Lawrence Riley
Encyclopedia
Lawrence Riley was a successful American
playwright
and screenwriter
. He gained fame in 1934
as the author of the Broadway
hit Personal Appearance
, which was turned by Mae West
into the classic film
Go West, Young Man
(1936
), starring herself.
alumnus and a World War I
veteran, who served in the US Army
. He started as a journalist on the East Coast. Subsequently, Riley achieved success as a playwright, which led to his becoming a sought-after Hollywood screenwriter. His wife, née Virginia Sweeney, was also a writer. Riley was a member of the Authors League and of Dramatists, Inc. Originally from Warren, Pennsylvania
, Riley also lived in Bradford
, and located the action of his breakthrough play, Personal Appearance, in Pennsylvania. This play earned him a fortune. During his career as a screenwriter, he owned homes in both New York City
and Hollywood. Until his demise, the Rileys had been long-time residents of Riverside
, a section of the town of Greenwich, Connecticut
, the well-known community of the "rich and famous." Lawrence Riley died on November 29, 1974, at Stamford Hospital, in Stamford, Connecticut, at the age of 78.
, a three-act comedy
produced by the legendary Brock Pemberton
of Tony Awards fame. It opened in 1934
at New York's Henry Miller Theatre and was a huge Broadway
success, lasting for 501 performances. It starred Gladys George
as a movie star and diva
who encounters a young and handsome mechanic while on a tour making personal appearances to promote her latest film. Their ill-fated romance provides a biting satire of Hollywood. In 1935, Samuel French
published Personal Appearance: a New Comedy in Three Acts in Los Angeles and New York. This play launched Riley's career as a playwright
.
After a hiatus of more than five years, Riley returned to Broadway with Return Engagement, another three-act comedy, which opened at New York's John Golden Theatre in 1940
. It was produced by the team of W. Horace Schmidlapp, Joseph M. Gaites and Lee Shubert
. Return Engagement is a satire of the summer stock theatre
and its plot concerns a pair of actors, previously married to each other but now divorced, whose acting parts mirror their real life. The play, starring Evelyn Varden
and William Leicester, is set on the terrace of a playhouse near Stockton, Connecticut. After being panned in The New York Times
by Brooks Atkinson
, the most influential theater critic of his time, it closed after only eight performances. In 1942, Walter H. Baker Co. published Return Engagement: a Comedy in Three Acts in Boston and Los Angeles.
In 1944
, Riley tested his next play, Time to Kill, at the Players Club of Warren, Pennsylvania, before submitting it to Pemberton. The same club had tested Riley's previous two plays but this time he also acted as director. For a change, Riley tackled the theme of murder in this melodramatic play: He declared that any humour in Time to Kill was unintentional.
Although he threw barbs at the summer stock theatres in Return Engagement, Riley had to keep trying out his plays in them. For example, his comedy Kin Hubbard was first performed in the summer of 1951
at the Westport County Playhouse in Westport, Connecticut
. This biographical play co-starred June Lockhart
(who had won a Tony three years before and is now remembered for her roles in TV
's cult series Lassie
and Lost in Space
) and Tom Ewell
(who was to star memorably in both the stage and screen versions of The Seven Year Itch
, opposite Marilyn Monroe
in the latter). Ewell made his debut as a producer with this play. Kin Hubbard is based on Fred C. Kelly's The Life and Times of Kin Hubbard
. Frank McKinney "Kin" Hubbard (1868–1930) was one of America's most influential humorists and cartoonists, in addition to being a journalist, as Riley once was. Hubbard's cartoon "Abe Martin of Brown County
" appeared in the Indianapolis News
and countless other newspapers for three decades.
was adapted for the screen by Mae West
: It became Go West, Young Man
, which was directed by Henry Hathaway
. The film stars West in a rare instance of a role not originally conceived for her. The supporting cast includes Randolph Scott
. The film was released in 1936
by Paramount
and following its success, Riley was launched on a second career as a screenwriter
--a somewhat ironical development in view of Riley's satire of Hollywood in Personal Appearance.
