Granny from Beverly Hillbillies + Sammy Stein

For those who may have missed it, Irene Ryan who played Granny on the Beverly Hillbillies, appears in one scene in this movie, seated at the bar in the nightclub. A man speaks to her and says something like what's a little girl like you doing here. She was at the time 47.

In the tug of war scene, all of those men were actual fighters, wrestlers or bodybuilders and played themselves. I remember my mother liked to watch that scene when I saw the movie as a young boy, because Sammy Stein had grown up in her poor immigrant neighborhood, and had become quite a celebrity there being the first person from that place to gain any fame. After a career as a wrestler, he went on to appear in about 50 films, including one called The Lost Patrol, where he gained consideration for a best supporting oscar nomination.

There is also a link of sorts between that scene and Irene Ryan. The fellow with the rope around his waist who gets dunked like a doughnut by Joe is Primo Carnera, ex heavyweight champ. The man who beat him for the title was Max Baer, father of Max Baer Jr., who played Jethro on the Hillbillies.

And a little side note. Carnera had two brothers, named Secondo and Terzo. As the three brothers names mean first, second and third, obviously his parents were quite unimaginative.