Kid Boots
Encyclopedia
Kid Boots is a musical
with a book by William Anthony McGuire
and Otto Harbach
, music by Harry Tierney
, and lyrics by Joseph McCarthy
. The show was staged by Edward Royce.
Produced by Florenz Ziegfeld
, the Broadway
production, opened on December 31, 1923 at the Earl Carroll Theatre
and then moved to the Selwyn Theatre for a total of 489 performances. The cast starred Eddie Cantor
and Mary Eaton
, with George Olsen
and his orchestra.
The show was billed as “A Musical Comedy of Palm Beach and Golf” and was set at The Everglades Club, Palm Beach, Florida. It was a showcase for Eddie Cantor, who played the caddie master at the swank club. He gives golf lessons on the side, with crooked balls so the clients need more instruction. He’s also a bootlegger and a busybody. He can’t be fired, however, because he has something on everyone at the club. The most famous song to come out of the show was “Dinah” by Sam M. Lewis, Joe Young and Harry Akst, added to the finale during the run for Eddie.
sound-on-film
process, in a short film known as A Few Moments With Eddie Cantor, Star of "Kid Boots"
. In 1926, Paramount Pictures
released a feature film version of Kid Boots directed by Frank Tuttle
, and starring Cantor, Clara Bow
, and Billie Dove
.
Act II
Also interpolated into the show:
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
with a book by William Anthony McGuire
William Anthony McGuire
William Anthony McGuire was a playwright, theatre director, and producer and an Academy Award-winning American screenwriter. He won an Oscar for the 1936 film The Great Ziegfeld....
and Otto Harbach
Otto Harbach
Otto Abels Harbach, born Otto Abels Hauerbach was an American lyricist and librettist of about 50 musical comedies...
, music by Harry Tierney
Harry Tierney
Harry Austin Tierney was a successful American composer of musical theatre, best known for long-running hits such as Irene , Broadway's longest-running show of the era , Kid Boots and Rio Rita , one of the first musicals to be turned into a talking picture .Born...
, and lyrics by Joseph McCarthy
Joseph McCarthy (lyricist)
Joseph McCarthy was an American lyricist whose most famous songs include You Made Me Love You, and I'm Always Chasing Rainbows, based upon the haunting melody from the middle section of Chopin's "Fantasie Impromptu".McCarthy, who was born in Somerville, Massachusetts, was a frequent collaborator...
. The show was staged by Edward Royce.
Produced by Florenz Ziegfeld
Florenz Ziegfeld
Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr. , , was an American Broadway impresario, notable for his series of theatrical revues, the Ziegfeld Follies , inspired by the Folies Bergère of Paris. He also produced the musical Show Boat...
, 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...
production, opened on December 31, 1923 at the Earl Carroll Theatre
Earl Carroll Theatre
Earl Carroll Theatre was the name of two important theaters owned by Broadway impresario and showman Earl Carroll. One was located on Broadway in New York City and the other on Sunset Blvd in Hollywood, California.-Broadway:...
and then moved to the Selwyn Theatre for a total of 489 performances. The cast starred Eddie Cantor
Eddie Cantor
Eddie Cantor was an American "illustrated song" performer, comedian, dancer, singer, actor and songwriter...
and Mary Eaton
Mary Eaton
Mary Eaton was a leading stage actress, singer, and dancer in the 1910s and 1920s. A professional performer since childhood, she enjoyed success in stage productions such as the Ziegfeld Follies and early sound films such as Glorifying the American Girl and The Cocoanuts, but found her career in...
, with George Olsen
George Olsen
George Edward Olsen, Sr. was an American band-leader.Born in Portland, Oregon, he played the drums and attended the University of Michigan, where he was drum major. Here he formed his band, George Olsen and his Music, which continued in the Portland area...
and his orchestra.
The show was billed as “A Musical Comedy of Palm Beach and Golf” and was set at The Everglades Club, Palm Beach, Florida. It was a showcase for Eddie Cantor, who played the caddie master at the swank club. He gives golf lessons on the side, with crooked balls so the clients need more instruction. He’s also a bootlegger and a busybody. He can’t be fired, however, because he has something on everyone at the club. The most famous song to come out of the show was “Dinah” by Sam M. Lewis, Joe Young and Harry Akst, added to the finale during the run for Eddie.