Riley's obituary in The New York Times
, mentions the 1937 version of Kid Galahad
(directed by Michael Curtiz
and starring Bette Davis
and Edward G. Robinson
) among his screenplays, although his contribution to that script is not officially credited.
However, Riley is duly credited in the other film of Curtiz (co-directed by its producer, Herbert B. Leonard) released that same year: The Perfect Specimen. On that screenplay, Riley collaborated with Albert Beich, Fritz Falkenstein, N. Brewster Morse and Norman Reilly Raine. This Warner Bros. comedy is based on a story by Samuel Hopkins Adams. In this film, Errol Flynn
plays a reclusive millionaire who gets to see how less-fortunate people live thanks to the efforts of an enterprising journalist played by Joan Blondell
.
Ever Since Eve is another 1937
Warner Bros.
comedy on which Riley worked. It was directed by Lloyd Bacon
and derived from a short story by Gene Baker and Margaret Lee. Riley shared screenwriting credits with Earl W. Baldwin and Lillie Hayward (the dialogue by Brown Holmes was uncredited). The plot concerns an attractive office girl, played by Marion Davies
, who masks her sex-appeal by wearing horn-rimmed glasses and dressing conservatively in order to discourage men's attentions. Her ploy fails when her boss, played by Robert Montgomery
, catches her in her casual attire.
In 1939
, Warner Bros. released On Your Toes
, a musical
directed by Ray Enright. The stage production of the same name had been a smash on Broadway
, with the book by George Abbott
, Lorenz Hart
and Richard Rodgers
; the music by Rodgers and the lyrics by Hart. Riley, Richard Macaulay, Jerry Wald
and Sig Herzig wrote its screen adaptation. Choreographed by Balanchine, On your Toes tells the story of a vaudeville composer, played by Eddie Albert
, with lofty aspirations, which he hopes to fulfill through his girlfriend, played by Vera Zorina
, who is a member of a Russian dance troupe.
Four years later, Riley collaborated with Ben Barzman and Louis Lantz on the script of another musical, Universal
's You're a Lucky Fellow, Mr. Smith (1943
). It was directed by Felix E. Feist and is based on a story by Oscar Brodney
. In it, a matchmaker, played by Patsy O'Connor, intervenes in a planned wedding by trying to substitute her brother, played by Allan Jones, for the intended groom.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
and screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
. He gained fame in 1934
1934 in literature
The year 1934 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* The first Flash Gordon comic strip is published.*Boris Pasternak and Korney Chukovsky are among those present at the first Congress of the Soviet Union of Writers....
as the author of the Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
hit Personal Appearance
Personal Appearance
Personal Appearance is a stage comedy by the American playwright and screenwriter Lawrence Riley , which was a Broadway smash and the basis for the classic Mae West film Go West, Young Man ....
, which was turned by Mae West
Mae West
Mae West was an American actress, playwright, screenwriter and sex symbol whose entertainment career spanned seven decades....
into the classic film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
Go West, Young Man
Go West, Young Man
Go West, Young Man is a 1936 Paramount Pictures comedy film directed by Henry Hathaway starring Mae West. The supporting cast includes Warren William, Alice Brady, Elizabeth Patterson, and Lyle Talbot...
(1936
1936 in film
The year 1936 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*May 29 - Fritz Lang's first Hollywood film Fury, starring Spencer Tracy and Bruce Cabot, is released.*November 6 - first Porky Pig animated cartoon...
), starring herself.
Biography
Riley was a Princeton UniversityPrinceton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
alumnus and a World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
veteran, who served in the US Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
. He started as a journalist on the East Coast. Subsequently, Riley achieved success as a playwright, which led to his becoming a sought-after Hollywood screenwriter. His wife, née Virginia Sweeney, was also a writer. Riley was a member of the Authors League and of Dramatists, Inc. Originally from Warren, Pennsylvania
Warren, Pennsylvania
Warren is a city in Warren County, Pennsylvania, United States, located along the Allegheny River. The population was 9,710 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Warren County. It is home to the headquarters of the Allegheny National Forest and the Cornplanter State Forest...
