Themes: Assumed Identities, Cons and Scams, Fighting the System
Main Cast: Mae West, Edmund Lowe, Charles Butterworth, Charles Winninger, Walter Catlett, Lloyd Nolan
Release Year: 1937
Country: US
Run Time: 79 minutes
Plot
Paramount spent a record one million dollars on its 1937 Mae West vehicle Every Day's a Holiday. La West portrays a turn-of-century confidence trickster who poses as a famous French chanteuse to avoid arrest. In this guise, she manages to expose crooked police chief Lloyd Nolan and smooths the path for reform mayoral candidate Edmund Lowe. A strong cast of supporting comedians, including Charles Winninger, Charles Butterworth and Walter Catlett, match Mae quip for quip. Elaborately produced and snappily directed by Eddie Sutherland, Every Day's a Holiday should have been the hit that Mae West needed to save her flagging film career. Unfortunately, her vogue had passed, plus she was under fire from America's bluenoses because of her previous "racy" vehicles and her recent "lewd and lascivious" appearance on Edgar Bergen's radio show. (When heard today, West's "Adam and Eve" sketch seems harmless enough, but remember the formidability of the Bible Belt back in 1938.) As a result, Every Day's a Holiday lost every penny it cost and then some -- and effectively ended Mae West's relationship with Paramount, the studio she had single-handedly rescued from bankruptcy with She Done Him Wrong back in 1933. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Had Every Day's a Holiday been made a few years earlier, it would most likely have been considerably funnier. By 1937, censors were forcing Mae West and her particular brand of comedy to undergo a "watering down" that took a great deal of life out of the great comic's films. Still, even diluted, Holiday is a moderately entertaining vehicle for West -- and just to make sure there's no doubt as to whose vehicle this is, West made sure there were no other female roles of any consequence whatsoever. Whether she had any hand in the choosing of Edmund Lowe as her co-star is debatable, but his casting also means that she doesn't have to worry about the male lead stealing any of her thunder. Lowe is adequate, but uninspired. Of more concern to West would be the supporting cast, starting with the excellent Lloyd Nolan turning in a beautiful villainous performance and also including the fine comedic talents of Charles Butterworth, Charles Winninger, and Walter Catlett. But West is more than able to take any scene that seems to be going their way and steal it back with a mere nod of the head or slight wiggle of the hips. Whether cutting through a window to steal a mannequin's outfit or pretending to be the most ridiculous French chanteuse ever, West is a delight to behold. Every Day's a Holiday may not be all that it should have been, but with Mae West on board, there's enough to keep the audience entertained. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
LeRoy J. Prinz - Choreography, Schiaparelli - Costume Designer, Earl Rettig - First Assistant Director, Edward Sutherland - Director, Ray F. Curtiss - Editor, George Stoll - Musical Direction/Supervision, Wiard Ihnen - Production Designer, Karl Struss - Cinematographer, Emanuel R. Cohen - Producer, Gordon Jennings - Special Effects, Mae West - Screenwriter