Film versions
During the run in New York City, inventor Lee DeForest filmed Cantor in the DeForest PhonofilmPhonofilm
In 1919, Lee De Forest, inventor of the audion tube, filed his first patent on a sound-on-film process, DeForest Phonofilm, which recorded sound directly onto film as parallel lines. These parallel lines photographically recorded electrical waveforms from a microphone, which were translated back...
sound-on-film
Sound-on-film
Sound-on-film refers to a class of sound film processes where the sound accompanying picture is physically recorded onto photographic film, usually, but not always, the same strip of film carrying the picture. Sound-on-film processes can either record an analog sound track or digital sound track,...
process, in a short film known as A Few Moments With Eddie Cantor, Star of "Kid Boots"
A Few Moments with Eddie Cantor
A Few Moments With Eddie Cantor also known as A Few Moments With Eddie Cantor, Star of "Kid Boots" is an early sound film made in Lee De Forest's sound-on-film Phonofilm process in late 1923 or early 1924 starring Eddie Cantor in an excerpt from the Broadway show Kid Boots. Some sources say the...
. In 1926, Paramount Pictures
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...
released a feature film version of Kid Boots directed by Frank Tuttle
Frank Tuttle
Frank Tuttle was a Hollywood film director and writer who directed films from 1922 to 1959 ....
, and starring Cantor, Clara Bow
Clara Bow
Clara Gordon Bow was an American actress who rose to stardom in the silent film era of the 1920s. It was her appearance as a spunky shopgirl in the film It that brought her global fame and the nickname "The It Girl." Bow came to personify the roaring twenties and is described as its leading sex...
, and Billie Dove
Billie Dove
Billie Dove was an American actress.-Early life and career:She was born as Bertha Bohny in New York City to Charles and Bertha Bohny who were Swiss immigrants. As a teen, she worked as a model to help support her family and was hired at the age of 15 by Florenz Ziegfeld to appear in his Ziegfeld...
.
Songs
Act I- A Day at the Club
- The Social Observer
- When Your Heart’s in the Game
- Keep Your Eye on the Ball
- The Same Old Way
- Someone Loves You after All (The Rain Song)
- The Intruder Dance
- We've Got to Have More
- Polly Put the Kettle On
- Let’s Do and Say We Didn’t (Let's Don't and Say We Did)
- In the Swim at Miami
- Along the Old Lake Trail
- On With the Game
Act II
- (Since Ma Is Playing) Mah Jong (by Billy RoseBilly RoseWilliam "Billy" Rose was an American impresario, theatrical showman and lyricist. He is credited with many famous songs, notably "Me and My Shadow" , "It Happened in Monterey" and "It's Only a Paper Moon"...
and Con ConradCon ConradCon Conrad was an American songwriter and producer.-Biography:Con Conrad was born Conrad K. Dober in New York City. He published his first song, "Down in Dear Old New Orleans", in 1912. Conrad produced the Broadway show The Honeymoon Express, starring Al Jolson, in 1913...
) - Bet on the One You Fancy
- I’m In My Glory
- Play Fair, Man!
- Win for Me
- The Cake Eater’s Ball
- Down ‘Round the 19th Hole
- En Route
- When the Cocoanuts Call
- In the Rough
- That’s All There Is
Also interpolated into the show:
- If You Do What You Do (by Roy Turk, Lou Handman and Eddie Cantor)
- He’s the Hottest Man in Town (by Owen MurphyOwen MurphyOwen Murphy was a private banker, insurance agent and Canadian politician.Born in Stoneham, Quebec, the son of Nicholas Murphy and Ellen O'Brien, both of Irish ancestry, he was a member of the Quebec City Council from 1871 to 1874 and was mayor of Quebec City from 1874 to 1878...
and Jay GorneyJay GorneyJay Gorney was an American theater and film song writer. He was born Abraham Jacob Gornetzsky in Białystok, Russia on December 12, 1894. In 1906, he witnessed the Bialystock pogrom which forced his family into hiding for nearly two weeks, after which they fled to the United States...
) - Alabamy Bound (words by Bud DeSylva and Bud GreenBud GreenBud Green was an Austrian-born songwriter. Bud Green grew up in Harlem at 108th & Madison Ave. at the turn of the century, the eldest of seven. He dropped out of elementary school to sell newspapers and help the family...
, music by Ray HendersonRay HendersonRay Henderson , was an American songwriter.Born Raymond Brost in Buffalo, New York, Henderson moved to New York City and became a popular composer in Tin Pan Alley...
) - DinahDinah (song)"Dinah" is a popular song. The music was written by Harry Akst, and the lyrics by Sam M. Lewis and Joe Young. It was introduced by Eddie Cantor in Kid Boots in Pittsburgh...
(by Sam M. LewisSam M. LewisSam M. Lewis was a Jewish-American singer and lyricist, born in New York City, New York as Samuel Levine-Biography:...
, Joe Young and Harry AkstHarry AkstHarry Akst was an American songwriter, who started out his career as a pianist in vaudeville accompanying singers such as Nora Bayes, Frank Fay and Al Jolson.-Life and career:Akst was born in New York, United States....
)