MovieChat Forums > Having Wonderful Time (1938) Discussion > Did this movie make sense?

Did this movie make sense?

posted 11 years ago by PennyAnne
7 replies | jump to latest

As is noted in the trivia, the original play on which this film was based was very heavily steeped in 1930s American east coast Jewish culture. The camp in which it takes place seems to be one of the Borscht Belt resorts later depicted more accurately in A Walk on the Moon and Dirty Dancing, though the one in this movie seems to be an economy version for young singles. With all the cabin sharing, it seems more like a kid's camp than a resort. I assume such places did exist, but when the the movie was made, and the studio (forgive me) 'Aryanized' the story for mainstream 1930s American audiences, weren't they opening the story up to some puzzling questions? Would a place like this, basically a co-ed kid's camp for adults, have existed then, for gentiles? Regular resorts largely discriminated against Jewish people then, but these resorts also existed because presumably Jewish people would enjoy a Jewish vacation, thus they continued to exist even after such discrimination was outlawed. Now, if not for the Jewish element, why is the rich boy, played by Lee Bowman, who can afford a cabin to himself, even here? Why wouldn't he go to a more luxurious resort? In the play the answer is obvious; he's a young single Jewish man seeking to meet Jewish girls but in this movie he simply becomes a rich boy who enjoys mixing with poor girls.

[–] adagioforstringsUSA 10 years ago

If you're the person who complained that characters' names were changed "For instance, in the adaptation process, the play's lead characters, Teddy Stern and Chick Kessler, were among a half dozen or so characters who were given names that were more Christian-sounding -- Teddy Shaw and Chick Kirkland", this is nothing new in Hollywood, e.g. Schmuel Gelbfisz became Samuel Goldwyn & Eichelbaum became Warner. However, adopting marketable stage names wasn't entirely a Jewish vs gentile phenomena. Ginger Rogers original name was Virginia McMath and Fred Astaire's name was Frederick Austerlitz.

[–] whitetigerzone 9 years ago

I'm not the person. Please re-read my post - it was not about changing the names to gentile sounding names. I was asking if places like the one depicted in the movie even existed for non-Jewish persons. Particularly places in which non-Jewish persons of various social (well, income) classes would congregate. I don't think they did.

[–] adagioforstringsUSA 9 years ago

Ginger Rogers in her autobiography points out this film was adapted from a stage play about the Catskill borscht belt but Hollywood decided to cast the characters as gentiles. She said they originally played the characters w/ New York accents but the studio decided for the leads to use flat MidWestern accents for more general audience appeal. You can still hear a few of the supporting actors using their acquired New York accents in some scenes.

[–] dannieboy20906 9 years ago

Anytime a production moves from the stage to the screen there are changes. A stage is primarily about the spoken word, and the screen is primarily about visual appeal and movement. Many people complain that stage productions turned into screen plays 'drag,' are slow and boring. I would expect that the Red Skelton bit with the donut did not appear on the stage at all, nor did the character (I haven't seen the play).

Also, the producers want the screen version to appeal to a much broader audience. If the play was a comedy on Broadway, then many of those in the audience either patronized 'Borscht Belt' resorts or had friends who did. The names may well have been 'Aryanized' or 'Anglicized' to avoid having the potential audience think that it was all 'Jewish' comedy that would not appeal to them.

We all have a tendency to stereotype. It is a natural human trait that does not mark a person as first in line to become a neo-Nazi or join the KKK. Recognizing that we are stumbling into stereotyping helps keep us more objective. Exposing ourselves to unfamiliar cultures broaden our ability to enjoy humor and drama.

The reason the protagonist acts as he does is to make the play and screen play work.

The best diplomat I know is a fully charged phaser bank.

[–] corriganville 9 years ago

I'm pretty sure there was a 'dude ranch' up in the Catskills in the early 70's that was not strictly for Jewish people. I worked in a large office in Queens (NYC) with a couple of ladies, probably mid to late 30's, who used to take two week vacations every summer up there. It apparently was a popular spot, other people in the office knew about it. I was a youngster of 23 from the sticks so it was all new to me. It wasn't until watching pre-codes on TCM that the whole Borscht Belt concept came together for me. I knew about Kutchers and Grossingers, but never put them together with the NYC talent that made their living up there. My Jewish friends never made it up there.

It may have been the Rocking Horse Ranch in Highland NY. Pretty sure 'horse' was in the name. It's still there! And not in the Borscht Belt.

[–] tigerbonewan 8 years ago

Finally somebody understood the original question.

[–] liscarkat (16530) 5 months ago

I was thinking the same thing the OP mentioned, that with the crowd of young adults running around, playing games, sharing cabins, etc., this seemed more like a kids' camp than one for grownups. It also seemed like a hookup camp, with both the male guests and the male employees looking for opportunities with the ladies.