George Todd (1???-1???) is a mysterious figure. Both IMDb and the American Film Institute are certain that he was a cutter on Free and Easy and Children of Pleasure…and that’s it.
Category: Children of Pleasure
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George Todd
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Doris McMahon
Doris McMahon (1910-61) was a performer whose short, mostly precode, career could largely be described as scantily clad.
She was in three MGM musicals, Free and Easy, Children of Pleasure and Madam Satan.
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Mary Carlisle
Gwendolyn Witter (1914-2018) played bits in three MGM musicals (Montana Moon, Children of Pleasure and Madam Satan) before moving on to more substantial roles at Paramount, often paired with Bing Crosby,
Carlisle retired in 1943 and lived for another 75 years.
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Polly Ann Young
Like Sally Blane, Polly Ann Young (1908-97) was the less-successful sister of Loretta Young. She acted in around 40 films, mostly in uncredited parts.
Young’s three Metro musicals were made in a cluster in 1930: They Learned About Women, Children of Pleasure and Love in the Rough.
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Rosalind Byrne
Louise Brooks lookalike Rosalind Loretta Mooney (1904-1989) had worked as an extra on hundreds of silent films, when she was given her first small role in Flaming Youth (1923). Unfortunately, her career did not flourish and she never progressed beyond bit parts.
Byrne’s final two appearances before retiring in 1930 were in They Learned About Women and Children of Pleasure.
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Reggie Montgomery
Reggie Montgomery (1906-??) co-write musical numbers for three MGM musicals–Chasing Rainbows, Children of Pleasure and Good News–and for the abandoned The March of Time.
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Crane Wilbur
Crane Wilbur (1886-1973) acted in his first film in 1910 and found fame opposite Pearl White in The Perils of Pauline (1913). He also became a scenarist, and directed his first picture in 1916. His final film as writer-director was House of Women in 1962.
In 1929 Wilbur wrote a play, Children of Pleasure, which he helped adapt into a musical the following year. He also wrote Lord Byron of Broadway and made an uncredited appearance in It’s a Great Life.
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Andy Rice
Andy Rice (1881-1963) apparently started out as a monologist in vaudeville before developing into a song and sketch writer. He wrote two editions of George White’s Scandals whilst continuing to perform himself.
Rice contributed songs to The Hollywood Revue of 1929, Children of Pleasure, The Florodora Girl and the unfinished The March of Time.
Thanks to Travalanche for the biographical information.
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Robert E Hopkins
We may never know how many screenplays Robert E Hopkins (1886-1966) contributed to if Thomas Schatz’s description of him prowling the Culver City lot providing one-liners as required is accurate. We certainly know he contributed to The Hollywood Revue of 1929, Chasing Rainbows, Children of Pleasure (uncredited), Love in the Rough and The Cuban Love Song.
Nineteen-thirty-six was a year of extremes. He got an Academy Award nomination for providing the story for San Francisco, and wrote without credit for Hollywood Party. Such was the life of a contract writer at MGM.
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Jack Benny
Benjamin Kubelsky (1894-1974) was one of the most popular American comedians of the mid-twentieth century, especially in his radio and television work. He was never as successful in films, though To Be or Not to Be (1942) stands out as a major achievement.
Benny featured in four Metro musicals, beginning with the role of Master of Ceremonies in The Hollywood Revue of 1929. He then had a major supporting role in Chasing Rainbows. His voice was heard on a radio in Children of Pleasure. Finally, and best of the four, Benny starred as journalist Bert Keeler in The Broadway Melody of 1936, getting repeatedly punched in the face by Robert Taylor.