, Riley also lived in Bradford
Bradford, Pennsylvania
Bradford is a small city located in rural McKean County, Pennsylvania, in the United States 78 miles south of Buffalo, New York. Settled in 1823, Bradford was chartered as a city in 1879 and emerged as a wild oil boomtown in the Pennsylvanian oil rush in the late 19th century...
, and located the action of his breakthrough play, Personal Appearance, in Pennsylvania. This play earned him a fortune. During his career as a screenwriter, he owned homes in both New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and Hollywood. Until his demise, the Rileys had been long-time residents of Riverside
Riverside (Greenwich)
Riverside is a neighborhood/section and census-designated place in the town of Greenwich in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 8,416....
, a section of the town of Greenwich, Connecticut
Greenwich, Connecticut
Greenwich is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town had a total population of 61,171. It is home to many hedge funds and other financial service companies. Greenwich is the southernmost and westernmost municipality in Connecticut and is 38+ minutes ...
, the well-known community of the "rich and famous." Lawrence Riley died on November 29, 1974, at Stamford Hospital, in Stamford, Connecticut, at the age of 78.
Plays
Riley's first and most famous play is Personal AppearancePersonal Appearance
Personal Appearance is a stage comedy by the American playwright and screenwriter Lawrence Riley , which was a Broadway smash and the basis for the classic Mae West film Go West, Young Man ....
, a three-act comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
produced by the legendary Brock Pemberton
Brock Pemberton
Brock Pemberton was an American theatrical producer, director and founder of the Tony Awards.Pemberton was born in Leavenworth, Kansas and attended the University of Kansas. Before becoming a producer he was a press agent in New York...
of Tony Awards fame. It opened in 1934
1934 in literature
The year 1934 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* The first Flash Gordon comic strip is published.*Boris Pasternak and Korney Chukovsky are among those present at the first Congress of the Soviet Union of Writers....
at New York's Henry Miller Theatre and was a huge Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
success, lasting for 501 performances. It starred Gladys George
Gladys George
Gladys George was an American actress.-Early life:She was born as Gladys Clare Evans on September 13, 1904 in Patten, Maine to English parents.-Career:...
as a movie star and diva
Diva
A diva is a celebrated female singer. The term is used to describe a woman of outstanding talent in the world of opera, and, by extension, in theatre, cinema and popular music. The meaning of diva is closely related to that of "prima donna"....
who encounters a young and handsome mechanic while on a tour making personal appearances to promote her latest film. Their ill-fated romance provides a biting satire of Hollywood. In 1935, Samuel French
Samuel French
Samuel French was a U.S. entrepreneur who, together with British actor, playwright and theatrical manager Thomas Hailes Lacy, pioneered in the field of theatrical publishing and the licensing of plays....
published Personal Appearance: a New Comedy in Three Acts in Los Angeles and New York. This play launched Riley's career as a playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
.
After a hiatus of more than five years, Riley returned to Broadway with Return Engagement, another three-act comedy, which opened at New York's John Golden Theatre in 1940
1940 in literature
The year 1940 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Aldous Huxley is a screenwriter for the movie adaptation of Pride and Prejudice.*Jean-Paul Sartre is taken prisoner by the Germans....
. It was produced by the team of W. Horace Schmidlapp, Joseph M. Gaites and Lee Shubert
Lee Shubert
Levi "Lee" Shubert was a Polish-born American theatre owner/operator and producer and the oldest of seven siblings of the theatrical Shubert family....
. Return Engagement is a satire of the summer stock theatre
Summer stock theatre
Summer stock theatre is any theatre that presents stage productions only in the summer within the United States. The name combines both the seasonal time of year with the tradition of staging shows by a resident company, reusing stock scenery and costumes...
and its plot concerns a pair of actors, previously married to each other but now divorced, whose acting parts mirror their real life. The play, starring Evelyn Varden
Evelyn Varden
Evelyn Varden was an American actress.Evelyn Varden had a long and distinguished career on Broadway despite starring in the ill-fated Return Engagement by Lawrence Riley...
and William Leicester, is set on the terrace of a playhouse near Stockton, Connecticut. After being panned in The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
by Brooks Atkinson
Brooks Atkinson
Justin Brooks Atkinson was an American theatre critic. He worked for The New York Times from 1925 to 1960...
