Beryl Wallace gets a credit under her neon likeness on the facade. She was Mr. Carroll's longtime companion.
A credit for the producer.
Another shot from the credit sequence. The plot is slim -- about a mobster trying to embarrass the mayor and show him who's more powerful. The mobster (played by J. Carrol Naish) engineers a kidnapping of Mr. Carroll and the lead performers so there won't be a show and the mayor will be shown up in front of all his guests.
Kurt Neumann, the film's director, gets a great credit card. Stars include Ken Murray, Rose Hobart, Lela Moore, Forbes Murray and, of course, Earl Carroll.
The great stage was used for dancing before the shows. Down in front there's sort of a private box on the left of the stairs -- in the film the mayor and his party are there. On the right of the stairs is the orchestra -- on a lift that we see used in the film.
Barney Nelson (Ken Murray) and Ramona Lisa (Rose Hobart) are offstage right trying to figure out how to thwart the mobster's plans -- and put on a show without Carroll and all the principal performers. There are lots of delays while they figure out what to do. Of course there's a romance here as well. He wants to marry her but thinks he needs a nest egg first.
It's quite a show we finally get -- and it's a treat to see all the wonders of the stage demonstrated. The stage featured a 60' revolve with separately operated inner and outer sections. There was also an orchestra pit lift, a small circular lift downstage for a soloist to rise up on, and a revolving tower of four pianos stage right.
Another view offstage right with Rose talking to one of the tech guys. That's a bit of the dimmerboard in the background.
The show begins as Florine McKinney comes up on the orchestra pit lift leading the ladies of the orchestra.
The character played by Ken Murray is drafted as MC for the night as none of the principals are there. He gets suddenly sent onstage on the outer ring of the revolve. He says: "All I know is that the revolving stage stopped with a jerk -- and here I am."
He's only there to set up a deal with the Gusher sisters, two less-than-beautiful spinsters from the midwest, who, if they like the show, are going to cut him a check to open a chain of Earl Carroll Theatres across the country.
He looks around for a mic and one rises up from the stage.
Dancers coming on from stage left for the "Beautiful Girls" number, the first in the show. Beryl Wallace plays Miss DuBarry. At the beginning of the number William Brady was singing while standing on the soloists lift, downstage on the house left side of the center stairs. When he finished, he descended to the basement on the lift.
The showgirls are lined up on the outer revolve for the fan number. Rose tells the stagehand: "Close the number one curtain. Piano revolve."
The piano revolve is the house left proscenium column which is motorized to spin open. In this shot the column hasn't yet started to move.
The proscenium spins open revealing a stack of four pianos with four ladies playing them. The unit continues to spin around and the ladies vanish.
You can see the piano revolve in action 29 minutes into the film on the low-res version that's on Vimeo. The footage also appears in Mike Hume's three and a half minute 2017 video tour of the theatre "A Day at Earl Carroll's." It's on YouTube.
Immediately following the use of the piano revolve, the outer ring of
the revolving stage is cued, bringing a row of ladies on from stage
right for the fan number. At the left note the vertical neon bands
concealing the revolving tower.
The outer revolve in action as seen from the booth.
Lillian Cornell sings "Little Boy Love" as showgirls on the outer revolve are moved on from stage right. The character Lillian plays is the theatre's cigarette girl who always wanted to get into the show. Rose, desperate for a singer, asks if she knows the number. When she gets an affirmative answer, she tells her to get backstage and get into a costume.
A scenic unit on the inner revolve for the "La Conga" number. Mary Lou Cook sang the solo and here she's to the left of the stairs descending to the basement on the soloists lift.
Dancers in the "La Conga" number.
Another look at the "La Conga" number as scenery moves around on the inner revolve. Of course all ends well. Some of the Carroll troupe overpower the guards and get to the theatre for a finale. The mobster gets handcuffed in the lobby and taken away.
A lobby card for the film. Note the circular lift opening on that protrusion of the stage to the left of the stairs. And a bit of a rising mic showing above the floor level.
A poster for the film appearing with an article about the theatre on the website of Martin Turnbull.
The theatre, at 6230 Sunset Blvd., still retains many of its original deco features, especially in the lobby. See the Earl Carroll Theatre pages on the Los Angeles Theatres website for more about the building.
A low-res version of the film is on Vimeo.
On IMDb: "A Night at Earl Carroll's"
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