Meet the Baron

Meet the Baron
Meet the Baron
Directed by	Walter Lang
Written by	Norman Krasna; Herman J. Mankiewicz
Produced by	David O. Selznick
Starring	Jack Pearl; Jimmy Durante; Edna May Oliver; ZaSu Pitts; Ted Healy; Moe Howard; Larry Fine; Curly Howard
Cinematography	Allen G. Siegler
Edited by	James E. Newcom
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date	October 20, 1933;
Running time	68 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Meet the Baron is a 1933 American pre-Code comedy film starring Jack Pearl, Jimmy Durante, Edna May Oliver, ZaSu Pitts, Ted Healy and His Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Curly Howard). The title of the film refers to Pearl's character of Baron Munchhausen, which he made famous on his radio show.^[1]

Plot

A couple of bunglers (Jimmy Durante and Jack Pearl) are abandoned in the jungles of Africa by Baron Munchausen. A rescue team mistake Pearl for the missing Baron, and take the two of them back to America where they receive a hero's welcome.

The phony Baron is invited to speak at Cuddle College, run by Dean Primrose (Edna May Oliver). There he falls for ZaSu Pitts and meets three crazy janitors (The Three Stooges), and faces exposure as a fraud.

Cast

Jack Pearl as The Famous Baron Munchausen of the Air
Jimmy Durante as Joe McGoo – the Favorite "Schnozzle" of the Screen
ZaSu Pitts as Zasu, Upstairs Maid
Ted Healy as Head Janitor
Edna May Oliver as Dean Primrose
The Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Girls as Dancers
Henry Kolker as Baron Munchausen
William B. Davidson as General Broadcasting Representative
Moe Howard as Janitor
Larry Fine as Janitor
Jerry Howard as Janitor
Ben Bard as Charley Montague
Claude King as Explorer

Reception

The film was a box-office disappointment for MGM.^[2]

"Clean as a Whistle", a musical number risqué for its time which involves a group of women in a shower, was later featured in the 1994 MGM retrospective That's Entertainment! III as an example of Pre-Code Hollywood.