, the most influential theater critic of his time, it closed after only eight performances. In 1942, Walter H. Baker Co. published Return Engagement: a Comedy in Three Acts in Boston and Los Angeles.
In 1944
1944 in literature
The year 1944 in literature involved some significant new books.-New books:*Samuel Hopkins Adams – Canal Town*Jorge Amado – Terras do Sem Fim *Saul Bellow – Dangling Man*Jorge Luis Borges – Fictions...
, Riley tested his next play, Time to Kill, at the Players Club of Warren, Pennsylvania, before submitting it to Pemberton. The same club had tested Riley's previous two plays but this time he also acted as director. For a change, Riley tackled the theme of murder in this melodramatic play: He declared that any humour in Time to Kill was unintentional.
Although he threw barbs at the summer stock theatres in Return Engagement, Riley had to keep trying out his plays in them. For example, his comedy Kin Hubbard was first performed in the summer of 1951
1951 in literature
The year 1951 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*E. E. Cummings and Rachel Carson are awarded Guggenheim Fellowships.*Flannery O'Connor is diagnosed with lupus....
at the Westport County Playhouse in Westport, Connecticut
Westport, Connecticut
-Neighborhoods:* Saugatuck – around the Westport railroad station near the southwestern corner of the town – a built-up area with some restaurants, stores and offices....
. This biographical play co-starred June Lockhart
June Lockhart
June Lockhart is an American actress, primarily in 1950s and 1960s television, but with memorable performances on stage and in film too. She is remembered as the mother in two TV series, Lassie and Lost in Space. She also portrayed Dr...
(who had won a Tony three years before and is now remembered for her roles in TV
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
's cult series Lassie
Lassie
Lassie is a fictional collie dog character created by Eric Knight in a short story expanded to novel length called Lassie Come-Home. Published in 1940, the novel was filmed by MGM in 1943 as Lassie Come Home with a dog named Pal playing Lassie. Pal then appeared with the stage name "Lassie" in six...
and Lost in Space
Lost in Space
Lost in Space is a science fiction TV series created and produced by Irwin Allen, filmed by 20th Century Fox Television, and broadcast on CBS. The show ran for three seasons, with 83 episodes airing between September 15, 1965, and March 6, 1968...
) and Tom Ewell
Tom Ewell
Tom Ewell was an American actor.-Early life and career:Born Samuel Yewell Tompkins in Owensboro, Kentucky, where his family expected him to follow in their footsteps as lawyers or whiskey and tobacco dealers....
(who was to star memorably in both the stage and screen versions of The Seven Year Itch
The Seven Year Itch
The Seven Year Itch is a 1955 American film based on a three-act play with the same name by George Axelrod. The film was co-written and directed by Billy Wilder, and starred Marilyn Monroe and Tom Ewell, reprising his Broadway role...
, opposite Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....
in the latter). Ewell made his debut as a producer with this play. Kin Hubbard is based on Fred C. Kelly's The Life and Times of Kin Hubbard
Kin Hubbard
Frank McKinney Hubbard was an American cartoonist, humorist, and journalist better known by his pen name "Kin" Hubbard....
. Frank McKinney "Kin" Hubbard (1868–1930) was one of America's most influential humorists and cartoonists, in addition to being a journalist, as Riley once was. Hubbard's cartoon "Abe Martin of Brown County
Brown County, Indiana
Brown County is a county located in the U.S. state of Indiana. As of 2010, the population is 15,242. The county seat is Nashville.- History :...
" appeared in the Indianapolis News
Indianapolis News
The Indianapolis News was an evening newspaper published for 130 years, beginning December 7, 1869, and ending on October 1, 1999. At one time it had the largest circulation in the state of Indiana, and was the oldest Indianapolis newspaper in existence....
and countless other newspapers for three decades.
