Blessed Event
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| Blessed Event | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Roy Del Ruth |
| Written by | Howard J. Green |
| Based on | Blessed Event 1932 play by Manuel Seff and Forrest Wilson |
| Starring | Lee Tracy Mary Brian |
| Cinematography | Sol Polito |
| Edited by | James Gibbon |
| Music by | Frank Marsales |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc. |
Release date |
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Running time | 80 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Blessed Event is a 1932 American pre-Code comedy-drama film directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring Lee Tracy as a newspaper gossip columnist who becomes entangled with a gangster.[1] The Tracy character (Alvin Roberts) was reportedly patterned after Walter Winchell, famous gossip columnist of the era. The film marked Dick Powell's film debut.
Plot
[edit]Alvin Roberts feuds with singer Bunny Harmon. Roberts reports on society people who are expecting a "blessed event", i.e. going to have a child. One such report antagonizes a gangster in a delicate situation, who sends over a henchman to threaten him. Roberts manages to turn the tables on the gangster.
The character of Bunny Harmon is a parody of Rudy Vallee,[citation needed] as both of them sing and play saxophone, and Vallee's band was called the Connecticut Yankees, while Harmon's is the Green Mountain Boys, a reference to another New England state, Vermont. The feud between Roberts and Harmon is a parody of the real-life (contrived) feud between Walter Winchell and bandleader Ben Bernie.
Cast
[edit]- Lee Tracy as Alvin Roberts
- Mary Brian as Gladys Price
- Dick Powell as Bunny Harmon
- Allen Jenkins as Frankie Wells
- Ruth Donnelly as Miss Stevens
- Emma Dunn as Mrs. Roberts
- Edwin Maxwell as Sam Goebel
- Ned Sparks as George Moxley
- Walter Walker as Mr. Miller
- Frank McHugh as Reilly
- Herman Bing as Emil
- George Chandler as Hanson (uncredited)
- Isabel Jewell as Dorothy Lane (uncredited)
References
[edit]- ^ Holmes, E. M. (September 17, 1932). ""Blessed Event" Is Spicy Comedy". Ledger-Star. Retrieved April 24, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
External links
[edit]- Blessed Event at the TCM Movie Database
- Blessed Event at IMDb
- Blessed Event at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
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