Time Out for Rhythm

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Time Out for Rhythm
Directed by	Sidney Salkow
Produced by	Irving Star
Written by	Bert Granet Edmund L. Hartmann Bert Lawrence Alex Ruben
Starring	Rudy Vallee Ann Miller Richard Lane Rosemary Lane Moe Howard Larry Fine Curly Howard Joan Merrill
Music by	Saul Chaplin
Cinematography	Franz Planer
Editing by	Art Seid
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date(s)	June 5, 1941
Running time	74' 45"
Country	United States
Language	English
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IMDb profile

Time Out for Rhythm is a 1941 musical comedy film starring Rudy Vallee, Ann Miller and The Three Stooges.

[edit] Plot

Harvard educated Danny Collins (Rudy Vallee) and street-wise Mike Armstrong (Richard Lane) team up after a chance meeting to form the most successful talent agency in New York City. Mike is in love with nightclub and Broadway songstress Frances Lewis (Rosemary Lane), determined to make her nationally famous with his and Danny's help. Danny sees her, correctly, as a self-centered opportunist willing to capitalize on Mike's affections to further her career.

Eventually, she causes Danny and Mike to split. Around the same time Danny and his assistant 'Off-Beat' Davis meet Frances' maid Kitty Brown (Ann Miller), a shy tap-dancing wonder, and try to find her work... but without Mike, their new agency cannot get going successfully. Mike is not having any luck on his own either, despite the fact he and Frances are now engaged to be married.

When Danny has the opportunity to produce a New York based variety show with Kitty and Joan Merrill (as herself) as the headliners, he and Mike finally make amends when he needs Mike's help to seal the deal. But Frances blackmails Danny, threatening to break Mike's heart if she is not cast as the star of the show. Mike eventually learns about this and finally sees Frances for who she really is and leaves her. Mike moves foward, with Danny as his friend and business partner once again, to work on the show starring Kitty.

The Three Stooges costar as out-of-work actors trying to find jobs thru Danny's and Mike's agency. The Stooges provide most of the laughs as they appear throughout the movie. They perform their famous "Maharaja" routine here for the first time, (later reused in their 1946 short subject Three Little Pirates) and several other bits, including some of their vaudville material. The film's musical finale begins with the Stooges (with help from co-stars Brenda and Cobina) performing a hilarious rhumba dance number, with Curly dressed up as Carmen Miranda.

[edit] Notes

Alan Hale, Jr., best known for his role as the Skipper on Gilligan's Island briefly appears early on in the film. Time Out for Rhythm was one of his first film appearances.