Paulette Goddard
Ellen Miller
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Synopsis
Two college trumpeters have made an art of avoiding graduation so that their band can keep working. A resourceful new manager improves their prospects, but both musicians pursue her while competing for professional recognition. Their rivalry follows them toward Artie Shaw's orchestra, where talent alone may not overcome their habit of sabotaging one another.
Cast
DirectorsH. C. Potter
Behind the scenes
Fred Astaire was attracted to the opportunity to combine dancing with the performance of a jazz orchestra. Artie Shaw's participation made that musical encounter central to the project, even though both men later spoke critically about their experience making the film.
Sources and availability
The synopsis and editorial text were written for this collection. The references below were cross-checked to identify the film and its copy; each editorial section identifies its reference.
Work catalogued as public domain in the United States.
The reference concerns the original work. Restorations, colorization, translations and other territories may have different conditions. This site uses the player enabled by the channel.
Availability checked on September 10, 2026.
Photograph credit
Photographs cropped, resized and optimized as WebP, displayed in monochrome.
- Paulette Goddard — Unknown author Unknown author · Public domain
- Fred Astaire — Studio publicity still · Public domain
- Artie Shaw — William P. Gottlieb · Public domain
- Charles Butterworth — https://archive.org/details/second_chorus · Public domain
