Time Out for Rhythm
| Time Out for Rhythm | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Sidney Salkow |
| Produced by | Irving Star |
| Written by | Alex Ruben (play) |
| Screenplay by |
Edmund L. Hartmann Bert Lawrence |
| Story by | Bert Granet |
| Starring |
Rudy Vallée Ann Miller Richard Lane Rosemary Lane Moe Howard Larry Fine Curly Howard Joan Merrill Richard Fiske |
| Music by | Saul Chaplin |
| Cinematography | Franz Planer |
| Edited by | Art Seid |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 75 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Time Out for Rhythm is a 1941 musical comedy film starring Rudy Vallée, Ann Miller and the Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Curly Howard).
Plot
Harvard educated Danny Collins (Rudy Vallée) 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 forward, with Danny as his friend and business partner once again, to work on the show starring Kitty.
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 Howard dressed up as Carmen Miranda.
Production notes
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 vaudeville material from their era with Ted Healy specifically the "Melodrama" sketch borrowed from their Healy MGM-era short Plane Nuts.
Alan Hale, Jr., best known for his role as Skipper Jonas Grumby on Gilligan's Island, also makes a brief appearance, marking one of his first film appearances.
DVD availability
For many years, Time Out for Rhythm remained the only Columbia feature-length film with bit parts from the Stooges unavailable in DVD format (it never saw a VHS release). Sony Home Entertainment finally gave the film a DVD release on August 7, 2012, as part of its manufactured-on-demand Columbia Choice Collection series.[1] On February 4, 2014, Mill Creek Entertainment were due to re-release this film on DVD in their 6 movie set The Three Stooges Collection.[2]