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Why Is Ann Shoemaker Listed in the Screen Credits for Shall We Dance?

posted 9 years ago by OldFilmLover
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On the DVD of Shall We Dance, the screen credits have Ann Shoemaker playing a character "Matron". The IMDb listing has neither Ann Shoemaker nor "Matron" in its listing. Nor can I think of any "Matron" character in the film. There are no middle-aged or older female characters in the film who have more than incidental parts -- but this "Matron" is listed 8th in the screen credits, out of only 9 characters listed -- which would make her a significant supporting character with at least one important scene. Such a character couldn't be just a gossipy rich lady on the ship who has two lines about Petrov's marriage, or a society lady greeting people at the door at the hotel party for 15 seconds. Such a character would have to be more prominent.

Possibility 1: The studio just made a blunder. Ann Shoemaker was never in the film, and was never supposed to be in the film.

Possibility 2: She was supposed to be in the film, and scenes were shot with her, but they were deleted in the final cut.

Possibility 3: She was supposed to be in the film, but someone else took her role at the last minute, which is why the IMDb credits don't show her.

The problem with #3 is that even if it is another actress, there is still no "Matron" appearing in the film who is worth mentioning in the top 9 roles. So the question is why a "Matron" character is listed at all.

So I'm puzzled. Does anyone have any knowledge or suggestions here?

[–] Doghouse-6 9 years ago

Such a character couldn't be just a gossipy rich lady on the ship who has two lines about Petrov's marriage

I can tell you this much: that's exactly who she plays.

She's one of the two women gossiping about the "secret" marriage who come upon Linda and Petrov as they're sitting in the steamer chairs, and misinterpret Linda's repairs to her dog's sweater as something being knitted for a baby. They then go offscreen, presumably to spread the word.

I can't tell you anything about the billing in the film, although it does seem possible that there were additional scenes shot showing her spreading the gossip that were cut before release. Strictly a guess, though. Maybe she simply had a really good agent at the time.

Anyway, no matter how small the role or out-of-whack the onscreen billing, Ann Shoemaker does appear in the film and should do so on imdb's cast list.

Poe! You are...avenged!

[–] OldFilmLover 9 years ago

Thanks very much. In what other films does she have the longest or most obvious roles?

[–] Doghouse-6 9 years ago

I haven't seen all of her pre-SWD features (of which there are only nine), but probably the most notable role she'd had up to that time was as Mrs. Adams (Katherine Hepburn's mother) in Alice Adams. In her first feature, Chance At Heaven, she played - of all people - Ginger Rogers' mother.

Her most substantial role, I believe, came toward the end of her film career and was yet another movie mother - FDR's - in Sunrise At Campobello, and there were at least a couple dozen "Mrs. This or Thats" (including a couple of the Mickey & Judy musicals) in between. She even played Ma Kettle once, in a TV performance of The Egg and I!

Poe! You are...avenged!

[–] OldFilmLover 9 years ago

Thanks again. It is good to know more about these character actors. Quite often, even on DVD commentaries, many of the character actors are never identified. Of course, I know I can look up the list of roles an actor has played on the IMDb, but that doesn't tell one anything about how substantial the role is, if one has never see the film before -- which is the case for me regarding Ann Shoemaker. I just haven't run across her before.

It is bizarre that she finds her way into the screen credits of Shall We Dance, having done so little in the movie; but then, as you have suggested, maybe she originally had a larger role and most of her scenes were cut out.

[–] Doghouse-6 9 years ago

Cut scenes are probably the safest bet in this case (as with Eddie Fisher remaining in All About Eve credits after his role was entirely eliminated in the final cut). But film credits are littered with these little mysteries.

Amanda Blake, for example, gets 7th billing (right after Lucy Marlow, and above that of Irving Bacon and Hazel Shermet) in the 1954 A Star Is Born main titles, although her whereabouts in the film are a mystery even die-hard ASIB fanatics have never been able to solve. The only clue is her role as stated in press materials: "Susan Ettinger." "Mr. Ettinger" is the head makeup man played by Rudolph Anders ("The nose is the problem"), but who is "Susan?" His wife? Daughter? And where could she have fit in? I've never come across anyone who knows.

Poe! You are...avenged!