Films
Personal AppearancePersonal Appearance
Personal Appearance is a stage comedy by the American playwright and screenwriter Lawrence Riley , which was a Broadway smash and the basis for the classic Mae West film Go West, Young Man ....
was adapted for the screen by Mae West
Mae West
Mae West was an American actress, playwright, screenwriter and sex symbol whose entertainment career spanned seven decades....
: It became Go West, Young Man
Go West, Young Man
Go West, Young Man is a 1936 Paramount Pictures comedy film directed by Henry Hathaway starring Mae West. The supporting cast includes Warren William, Alice Brady, Elizabeth Patterson, and Lyle Talbot...
, which was directed by Henry Hathaway
Henry Hathaway
Henry Hathaway was an American film director and producer. He is best known as a director of Westerns, especially starring John Wayne.-Background:...
. The film stars West in a rare instance of a role not originally conceived for her. The supporting cast includes Randolph Scott
Randolph Scott
Randolph Scott was an American film actor whose career spanned from 1928 to 1962. As a leading man for all but the first three years of his cinematic career, Scott appeared in a variety of genres, including social dramas, crime dramas, comedies, musicals , adventure tales, war films, and even a few...
. The film was released in 1936
1936 in film
The year 1936 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*May 29 - Fritz Lang's first Hollywood film Fury, starring Spencer Tracy and Bruce Cabot, is released.*November 6 - first Porky Pig animated cartoon...
by Paramount
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
and following its success, Riley was launched on a second career as a screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
--a somewhat ironical development in view of Riley's satire of Hollywood in Personal Appearance.
Riley's obituary in The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, mentions the 1937 version of Kid Galahad
Kid Galahad (1937 film)
Kid Galahad is a 1937 prizefighter film starring Edward G. Robinson, Bette Davis, and Humphrey Bogart. The movie was directed by Michael Curtiz....
(directed by Michael Curtiz
Michael Curtiz
Michael Curtiz was an Academy award winning Hungarian-American film director. He had early creditsas Mihály Kertész and Michael Kertész...
and starring Bette Davis
Bette Davis
Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis was an American actress of film, television and theater. Noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic characters, she was highly regarded for her performances in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional...
and Edward G. Robinson
Edward G. Robinson
Edward G. Robinson was a Romanian-born American actor. A popular star during Hollywood's Golden Age, he is best remembered for his roles as gangsters, such as Rico in his star-making film Little Caesar and as Rocco in Key Largo...
) among his screenplays, although his contribution to that script is not officially credited.
However, Riley is duly credited in the other film of Curtiz (co-directed by its producer, Herbert B. Leonard) released that same year: The Perfect Specimen. On that screenplay, Riley collaborated with Albert Beich, Fritz Falkenstein, N. Brewster Morse and Norman Reilly Raine. This Warner Bros. comedy is based on a story by Samuel Hopkins Adams. In this film, Errol Flynn
Errol Flynn
Errol Leslie Flynn was an Australian-born actor. He was known for his romantic swashbuckler roles in Hollywood films, being a legend and his flamboyant lifestyle.-Early life:...
plays a reclusive millionaire who gets to see how less-fortunate people live thanks to the efforts of an enterprising journalist played by Joan Blondell
Joan Blondell
Rose Joan Blondell was an American actress who performed in movies and on television for five decades as Joan Blondell.After winning a beauty pageant, Blondell embarked upon a film career...
.
Ever Since Eve is another 1937
1937 in film
The year 1937 in film involved some significant events, including the Walt Disney production of the first full-length animated film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.- Events :*April 16 - Way Out West premieres in the US....
