Double Dynamite

rdf:langString Double Dynamite

rdf:langString Double Dynamite

rdf:langString Double Dynamite

rdf:langString story by Leo Rosten

rdf:langString Original US cinema poster

rdf:langString United States

rdf:langString RKO Radio Pictures

rdf:langString English

rdf:langString Irwin Allen

rdf:langString Double Dynamite

rdf:langString Mannie Manheim

rdf:langString Double Dynamite is a 1951 American musical comedy film directed by Irving Cummings and starring Jane Russell, Groucho Marx, and Frank Sinatra. The film was written by Leo Rosten (story), Melville Shavelson (screenplay), Mannie Manheim (based on a character created by), and Harry Crane (additional dialogue). The film was originally entitled It's Only Money, before RKO owner Howard Hughes changed the title to Double Dynamite as a reference to co-star Jane Russell's famous breasts. The movie involves a bank teller (Sinatra) suspected of embezzling who turns to a sardonic waiter (Groucho Marx) for advice. Although Sinatra has by far the most screen time, he took third billing behind Jane Russell and Groucho Marx. Most of the scenes are devoted to the interactions of Sinatra and Marx, who had just begun televising his radio show You Bet Your Life the year before and was in between his wilder Marx Brothers persona and the more toned-down television Groucho. Both Sinatra and Jane Russell play against type as a shy, timid pair, while Marx portrays a sarcastic waiter who breezily mentors the frightened young couple. Jane Russell and Groucho Marx each sing a duet with Frank Sinatra written by Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn. Marx and Sinatra sing "It's Only Money", and Russell and Sinatra deliver the romantic "Kisses and Tears." Filmed in 1948, it was held for several years after production, and released in 1951. Despite the star power of Sinatra, Russell, and Groucho Marx, it was not a financial or critical success.