Miscellaneous Films

These films a) were made from Cole Porter shows, but used very little of his contributions, b) have a song (or two) that were directly commissioned from Cole Porter, or c) couldn't fit anywhere else on this site!

Paris

A First National Pictures Production; released on November 7, 1929; 97 mins., B&W / color
Produced and directed by Clarence Badger
Screenplay by Hope Loring; based on the stage musical Paris, book by Martin Brown
Cast: Irene Bordoni (Vivienne Rolland) and Jack Buchanan (Guy Pennell)

Note: No songs from the original show by Cole Porter were used.  New songs were written by Al Bryan and Ed Ward.

The Battle of Paris

A Paramount Pictures Production; released on November 30, 1929; 80 mins., B&W
Directed by Robert Florey
Screenplay by Gene Markey
Cast: Gertrude Lawrence (Georgie), Charles Ruggles (Zizi), Gladys Du Bois (Suzanne), Walter Petrie (Tony), Joe King (Jack), and Arthur Treacher (Harry)

Note: Cole Porter wrote two songs for this film: "Here Comes the Bandwagon" and "They All Fall in Love"

Fifty Million Frenchmen

A Warner Bros. Production; released in 1931; 68 mins., B&W
Directed by Lloyd Bacon
Screenplay by Joseph Jackson, Al Boasberg, and Eddie Welch; based on the stage musical Fifty Million Frenchmen, book by Herbert Fields
Cast: William Gaxton (Jack Forbes), Helen Broderick (Violet), Olsen and Johnson (Simon & Peter), Claudia Dell (Looloo Carroll), Lester Crawford (Billy Baxter), John Halliday (Michael Cummings), Nat Carr (A Tourist), Vera Gordon (His Wife), and Bela Lugosi (A Magician)

Note: This film only uses Porter's music as a background score, no vocals.

The Gay Divorcee

An RKO Films Production;
released on October 12, 1934;
107 mins., B&W
Produced by Pandro S. Berman
Directed by Mark Sandrich
Music Direction by Max Steiner
Screenplay by George Marion, Jr.,
Dorothy Yost, and Edward Kaufman;
based on the stage musical Gay
Divorce, book by Dwight Taylor
Cast: Fred Astaire (Guy Holden),
Ginger Rogers (Mimi Glossop),
Edward Everett Horton (Egbert Fitzgerald),
Alice Brady (Hortense Ditherwell),
Erik Rhodes (Rodolfo Tonetti),
Eric Blore (Waiter), and
William Austin (Cyril Glossop)

Note: The only song from the stage production used in this film was "Night and Day"

Break the News

A Monogram Pictures Production; released in the UK in 1938 (1941 in the US); 72 mins., B&W
Produced and directed by Rene Clair
Screenplay by Geoffrey Kerr
Cast: Maurice Chevalier (Francois Verrier), Jack Buchanan (Teddy Enton), and June Knight (Grace Gatwick)

Note: Cole Porter wrote the song "It All Belongs to You" expressly for this film.  It is sung by Maurice Chevalier.  "Don't Let It Get You Down" was also written for, but unused in, this movie.  It later appeared in You Never Know.

Let's Face It

A Paramount Pictures Production; released in 1943; 76 mins., B&W
Produced by Fred Kohlmar
Directed by Sidney Lanfield
Screenplay by Harry Tugend; based on the stage musical Let's Face It, book by Herbert and Dorothy Fields
Cast: Bob Hope (Jerry Walker), Betty Hutton (Winnie Potter), and ZaSu Pitts (Cornelia Pidgeon)

Note: This film only uses Porter's title song and "Let's Not Talk About Love" (sung by Betty Hutton).

Something for the Boys

A 20th-Century Fox Production;
released in 1944; 87 mins., color
Produced by Irving Starr
Directed by Lewis Seiler
Screenplay by Robert Ellis,
Helen Logan, and Frank
Gabrielson; based on the stage
musical Something for the Boys,
book by Herbert and Dorothy Fields
Cast: Vivian Blaine (Blossom Hart), Carmen Miranda (Chiquita Hart), Michael O'Shea (Rocky Fulton), Phil Silvers (Harry Hart), Sheila Ryan (Melanie Walker), and Perry Como (Sgt. Laddie Green)

Note: This film throws out all of Porter's songs, except for the title song.  All of the other songs are by Jimmy McHugh and Harold Adamson.

Hollywood Canteen

A Warner Bros. Production;
released on December 15, 1944;
124 mins., B&W
Produced by Alex Gottlieb
Directed and written by Delmer Daves
Cast: Joan Leslie and Robert Hutton
with cameos by many Hollywood celebrities

Note: Roy Rogers and the Sons
of the Pioneers sing Porter's
"Don't Fence Me In", originally
written for the unproduced film
Adios Argentina (1934).  In 1945
Rogers sings the same song in the
Republic Pictures production
Don't Fence Me In.

Adam's Rib

A Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Production;
released in 1949; 101 mins., B&W
Produced by Lawrence Weingarten
Directed by George Cukor
Screenplay by Ruth Gordon and
Garson Kanin
Cast: Spencer Tracy (Adam Bonner) ,
Katherine Hepburn (Amanda Bonner),
Judy Holliday (Doris Attinger), David
Wayne (Kip Lurie), and Tom Ewell
(Warren Attinger)

Note: Cole Porter contributed the
song "Farewell, Amanda", sung by
David Wayne. It is a rewrite of
"So Long, Samoa" (written in 1940)

Stage Fright

A Warner Bros. Picture;
released in 1950; 110 mins., B&W
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Screenplay by Whitfield Cook and
Alma Reville; based on the novel by
Selwyn Jepson
Cast: Marlene Dietrich, Jane Wyman,
Richard Todd and Michael Wilding
 

Note: Marlene Dietrich sings "The Laziest Gal in Town" (published in 1927)

Let's Make Love

A 20th Century Fox Production;
released in 1960; 105 mins., Color
Produced by Jerry Wald
Directed by George Cukor
Screenplay by Norman Krasna with
Hal Kanter and Arthur Miller (uncredited)
Cast: Marilyn Monroe, Yves Montand,
Tony Randall, and Frankie Vaughn

Note: Marilyn Monroe sings "My Heart
Belongs to Daddy" originally written for
Leave It to Me (1938).

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