 minutes when released in 1937. Then it was re-released in the 1940s, but cut by about 40 minutes. But no one knows what happened to those 40 minutes and the only known print available is a mere 80 minutes!

So, what was cut? I'm guessing a lot of musical numbers, as some songs that were listed in the credits do not appear in this print and others seem to be reprised during the finale, but had probably been featured earlier in the film.

What makes me wonder the most, though, is why (as mentioned) George McFarland is credited (as "Hap") and Arthur is not. Was there a cut scene in which George had more dialogue or something and someone actually called him Hap?

Note: this George McFarland is definitely not George "Spanky" McFarland of "Our Gang" fame, so don't worry that somehow "Varsity Show" featured a lost Spanky appearance!

Does anyone care enough about "Varsity Show" these days to track down and release a complete print? We can only hope!

What's left is fun, though, if you like that sort of thing or any of the featured players.

The finale was staged by Busby Berkeley and includes a fun salute to other actual colleges:

Of course, the spectacle could never fit on an actual theater stage, but that's also part of the fun!