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Full Length Films
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 Roman Scandals (1933)
United Artists, USA, Black and White, 92 minutes
Bright musical comedy with Eddie Cantor as a wistful young man from Oklahoma,
who daydreams his way back to the hey-day of ancient Rome and causes all kinds
of trouble. Chipper songs and
grand production numbers by Busby Berkeley. Features
Ruth Etting singing "No More Love" by Harry Warren and Al Dubin. The cast
includes David Manners, Alan Mowbray, Gloria Stuart and Edward
Arnold, with Betty Grable, Paulette Goddard, and Lucille Ball in bit parts.
Directed by Frank Tuttle. more...
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 Gift of Gab (1934)
Universal Pictures, USA, Black and White, 70
minutes
Gift of Gab was long regarded as a "lost" film, but a copy has recently been
unearthed. It's a comedy about a man who can sell anyone anything...he has the
'gift of gab.' The film was directed by Karl Freund, and starred Edmund Lowe and
Gloria Stuart, with Ruth Etting, Boris Karloff and Béla Lugosi. The film
features Ruth Etting singing "Talking to Myself" and "Tomorrow, Who
Cares?" more...
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 Hips Hips Hooray (1934)
RKO Radio Pictures, USA, Black and White, 68 minutes
Considered to be one of Wheeler and Woolsey's finest comedies, in this musical
farce, the comedy team convinces Thelma Todd to let them sell her flavorful
lipsticks in order to save her failing
beauty supply business - all the while, running from the police who are hot on
their trail. Features Ruth Etting singing
"Keep
Romance Alive" written by Bert Kalmer and Harry Ruby. Directed by Mark
Sandrich. Also starring Dorothy Lee and George Meeker.
more... |
Film Shorts
Musical short subjects were produced to play as part of a
theatrical package before the feature attraction. These mini-movies, with an average
running time of 10 minutes, also served as a means for studios to test new talent in front
of the cameras. Particularly in the early days of sound, these shorts were often
innovative productions that featured performers who would go on to become some of the
biggest names in film and music. Ruth Etting appeared in many shorts as a solo performer,
and also in collaboration with performers like Bing Crosby, Humphrey Bogart, Joan
Blondell, Eddie Cantor, Bert Lahr and Ed Sullivan.
Ruth Etting
USA 1928
Produced by: Paramount
Runtime: USA:10
Paramount Movietone
USA 1928
Produced by: Paramount
Melancholy Dame
USA 1928 Black and White
Produced by: Christie Comedies
With Ruth Etting, Roberta Hyson and Spencer Williams.
Glorifying the Popular Song
USA 1929
Produced by: Vitaphone / Warner Bros. [us]
Also Known As: Glorifying the American Song
Ruth Etting sings "That Wonderful Boyfriend of Mine", "Pretty Little
You" by Ryan and Violinsky and "All I want Is Y-O-U"
Favorite Melodies
USA 1929; 8 minutes
Starring Ruth Etting. A simply staged song performance.
Produced by: Paramount
The Book of Lovers
USA 1929
Produced by: Illustrated
Cast: Ruth Etting (voice)
Ruth Etting
USA 1929
Produced by: Vitaphone
Features Victor Arden, Ruth Etting and Phil Ohman.
Roseland
USA 1930 Black and White
Produced by: Vitaphone
A pretty dance hall girl is looking for the right guy. Directed by Roy Mack. Starring Ruth
Etting and Donald Cook
One Good Turn
USA 1930 Black and White
17 minutes Produced by: Vitaphone / Warner Bros. [us]
Singer Ruth Eton, of the singing team of Eton and Farrell, is told by her agents to get
rid of her partner if she wants to advance her career. Instead, she gives him singing
lessons. After a few months of training, he is good enough to be on his own and dumps
Eton. When he loses his voice suddenly, he finds out who his true friends are. Features
Ruth singing "The Kiss Waltz" by Johnny Burke and Al Dubin,
"If I Could Be With You" by Craemer and Johnson and
"Don't Tell Her What
Happened To Me"
by B.G. DeSylva, Lew Bown and Ray Henderson. Starring Ruth Etting and Jay Velie.
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Broadway's Like That
USA 1930 Black and White
Produced by: Vitaphone / Vitaphone Varieties / Warner Bros. [us] / Warner
Etting sings "The Right Kind of Man" by Gilbert and Baer and "From the Bottom of
My Heart" Directed by Murray Roth and featuring Ruth Etting, Joan Blondell and Humphrey Bogart in his very first film role.
"This 10
minute film was shot in New York city, and starts off with a title proclaiming
'There's nothing sweeter than lunch with a sweetie.' Ruth and Bogart are
found having lunch at Lee Sing Chop Suey, with the city slicker up to no
good causing Ruth to break out into song." - from Rick's
Café Americain |
To view a
short video clip of Bogart and Etting
visit Rick's
Café Americain.
(As of 2/14/05 this site seems to have disappeared,
hopefully it will return!) |
Words and Music
USA 1931
Produced by: Vitaphone / Warner Bros. [us]
Starring Ruth Etting.
Stage Struck
USA 1931
Starring Ruth Etting
Seasons Greeting
USA 1931
Produced by: Vitaphone / Warner
Starring Ruth Etting.
Radio Salutes
USA 1931
Produced by: Vitaphone / Warner Bros. [us]
Starring Ruth Etting.
Palmy Days
USA 1931 Black and White
77 minutes Produced by: Howard Productions / Samuel Goldwyn Company
Musical comedy antics in an art deco bakery (motto: "Glorifying the American
Doughnut") with Eddie Cantor as an assistant to a phony psychic, who is mistaken for
an efficiency expert and placed in charge. Complications ensue when the psychic and his
gang attempt to rub the payroll. Uncredited appearance by Ruth Etting. Stars Eddie Cantor
and Charlotte Greenwood. Directed by A. Edward Sutherland.
