Pot o' Gold
“It's the prize romantic laugh of the year... more fun than winning the POT O' GOLD!”
About Pot o' Gold
Jimmy Haskell's music store in Point Jervis fails, and he goes to work for his uncle C. J. Haskell, who owns a health-food factory. He takes a room at Mom McCorkle's boarding house, next to the factory, where Horace Heidt's band rehearses. C. J. wants the noise stopped. Jimmy hits him with a tomato before anyone knows he is the nephew, and Molly McCorkle falls for him. Jimmy sits in for C. J. on the radio show. Molly's brother and Heidt find out who he is, pack C. J. off on a vacation, and let Jimmy book the band. When Molly learns the truth she announces on air that the program will give away $1,000 a week. Jimmy claims the idea. A federal investigator blocks a simple drawing, so Jimmy rigs a choice from telephone books and a carnival wheel. The giveaway takes off, the families make peace, and Jimmy and Molly marry.
Cast & crew
More about Pot o' Gold
George Marshall directed. Walter DeLeon wrote the screenplay from a story by Andrew Bennison and Monte Brice, using the NBC radio series Pot o' Gold. James Roosevelt produced and held the copyright in his own name. United Artists released it on April 3, 1941. The AFI dates the shoot from mid-December 1940 to late January 1941. Hal Mohr photographed it. Lou Forbes wrote the score. Lloyd Nosler edited.
Themes
Making
Roosevelt had announced Pot o' Gold as the first film from his Globe Productions banner. Shooting overlapped the first Soundies, which debuted in September 1940.
Reviews
Motion Picture Herald wrote that the "basic and proven ingredients" had been "artfully mixed and beaten to a light froth." The New York World-Telegram called it a fast-moving comedy "abounding in tuneful numbers, speed, and good gags."
Look
Hal Mohr shot it in black and white, on ten reels running 7,699 feet.
Music
Lou Forbes scored the picture. The songs include "Hi, Cy, What's A-Cookin'?" (Henry Russell and Louis Forbes), "Pete the Piper" and "Broadway Caballero" (Russell), "A Knife, a Fork and a Spoon" (Dave Franklin), "When Johnny Toots His Horn" (Hy Heath and Fred Rose), and "Do You Believe in Fairy Tales?" (Vee Lawnhurst and Mack David). Horace Heidt and His Musical Knights play them.
Preservation
The copyright sat with James Roosevelt rather than a studio, which is why the film could be reissued in 1943. A complete print circulates, including the Internet Archive copy pot_o_gold.
Notes
- In Britain the title was The Golden Hour.
- The radio show, with Horace Heidt and His Musical Knights, began on NBC on September 26, 1939, and paid a $1,000 prize to a name drawn each week. It ended December 23, 1941.
- Paulette Goddard's songs are dubbed by Vera Van. James Stewart sings "When Johnny Toots His Horn" himself.
- Early Soundies, the three-minute films for coin-operated movie jukeboxes, used sets, costumes, musicians, and dancers from this production.
- Because Roosevelt copyrighted it personally, it could be reissued in late 1943.
- Charles Winninger plays C. J. Haskell and Mary Gordon plays Mom McCorkle.
Scenes
- Jimmy hits Uncle C. J. with a tomato during the band's rehearsal.
- Molly blurts the $1,000 giveaway into a live microphone.
- Jimmy draws the winner off telephone books and a carnival wheel.
Influenced by
- The NBC radio series Pot o' Gold (1939)
Also available
- Internet Archive (pot_o_gold)
