Connection
Al Boasberg is a Director, Scriptwriter and Additional Dialogue American born on 5 december 1891 at Buffalo (USA)
Al Boasberg (December 5, 1891 – June 18, 1937) was an American comedy writer in vaudeville, radio, and film, as well as being a film director.
He is credited with helping to create stand-up comedy when he teamed with then-youthful vaudeville performer Jack Benny, helping develop Benny's familiar, reactive skinflint and thus helping make Benny a major star when he transitioned to radio in 1932. In fact, on the last day before his death, Boasberg wrote the lines that introduced the enduring Rochester character on Benny's radio show.
Similarly, Boasberg defined the enduring personalities of Bob Hope, Burns and Allen, Wheeler and Woolsey and Leon Errol. He was one of the early "script doctors", earning $1,000 a week to punch up radio scripts.
Boasberg also wrote for 47 films between 1926 and 1937—especially 1935's A Night at the Opera, which provided The Marx Brothers with a commercial comeback on the screen. Another Marxian, the comedy producer Sid Kuller, started out as a ghost-gag-writer for Boasberg.
Boasberg's other film writing credits included The General (starring Buster Keaton, who also advised on A Night at the Opera). He also directed 12 films between 1929 and 1936.
A personality conflict with the producer, led to Boasberg's name being removed from A Day at the Races which was his original project.
He was born in Buffalo, New York in a Jewish family and died in Los Angeles, California from a heart attack. He is buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo, New York. Al Boasberg was the uncle of James Michaels.
In 2009, The Al Boasberg Comedy Award was established by The Buffalo International Film Festival
(1928)
(Scriptwriter)
Source : Wikidata
Al Boasberg
- Infos
- Photos
- Best films
- Family
- Characters
- Awards
Nationality USA
Birth 5 december 1891 at Buffalo (USA)
Death 18 june 1937 (at 45 years) at Los Angeles (USA)
Birth 5 december 1891 at Buffalo (USA)
Death 18 june 1937 (at 45 years) at Los Angeles (USA)
He is credited with helping to create stand-up comedy when he teamed with then-youthful vaudeville performer Jack Benny, helping develop Benny's familiar, reactive skinflint and thus helping make Benny a major star when he transitioned to radio in 1932. In fact, on the last day before his death, Boasberg wrote the lines that introduced the enduring Rochester character on Benny's radio show.
Similarly, Boasberg defined the enduring personalities of Bob Hope, Burns and Allen, Wheeler and Woolsey and Leon Errol. He was one of the early "script doctors", earning $1,000 a week to punch up radio scripts.
Boasberg also wrote for 47 films between 1926 and 1937—especially 1935's A Night at the Opera, which provided The Marx Brothers with a commercial comeback on the screen. Another Marxian, the comedy producer Sid Kuller, started out as a ghost-gag-writer for Boasberg.
Boasberg's other film writing credits included The General (starring Buster Keaton, who also advised on A Night at the Opera). He also directed 12 films between 1929 and 1936.
A personality conflict with the producer, led to Boasberg's name being removed from A Day at the Races which was his original project.
He was born in Buffalo, New York in a Jewish family and died in Los Angeles, California from a heart attack. He is buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo, New York. Al Boasberg was the uncle of James Michaels.
In 2009, The Al Boasberg Comedy Award was established by The Buffalo International Film Festival
Best films
(1928)(Scriptwriter)
Usually with
Filmography of Al Boasberg (28 films)
Director
Add to a movie list
Jail Birds of Paradise (1934)
Directed by Al Boasberg
Genres Comedy
Themes Buddy films
Actors Dorothy Appleby, Heinie Conklin, Harrison Greene, Curly Howard, Moe Howard, Frank Moran
Rating71%
When the Warden of Paradise Prison is absent for three months, his daughter Miss Deering (Dorothy Appleby) decides to turn the prison into the 'Paradise', a luxurious hotel complete with all the amenities, and she sets the prison guards to run the 'hotel' for her. As Miss Deering and her secretary tour the prison there are a series of sight gags that involve various prisoners; among them, registering at Paradise's front desk, are Joe Pantz (Moe Howard), an axe murderer who has transferred from Leavenworth.
Myrt and Marge (1933)
, 1h5Directed by Al Boasberg
Origin USA
Genres Comedy
Themes Buddy films
Actors Ted Healy, Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Eddie Foy, Jr., Curly Howard, Thomas E. Jackson
Rating71%
Film adaptation of the popular 1930s radio serial. Myrt Spear's (Myrtle Vail) touring vaudeville revue is full of talent and bound for Broadway, but low on funds. Conniving and lecherous producer Mr. Jackson (Thomas Jackson) helps the show so he can romance the young star, Marge Minter (Donna Damerel).
