| Hold 'Em Jail | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Norman Taurog |
| Written by | Walter DeLeon (screenplay) S.J. Perelman (screenplay) Eddie Welch (screenplay) Mark Sandrich (screenplay) Tim Whelan (story) Lew Lipton (story) John P. Medbury (radio dialogue) Albert Ray (continuity) |
| Produced by | Harry Joe Brown (associate producer) David O. Selznick (executive producer) |
| Starring | Wheeler and Woolsey Edna May Oliver Edgar Kennedy Betty Grable |
| Cinematography | Leonard Smith |
| Edited by | Arthur Roberts |
| Music by | Max Steiner |
| Distributed by | RKO Radio Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 66 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $408,000[1] |
| Box office | $511,000[1] |
Hold 'Em Jail is a 1932 American pre-Code comedy film starring Wheeler and Woolsey. They play a couple of boobs who are wrongfully convicted for firearm possession and sent to prison, where they somehow end up playing on the warden's football team.
Warden Edgar Kennedy is not above framing innocent people into prison and blackmailing them into playing on his football team in exchange for being eventually proven innocent.
Wheeler and Woolsey are wise to the racket, but Kennedy has to treat them with kid gloves because his old maid sister (Oliver) is in love with one of them.
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Rare for the duo, the film is a straight comedy with no musical numbers. It is also noteworthy for giving Betty Grable her first substantial role after appearances as a Goldwyn Girl and in bit parts. The title is a pun on the then-popular college football cheer, "Hold 'em, Yale."