The Great Magoo
The Great Magoo, was an unsuccessful 1932 Broadway play written by Ben Hecht and Gene Fowler.

A womanizing songwriter, Nicky, has fallen hard for Julie, a dancer and ambitious entertainer. Both lovers are Olympic-caliber boozers who swan dive into the gutter at the least hint of a romantic reversal.

The Coney Island dancehall girl becomes, briefly, a celebrity as a singer on the radio with her boyfriend's song, "It's Only A Paper Moon". The song is frequently reprised by the voice of the leading lady. The song's music is by Harold Arlen and lyrics by Yip Harburg and Billy Rose.

The play debuted at the Selwyn Theatre on Broadway on December 2, 1932, produced by Billy Rose and directed by George Abbott, starring Claire Carleton and Paul Kelly but was not well received by critics and closed after 11 performances. Brooks Atkinson of "The New York Times" praised the director and the performers but called it "rather stale and malodorous."

The play was filmed as "Shoot the Works" in 1934 directed by Wesley Ruggles starring Jack Oakie, Ben Bernie and Dorothy Dell.
Q235065
Broadway
LOC
Q267441
Ben Hecht
PER
Q3100447
Gene Fowler
PER
Q628201
Coney Island
LOC
Q387410
It's Only A Paper Moon
MEDIA
Q448644
Harold Arlen
PER
Q1273621
Yip Harburg
PER
Q448948
Billy Rose
PER
Q4742962
Selwyn Theatre
LOC
Q1506831
George Abbott
PER
Q20745672
Claire Carleton
PER
Q929838
Paul Kelly
PER
Q343916
Brooks Atkinson
PER
Q9684
The New York Times
MEDIA
Q19363825
Shoot the Works
MEDIA
Q1064903
Wesley Ruggles
PER
Q545846
Jack Oakie
PER
Q816444
Ben Bernie
PER
Q2655862
Dorothy Dell
PER
Q97358507
The Great Magoo
UNK
1932-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1932
DATE
1932-12-02T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
December 2, 1932
DATE
1934-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1934
DATE
+11^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
11
NUMBER
director
cast member