Legs are worth gold
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Legs are worth gold |
| Original title | Million Dollar Legs |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1932 |
| length | 64 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Edward F. Cline |
| script |
Joseph L. Mankiewicz Henry Myers Nicholas Barrows Ben Hecht |
| production | Herman J. Mankiewicz |
| music |
Rudolph G. Kopp John Leipold |
| camera | Arthur L. Todd |
| occupation | |
| |
Legs are worth gold (Original title: Million Dollar Legs ) is an American comedy film by director Edward F. Cline from 1932. The film, shot in black and white, tells the efforts of a fictional state by participating in the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles to avoid impending bankruptcy. The film produced by Paramount Pictures is one of the pre-code films that were shot before the mandatory application of the Hays Code and were therefore not yet subject to strict censorship guidelines.
action
The businessman Migg Tweeny visits the state of Klopstokia. The country is on the verge of national bankruptcy. It is ruled by a president through pure physical strength. One of the peculiarities of the country is that all women are called Angela and all men are called George. Tweeny bumps into a young woman, the president's daughter, in the street. The two young people fall in love spontaneously.
Tweeny submits a plan to the president to reorganize the state budget. Tweeny's employers are sponsors of the Olympic Games and give bonuses to the medalists. For example, the president is supposed to compete in weightlifting. Tweeny sets out to form an Olympic team and realizes that there are many potential medal contenders to be found in Klopstokia. Tweeny selects the athletes and is appointed head coach. The crew travels to America by steamship.
Cabinet members, meanwhile, have secured the services of Mata Machree, who are supposed to sabotage the Olympic mission and thereby overthrow the president. Mata plans to seduce the members of the Olympic team individually and turn them against each other. Your efforts show the hoped-for success. Once in Los Angeles, Klopstokia's athletes are in no condition to take part in their competitions. Tweeny's encouraging speeches were of no avail. Angela, on the other hand, can track down Mata and force her to confess her plans to the team. This awakens the fighting spirit of the participants, they successfully take part in the following competitions.
The weightlifting competition begins. Only three points are missing for the president to win. Tweeny tempts the President to get him to a final peak performance that will help him win. The president is so aggressive that he throws a 1000 pound weight at Tweeny but luckily misses him. With this achievement, the president not only wins weightlifting, but also the shot put.
Reviews
The New York Times critic described the film as "expectantly insane". The comedians "behaved totally undignified". The American Catholic Bishops' Conference, on the other hand, saw a “funny comedy” with some “funny swipes” and “mild sexual innuendos”.
background
Bruce Bennett and Charlie Hall can be seen in small supporting roles as Olympians . Other minor roles include Irving Bacon as Secretary of War, Hobart Bosworth as a competition starter, Tyler Brooke as spokesman, Heinie Conklin as emissary and Billy Gilbert as home secretary.
The premiere of the film took place on July 8, 1932, three weeks before the start of the Olympic Games in Los Angeles. It was first seen in Germany on December 25, 1971.
The national anthem Klopstokias played in the film, which also serves as a love song for Migg Tweeny, is the title melody of the Paramount film One Hour with You , which was also made in 1932. The composer of the piece was Richard A. Whiting . Henry Myers modified the lyrics as a parody of film romances.
The film is one of over 700 Paramount productions that were made between 1929 and 1949 and whose TV rights were sold to Universal in 1958 .
Web links
- Legs are worth gold in the Internet Movie Database (English)