Scriptwriter
Make a Wish (1937)
, 1h17Directed by Kurt Neumann
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Musical
Themes Musical films
Actors Basil Rathbone, Bobby Breen, Henry Armetta, Donald Meek, Leonid Kinskey, Herbert Rawlinson
Rating54%
Whilst at summer camp in the Maine woods, young Chip Winters (Breen) befriends British composer Johnathan Selden (Rathbone), who left the city high life to try and break his creative block, and is soon playing matchmaker for his widowed singer mother Irene Winters (Claire) and Selden.
A Day at the Races (1937)
, 1h51Directed by Sam Wood
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Musical theatre, Musical
Themes Films about animals, Sports films, Films about horses, Mise en scène d'un mammifère, Horse sports in film, Sport hippique
Actors Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx, Chico Marx, Allan Jones, Maureen O'Sullivan, Dudley Dickerson
Rating74%
Hugo Z. Hackenbush (Groucho Marx) is a veterinarian who is hired as chief of staff for the Standish Sanitarium, owned by Judy Standish (Maureen O'Sullivan), at the insistence of her most important patient, the rich Mrs. Upjohn, (Margaret Dumont), who insists on being treated only by Dr. Hackenbush. The Sanitarium has fallen on hard times, and banker J.D. Morgan (Douglas Dumbrille) is attempting to gain control of it. Judy hopes that Mrs. Upjohn will make a large donation and stop that from happening.
Silly Billies (1936)
, 1h4Directed by Fred Guiol, Jean Yarbrough
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Western
Actors Bert Wheeler, Robert Woolsey, Dorothy Lee, Harry Woods, Ethan Allen Laidlaw, Delmar Watson
Rating60%
In 1851, dentists Roy Banks (Wheeler) and Philip "Painless" Pennington (Woolsey) attempt to save a town from being led into an Indian ambush.
A Night at the Opera (1935)
, 1h36Directed by Lesley Selander, Sam Wood, Edmund Goulding
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Musical
Themes Films about music and musicians, Musical films
Actors Groucho Marx, Chico Marx, Harpo Marx, Kitty Carlisle, Allan Jones, Margaret Dumont
Rating77%
Otis B. Driftwood (Groucho), business manager for the wealthy Mrs. Claypool (Margaret Dumont), has stood her up and is having dinner with another woman in the very same restaurant. When they find each other at opposite tables, Driftwood joins Mrs. Claypool, and introduces her to Herman Gottlieb (Sig Ruman), director of the New York Opera Company, also dining at the restaurant. Driftwood has arranged for Mrs. Claypool to invest $200,000 in the opera company, allowing Gottlieb to engage Rodolfo Lassparri, (Walter Woolf King), the "greatest tenor since Caruso".
The Nitwits (1935)
, 1h21Directed by George Stevens
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Musical
Actors Bert Wheeler, Robert Woolsey, Erik Rhodes, Betty Grable, Fred Keating, Evelyn Brent
Rating60%
Cigar-stand attendants Johnny (Wheeler) and Newton (Woolsey) get mixed up in a murder investigation at a radio station.
Murder in the Private Car (1934)
, 1h3Directed by Harry Beaumont
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Crime, Romance
Themes Transport films, Rail transport films, Films based on plays
Actors Charles Ruggles, Una Merkel, Mary Carlisle, Russell Hardie, Porter Hall, Willard Robertson
Rating61%
Jail Birds of Paradise (1934)
Directed by Al Boasberg
Genres Comedy
Themes Buddy films
Actors Dorothy Appleby, Heinie Conklin, Harrison Greene, Curly Howard, Moe Howard, Frank Moran
Roles Writer
Rating71%
When the Warden of Paradise Prison is absent for three months, his daughter Miss Deering (Dorothy Appleby) decides to turn the prison into the 'Paradise', a luxurious hotel complete with all the amenities, and she sets the prison guards to run the 'hotel' for her. As Miss Deering and her secretary tour the prison there are a series of sight gags that involve various prisoners; among them, registering at Paradise's front desk, are Joe Pantz (Moe Howard), an axe murderer who has transferred from Leavenworth.
