International House 04/25/26

The FUN never stops in this pre-Code Paramount variety show, with a rudimentary plot, bizarre performers and plenty of risqué humor. It’s the 1933 equivalent of Wild and Crazy — with a sensational cast, some of whom need explaining: W.C. Fields, Rudy Vallee, Stuart Erwin, George Burns & Gracie Allen, Cab Calloway, Bela Lugosi, Baby Rose Marie, Franklin Pangborn and Sterling Holloway. Top billing goes to the then-scandalous tabloid sensation Peggy Hopkins Joyce. You haven’t lived until you’ve experienced this hour of off-color jokes, flirtatious nudity, booze humor, Cab Calloway singing about marijuana, the spectacle of Baby Rose Marie, an incredible television invention and the Six Day Bicycle Race!  It takes place in Wu-Hu, China, but don’t let the posy fool ya. On Blu-ray from Universal Home Entertainment.
04/25/26