Pigskin Parade

Pigskin Parade

Promotional movie poster for the film
Directed by David Butler
Produced by Bogart Rogers
Darryl F. Zanuck
Written by William M. Conselman
Mary Kelly
Nat Perrin
Arthur Sheekman
Harry Tugend
Jack Yellen
Starring Stuart Erwin
Patsy Kelly
Jack Haley
Betty Grable
Judy Garland
Music by David Buttolph
Cinematography Arthur C. Miller
Edited by Irene Morra
Distributed by 20th Century Fox
Release dates
 October 23, 1936 (1936-10-23)
Running time
 93 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Box office $900,000[1]

Pigskin Parade is a 1936 musical comedy film which tells the story of husband and wife college football coaches who convince a backwoods player to play for their team so they can go to the big Bowl Game. It was written by William M. Conselman, Mary Kelly, Nat Perrin, Arthur Sheekman, Harry Tugend and Jack Yellen, and was directed by David Butler.

The cast includes Stuart Erwin (in an Oscar-nominated performance), Jack Haley, Patsy Kelly, Arline Judge, Dixie Dunbar, Betty Grable, Tony Martin and, in her feature film debut, 14-year-old Judy Garland. 20th Century Fox distributed this film.

Plot

Due to a misunderstanding, Yale inadvertently invites the small Texas State University to come to Connecticut and play against its football team for a benefit game. Coincidentally, TSU has just hired a new coach, Slug Winters (Jack Haley), who arrives at the college with his wife Bessie (Patsy Kelly) just in time to hear the announcement that the team is to play Yale.

The coach digs in to whip the team into shape, with Bessie's help, she knowing more about football than Slug does. But just before the big game, Bessie causes an accident and the team's quarterback Biff Bentley breaks his leg. All seems hopeless until Slug and Bessie stumble across an Arkansas hillbilly named Amos Dodd, played by Stuart Erwin, who throws a football like no one they've ever seen. They find him tossing melons with his sister, Sairy (Judy Garland).

The only problem remaining is to figure a way to get the college to enroll the hillbilly so that he can take the place of the injured quarterback. Amos also falls for attractive student Sally Saxon (Arline Judge), bringing out jealousy in her rich suitor Mortimer Higgens.

Texas State travels to the game at Yale, which is played in a blizzard. Yale is leading 7-6 in the final minutes when Slug accidentally knocks himself unconscious on the sideline. Bessie takes over and sends in a play, which hillbilly Amos runs barefoot for the winning touchdown.[2]

University in film

The university in the film, Texas State University, is fictional; the real-life Texas State University did not receive that name until 2003. The logo on the football players' uniforms is the logo of Tarleton State University[3] in Stephenville, Texas. In the 20's, 30's, 40's and into the 50's Tarleton played Texas A&M and Oklahoma as shown in the movie.

Cast

Award nominations

Year Award Result Category Recipient
1937 Academy Award Nominated Best Actor in a Supporting Role Stuart Erwin

References

  1. ↑ Aubrey Solomon, Twentieth Century-Fox: A Corporate and Financial History Rowman & Littlefield, 2002 p 217
  2. ↑ Pigskin Parade page on The Judy Garland Database, by Jim Johnson
  3. ↑ www.tarleton.edu. Missing or empty |title= (help);
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