Freaks (1932)
, 1h4Directed by Tod Browning
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Fantastic, Horror
Themes Circus films, Medical-themed films, Films about disabilities
Actors Wallace Ford, Edgar Allan Woolf, Leila Hyams, Olga Baclanova, Roscoe Ates, Harry Earles
Roles Author
Rating77%
The film opens with a sideshow barker drawing customers to visit the sideshow. A woman looks into a box to view a hidden occupant and screams. The barker explains that the horror in the box was once a beautiful and talented trapeze artist. The central story is of this conniving trapeze artist Cleopatra, who seduces and marries sideshow midget Hans after learning of his large inheritance. Cleopatra conspires with circus strongman Hercules to kill Hans and inherit his wealth. At their wedding reception, Cleopatra begins poisoning Hans' wine. Oblivious, the other "freaks" announce that they accept Cleopatra in spite of her being a "normal" outsider: they hold an initiation ceremony in which they pass a massive goblet of wine around the table while chanting, "We accept her, we accept her. One of us, one of us. Gooba-gobble, gooba-gobble". The ceremony frightens the drunken Cleopatra, who accidentally reveals that she has been having an affair with Hercules. She mocks the freaks, tosses the wine in their faces and drives them away. The humiliated Hans realizes that he's been played for a fool and rejects Cleopatra's attempts to apologize, but then he falls ill from the poison.
Bachelor Mother (1932)
, 1h10Directed by Charles Hutchison
Origin USA
Actors Evalyn Knapp, James Murray, Margaret Seddon, Paul Page, Astrid Allwyn, Harry Holman
Rating54%
This script must be run from the command line
The Stolen Jools (1931)
, 20minutesDirected by Harold S. Bucquet, John G. Adolfi, William C. McGann, Victor Heerman
Origin USA
Genres Comedy
Themes Buddy films, Children's films
Actors Wallace Beery, Buster Keaton, Edward G. Robinson, Jack Hill, Jack Hill, J. Farrell MacDonald
Roles Writer
Rating57%
At the "Screen Stars Annual Ball", Norma Shearer has her jewels stolen. The police must find them and return them to her.
Everything’s Rosie (1931)
, 1h7Directed by Clyde Bruckman, James S. Dugan
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Romantic comedy
Actors Robert Woolsey, Anita Louise, John Darrow, Florence Roberts, Frank Beal, Forrester Harvey
Roles Dialogue
Rating58%
Dr. J. Dockweiler Droop (Robert Woolsey) is a carnival charlatan, scamming local shills out of their hard earned money. He adopted Rosie (Anita Louise) when she was three, and has raised her to become a pretty young woman, who is just as good an operator as her adoptive father is. As they pass through a small town, Rosie falls in love with Billy Lowe (John Darrow), and pleads with Dockweiler to leave the carnival life and settle down. Dockweiler agrees, and the two leave the carnival.
50 Million Frenchmen (1931)
, 1h10Directed by Lloyd Bacon
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Romantic comedy, Musical, Romance
Themes Films about music and musicians, Musical films, Films based on plays
Actors John Halliday, Claudia Dell, Ole Olsen, William Gaxton, Chic Johnson, Helen Broderick
Roles Dialogue
Rating53%
Set in Paris, the story concerns the exploits of wealthy Jack Forbes (William Gaxton), who bets his friend Michael Cummings (John Halliday) that he can woo and win Looloo Carroll (Claudia Dell) without using any of his money or connections. Cummings hires Simon and Peter (Ole Olsen and Chic Johnson), a pair of erstwhile detectives, to make sure that Forbes doesn't win his bet.
Cracked Nuts (1931)
, 1h5Directed by Edward F. Cline, Fred Fleck
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Romance
Actors Bert Wheeler, Leni Stengel, Robert Woolsey, Dorothy Lee, Edna May Oliver, Stanley Fields
Rating60%
Wendell Graham (Bert Wheeler), while a millionaire through inheritance, is incredibly irresponsible. On a trans-Atlantic crossing, he meets the lovely Betty Harrington (Dorothy Lee), and her stuffy, over-protective aunt, Minnie Van Varden (Edna May Oliver). Wendell is definitely interested, and his interest is reciprocated by Betty, however Aunt Minnie takes an instant dislike to the young man. On the same ship are several dissidents who are seeking financial support for their revolution back home in the fictional country of El Dorania. Wendell believes that if he offers them financial support in their revolutionary pursuits, this will enhance his position with Aunt Minnie, who owns a large estate in El Dorania, and has been vocal about her displeasure with the current monarch. Wendell agrees to furnish the revolutionaries with $100,000 to further their cause.