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
comedy on which Riley worked. It was directed by Lloyd Bacon
Lloyd Bacon
Lloyd Francis Bacon was a screen, stage, and vaudeville actor and film director.-Life:Bacon was born in San Jose California, the son of actor Frank Bacon, later the co-author and star of the long running Broadway show 'Lightnin' , and Jennie Bacon. He was not related to actor Irving Bacon whom he...
and derived from a short story by Gene Baker and Margaret Lee. Riley shared screenwriting credits with Earl W. Baldwin and Lillie Hayward (the dialogue by Brown Holmes was uncredited). The plot concerns an attractive office girl, played by Marion Davies
Marion Davies
Marion Davies was an American film actress. Davies is best remembered for her relationship with newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst, as her high-profile social life often obscured her professional career....
, who masks her sex-appeal by wearing horn-rimmed glasses and dressing conservatively in order to discourage men's attentions. Her ploy fails when her boss, played by Robert Montgomery
Robert Montgomery (actor)
Robert Montgomery was an American actor and director.- Early life :Montgomery was born Henry Montgomery, Jr. in Beacon, New York, then known as "Fishkill Landing", the son of Mary Weed and Henry Montgomery, Sr. His early childhood was one of privilege, since his father was president of the New...
, catches her in her casual attire.
In 1939
1939 in film
The year 1939 in motion pictures can be justified as being called the most outstanding one ever, when it comes to the high quality and high attendance at the large set of the best films that premiered in the year .- Events :Motion picture historians and film often rate...
, Warner Bros. released On Your Toes
On Your Toes
On Your Toes is a musical with a book by Richard Rodgers, George Abbott, and Lorenz Hart, music by Rodgers, and lyrics by Hart. It was adapted into a film in 1939....
, a musical
Musical film
The musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, though in some cases they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate...
directed by Ray Enright. The stage production of the same name had been a smash on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
, with the book by George Abbott
George Abbott
George Francis Abbott was an American theater producer and director, playwright, screenwriter, and film director and producer whose career spanned more than nine decades.-Early years:...
, Lorenz Hart
Lorenz Hart
Lorenz "Larry" Milton Hart was the lyricist half of the famed Broadway songwriting team Rodgers and Hart...
and Richard Rodgers
Richard Rodgers
Richard Charles Rodgers was an American composer of music for more than 900 songs and for 43 Broadway musicals. He also composed music for films and television. He is best known for his songwriting partnerships with the lyricists Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II...
; the music by Rodgers and the lyrics by Hart. Riley, Richard Macaulay, Jerry Wald
Jerry Wald
Jerry Wald was an American producer and screenwriter for motion pictures and radio shows.Born Jerome Irving Wald in Brooklyn, New York, he had a brother and sons who were active in show business. Jerry began writing a radio column for the New York Evening Graphic while a student at New York...
and Sig Herzig wrote its screen adaptation. Choreographed by Balanchine, On your Toes tells the story of a vaudeville composer, played by Eddie Albert
Eddie Albert
Edward Albert Heimberger , known professionally as Eddie Albert, was an American actor and activist. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1954 for his performance in Roman Holiday, and in 1973 for The Heartbreak Kid.Other well-known screen roles of his include Bing...
, with lofty aspirations, which he hopes to fulfill through his girlfriend, played by Vera Zorina
Vera Zorina
Vera Zorina was a Norwegian ballerina, musical theatre actress and choreographer.-Background:Vera Zorina was born Eva Brigitta Hartwig in Berlin, Germany. Her father Fritz was a German and her mother Billie Hartwig was Norwegian. Both were professional singers...
, who is a member of a Russian dance troupe.
Four years later, Riley collaborated with Ben Barzman and Louis Lantz on the script of another musical, Universal
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
's You're a Lucky Fellow, Mr. Smith (1943
1943 in film
The year 1943 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 3 - 1st missing persons telecast * February 20 - American film studio executives agree to allow the Office of War Information to censor films....
). It was directed by Felix E. Feist and is based on a story by Oscar Brodney
Oscar Brodney
Oscar Brodney was an American lawyer-turned-screenwriter. He was born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of an immigrant fisherman...
. In it, a matchmaker, played by Patsy O'Connor, intervenes in a planned wedding by trying to substitute her brother, played by Allan Jones, for the intended groom.