ROBERTA

March 8, 1935

Directed by William A. Seiter
Produced by Pandro S. Berman

Screenplay by

Jane Murfin, Sam Mintz, and Allan Scott, based on the play Roberta by Jerome Kern and Otto A. Harbach, from the novel Gown’s by Roberta by Alice Duer Miller

• Filmed at RKO Studios
• World Premiere March 7, 1935 in New York City
• Released wide on March 8, 1935

PRINCIPAL CAST

Irene Dunne (Stephanie) was nominated for five Oscars between 1931 and 1949. In 1938 she appeared with Lucille Ball in Joy of Living. 

Fred Astaire (Huck Haines) received an honorary Oscar in 1950, and won a competitive Oscar in 1975. He appeared with Lucille Ball in Top Hat (1935), Follow the Fleet (1936) and Ziegfeld Follies (1945).  

Ginger Rogers (Countess Scharwenka / Lizzie Gatz) did five films with Lucille Ball. In 1971 she appeared as herself on the “Here’s Lucy” episode “Ginger Rogers Comes to Tea” (HL S4;E11), filmed during an actors strike. 

Randolph Crane Scott (John Kent) also appeared with Lucile Ball, Astaire and Rogers in Follow The Fleet (1936). 

Helen Westley (Roberta, Aunt Minnie) also appeared with Lucille Ball in 1934′s Moulin Rouge. 

Victor Varconi (Ladislaw) was a Hungarian-born actor making his only appearance with Lucille Ball. 

Claire Dodd (Sophie) was born the same year as Lucille Ball. This is their only film together. 

Luis Alberni (Voyda)

was a Spanish-born actor making his only appearance with Lucille Ball.

Ferdinand Munier (Lord Delves) did six films with Lucille Ball between 1933 and 1936. 

Torben Meyer (Albert) was seen with Lucille Ball in The Farmer and the Dell (1936) and played the German Bandleader in “Lucy in the Swiss Alps” (S5;E21 ~ March 26, 1956).

Adrian Rosley (Professor) is a Romanian-born actor making his only appearance with Lucille Ball.

Bodil Rosing (Fernande) is a Danish-born actress making her only appearance with Lucille Ball.

UNCREDITED CAST

Fashion Models

• Lucille Ball makes her 21st film since coming to Hollywood in 1933.
• Virginia Carroll
• Diane Cook
• Lynne Carver
• Lorraine DeSart
• Betty Dumbries
• Maxine Jennings
• Myrna Low
• Margaret McChrystal
• Marie Osborne
• Wanda Perry
• Donna Mae Roberts 
• Kay Sutton

Wabash Indianians 

• Hal Borne
• Halbert Brown
• Candy Candido
• William Carey
• Phil Cuthbert
• Delmond Davis
• Ivan Dow

• William R. Dunn 
  

• Howard Lally
  

• Muzzy Marcellino

• Phil McLarind
• Charles Sharpe
• Gene Sheldon

Cossacks

• Mike Tellegen 
• Sam Savitsky 

• Dale Van Sickel
  

Others

• Anna De Linsky
• Judith Vosselli
• Chris Marie Meeker 
• Charlotte Russell
• Zena Savina 
• Mike Lally (Bar Patron)
• Michael Visaroff (Waiter)
• William B. Davidson (Purser)
• Mary Forbes (Mrs. Teal)
• Rita Gould 
• Grace Hayle (Miss Jones, Reporter)
• Jane Hamilton

Synopsis ~ 

Football player John Kent tags along as Huck Haines and the Wabash Indianians travel to an engagement in Paris, only to lose the gig immediately. John and company visit his aunt, owner of a posh fashion house run by her assistant, Stephanie. There they meet the singer Scharwenka (alias Huck’s old friend Lizzie), who gets the band a job. Meanwhile, Madame Roberta passes away and leaves the business to John and he goes into partnership with Stephanie.

TRIVIA

Lucille Ball, who appears uncredited in this film as a fashion model, would later buy RKO, the studio that made this film. At the height of their success during “I Love Lucy”, she and Desi Arnaz purchased it and renamed it Desilu Studios.

Lucille Ball decided to try out for this film when she heard RKO was looking for girls who had worked as models at Bergdorf Goodman in New York City. She had not actually been employed by Bergdorf, but had participated in a fashion show a promoter had put on there, so she applied and got the job.

The original 1933 Broadway production of Roberta featured Bob Hope and Fred MacMurray, both of whom played themselves on Lucille Ball sitcoms. Chorus member Leon Alton was a background artist on many episodes of “The Lucy Show” and “Here’s Lucy.”

A 24 year-old Lucille Ball, decked out in white-blonde hair, white furs and wearing a white gown, appears at 1:37:30 in the fashion show sequence. Lucille Ball originally had dialogue that was later deleted.

In the 1971 “Here’s Lucy” episode “Ginger Rogers Comes to Tea” (HL S4;E11) Lucy adds a sugar cube to Ginger’s tea for the title of each of her favorite films.  

When Lucy realizes she’s put six lumps of sugar in Ginger’s tea, Rogers says she only wanted Top Hat and Roberta (two lumps).  

Clips of the film were included in “Hollywood the Golden Years: The RKO Story: A Woman’s Lot” (July 17, 1987). Lucille Ball is also interviewed in the episode. 

Fashion Shows were the subject of several Lucille Ball sitcoms: Lucy Ricardo models a Don Loper original; Lucy Carmichael did an impromptu fashion show in a restaurant to get close to Danny Kaye; Lucy Carter did the same thing to help out her daughter Kim, who got her first job at a fashion boutique.

Roberta earned Lucille Ball a promotion at RKO: from clothes horse to actress!  Little did Maxine Jennings (red head) know Lucille Ball would eventually steel her thunder as a carrot top! 

Some theatre managers took the bold step of offering patrons a money-back guarantee!