Old Lace
USA 1931
Produced by: Vitaphone / Warner
Starring Ruth Etting.
Freshman Love
USA 1931 Black and White
Produced by: Vitaphone / Warner Bros. [us]
Starring Ruth Etting.
 I Surrender, Dear
USA 1932 Black and White
60 minutes Produced by: Vitaphone / Warner Bros. [us]
Bing Crosby and Ruth Etting. Two of the decade's most popular singers are featured in this
musical trio of two-reelers from the '30s. Bing Crosby portrays himself in "I
Surrender, Dear" (1931), as the radio star gets tangled up with a woman betrothed to
a jealous Latin lover; Bing falls for the "Billboard Girl" (1932), whose brother
is the one answering the singer's love letters; then, Ruth Etting crosses her stern
physician husband in her pursuit of a singing career, in "Artistic Temper" and
shows how she can make a perfect three minute egg by singing a song with a length of
exactly three minutes. Songs include "That's What Heaven Mean To Me" by Jack Yellen and Harry Akst,
"What a Life" by Kent and Alter, and "Loveable"
by Gus Kahn and Woods.
Director: Mack Sennett
Star: Bing Crosby, Babe Kane, Ruth Etting
Producer: Mack Sennett
A Regular Trouper
USA 1932 Black and White
20 minutes Produced by: Vitaphone
Starring Ruth Etting.
A Modern Cinderella
USA 1932
Produced by: Vitaphone / Warner Bros. [us]
Starring Ruth Etting.
A Mail Bride
USA 1932
Produced by: Vitaphone / Warner
Starring Ruth Etting.
Knee Deep in Music
USA 1933
Produced by: RKO
Starring Ruth Etting.
I Know Everybody and Everybody's Racket
USA 1933
Produced by: Universal
Starring Ruth Etting.
Crashing the Gate
USA 1933
Produced by: Vitaphone / Warner Bros. [us]
Starring Ruth Etting.
California Weather
USA 1933
Produced by: RKO
Features Ruth singing "Shine On, Harvest Moon" by Jack Norworth and Nora Bayes
Bye-Gones
USA 1933
Produced by: Vitaphone / Warner Bros. [us]
Starring Ruth Etting.
Along Came Ruth
USA 1933
Produced by: Vitaphone / Warner
Starring Ruth Etting.
Mr. Broadway
USA 1933 Black and White
63 minutes Produced by: Broadway-Hollywood Productions
Ed Sullivan shows night spots all over New York in this movie, joking and listening to
stories the patrons tell. Directed by Edgar G. Ulmer and Johnnie Walker and starring
Ed Sullivan, Jack Dempsey, Ruth Etting and Bert Lahr.
A Torch Tango
USA 1934
Produced by: RKO
Starring Ruth Etting.
Southern Style
USA 1934
Produced by: RKO
Starring Ruth Etting.
The Song of Fame
USA 1934
Produced by: Vitaphone / Warner
Starring Ruth Etting.
Hollywood on Parade
USA 1934
Produced by: Paramount
Starring Ruth Etting.
Derby Decade
USA 1934
Produced by: RKO
Starring Ruth Etting.
Bandits and Ballads
USA 1934
Produced by: RKO
Starring Ruth Etting.
Turned Out
USA 1935
Produced by: RKO
Starring Ruth Etting.
Ticket or Leave It
USA 1935
Produced by: RKO
Runtime: (2 reels)
Directed by Alfred J. Goulding and starring Luis Alberni, Ruth Etting and Lloyd Hughes.
An Old Spanish Onion
USA 1935
Produced by: RKO
Starring Ruth Etting.
No Contest
USA 1935
Produced by: Vitaphone / Warner Bros. [us]
Starring Ruth Etting.
Sleepy Time
USA 1936
Produced by: RKO
Starring Ruth Etting.
Melody in May
USA 1936 Black and White
Produced by: RKO
A radio star singer comes to the help of a young man who's rejected by everyone of his age
in his town. When she offers to go to the ball with him, she makes him the man to be with.
Features Ruth Etting singing "St. Louis Blues" by Handy and "It Had to Be
You" by Isham Jones and Gus Kahn. Directed by Ben Holmes and starring Ruth
Etting, Frank Coghlan Jr., Margaret Armstrong, Joan Sheldon, Kenneth Howell and Robert
Meredith.
Aladdin From Manhattan
USA 1936
Produced by: RKO
Starring Ruth Etting.
TV Appearances
Harlem Hot Shots: With Broadway's Brightest Stars
(Black
Artists of the Silver Screen, 1953)
Directed by Joseph Kohn. Performers: Lionel Hampton, Dizzy Gillespie,
Ruth Etting, Joe Turner, Bill Bailey, Ruth Brown. A televised performance
before a live audience presented in 1953 by Afro-American entertainers in
music, dance and comedy. 47 min.
Movies About Ruth Etting
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Love Me or Leave Me
USA 1955 Color (Eastmancolor)
122 minutes Produced by: MGM (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) [aka MGM-UA] [us]
Directed by Charles Vidor with Doris Day as Ruth, James Cagney as "The Gimp"
Snyder and Cameron Mitchell.
The film was nominated for six Academy Awards including
James Cagney for Best Actor, Best Music, Song, for the song: "I'll Never Stop Loving
You", Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture, Best Writing, Screenplay, and Best
Sound, Recording and ultimately won the Award for Best Writing, Motion Picture Story.
One of the top box-office hits of 1955, it ranks in the top twenty all-time
favorite MGM Musicals.
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