Too Many Girls (film)

Too Many Girls is a 1940 American musical comedy film directed by George Abbott, who had also directed the hit Broadway musical on which it was based, which ran for 249 performances. The film's screenplay is by John Twist, and it stars Lucille Ball, Richard Carlson, Ann Miller, Eddie Bracken, Frances Langford, Desi Arnaz and Hal Le Roy. It was released on October 8, 1940, by RKO Pictures. Both Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball credited the production for bringing them together. They married on November 30, 1940, less than two months after the film's release.
Plot.
Connie Casey (Lucille Ball), an energetic celebrity heiress, wants to go to Pottawatomie College in Stop Gap, New Mexico, her father's "alma mater", to be near her latest beau, British playwright Beverly Waverly (Douglas Walton). To protect her, and without her knowledge, her tycoon father (Harry Shannon) sends four Ivy League football players as her bodyguards, Clint Kelly (Richard Carlson), Jojo Jordan (Eddie Bracken), Manuelito (Desi Arnaz) and Al Terwilliger (Hal Le Roy), who sign a contract with an "anti-romance" clause.
The college is in bad financial straits and the bodyguards use their salaries to help the college. They also join the college's terrible football team, which immediately becomes one of the best in the country. Clint falls in love with Connie, but when she discovers he is her bodyguard, she decides to go back East. The bodyguards follow her, leaving the team in the lurch. The people of Stop Gap go after them, and they are brought back just in time for the big game. Connie declares her love for Clint, and he leads the team to victory.
Cast.
Cast notes:
Production.
RKO paid $100,000 for the rights to the Broadway musical. Filming on "Too Many Girls" began on June 22, 1940.
Songs.
The songs in "Too Many Girls" were all written by Richard Rodgers, who composed the music, and Lorenz Hart, who wrote the lyrics. The songs are:
All the songs also appeared in the Broadway musical, except for "You're Nearer". Songs that were used in the stage musical and not used in the film were "Tempt Me Not", "My Prince", "I Like to Recognize the Tune", "The Sweethearts of the Team", "She Could Shake the Maracas", "Too Many Girls", and "Give it Back to the Indians".
Critical response.
Bosley Crowther of "The New York Times" wrote that "Too Many Girls" was a "pleasant, light-hearted and wholly ingenuous campus film" but that director George Abbot "has permitted it to sag in the middle, at which point the thin spots baldly show." He complained that some of the dancer numbers looked dark and gloomy. "If the intention was to be impressive, it has failed. For 'Too Many Girls' is a simple, conventional rah-rah picture, without any place for pretense. And there is not enough to it, on the whole, for Mr. Abbott to squander dancers recklessly."