The 1930s saw a tremendous growth in radio since it was first introduced in the 1920s. A few radio celebrities made a good living doing side work in cinema, led by Jack Benny, Will Rogers and George Burns and Gracie Allen. Radio personality Fred Allen augmented his popularity on the airwaves as a humorist by introducing himself in his first feature film in the October 1935 musical, "Thanks a Million."
Allen's barbs and one liners, beginning with his 1932 'The Fred Allen Show,' pioneered the comedy host-and-guest format for radio and television programs that talk show host Johnny Carson perfected. The newly-formed Twentieth Century-Fox's first feature film, "Thanks a Million," capitalized on Allen's immense popularity and worked its plot around him. His character Ned Allen is a band leader featuring singer Eric Land (Dick Powell). During a bus transfer, Allen notices a candidate running for the governor's office who needed some pizzazz to spark his stump speeches. He gets the campaign to hire his band to drum up crowds for the candidate Judge Culliman (Raymond Walburn), who loves his drink. At one stop, the judge is too drunk to speak, and Eric takes his place, firing up the crowd to call for him to replace Culliman. Eric does so and wins the election.
A couple years after the release of "Thanks a Million," Allen quipped on his radio show that the movie proved that "Up in Washington, they elected a band leader Lieutenant Governor, and if people will vote for a jazz band leader, they'll vote for anybody." He was referring to Victor Meyers, a former jazz-band conductor in Seattle who won the state's Lt. Governorship. In fact, Meyers had paid a visit on the 20th-Century studio lot while "Thanks A Million" was filming and joked to Dick Powell that if the actor became discouraged with show biz he could set his sights on a political career. Later, when Meyers heard Allen's joke on the radio, he hired an attorney and sued the studio for making him the brunt of an embarrassing joke that could potentially ruin his future political life. The lawsuit was eventually dismissed.
Studio producer and executive Darryl F. Zanuck, whose partnership in 20th Century Pictures in 1933 resulted in the purchase of Fox Films in 1935, loved to dream up stories which, under the pseudonym Melville Crossman, he would write his plots. He heard about Meyers' successful run for state office and based his "Thanks a Million" around a band's lead singer replacing a candidate for the governor's office. Fred Allen contributed to the film's dialogue. The Cambridge, Massachusetts born and raised Allen's first gig was in vaudeville before he took his act on to Broadway. CBS executives loved his New York City schtick and offered him a slot on their radio network's stations. He moved to NBC shortly afterwards. Allen was in three short films before "Thanks a Million," his first in 1929 showcasing his vaudeville act. After his feature film debut, Allen appeared in three additional full-length movies. But radio was clearly his forte, exclaiming "I have the perfect face for radio." One high point in Allen's popularity was when he and his good friend Jack Benny carried on a ten years-long feud about Benny's violin playing, which boasted both entertainers' radio ratings considerably. Allen is known to television viewers as a regular panelist on "What's My Line?"
Film reviewer Matt Hinrichs notes that Allen's "characterization of type-A manager Ned Allen is much more abrasive than his radio personality, but at least this offers a rare glimpse of a radio legend in action on celluloid."
