Eleven Men And A Girl (1930) starring Joe E. Brown, Joan Bennett, James Hall
Eleven Men and a Girl is a frolic on the college campus, with the president’s job depending on winning the football trophy. With a little help from his daughter (Joan Bennett) and her boyfriend (Joe E. Brown) …
Review
Eleven Men and a Girl (originally known as Maybe It’s Love) is a cute comedy. It’s not very deep, or even realistic, but it’s not meant to be. The basic plot has the President of Upton College in danger of losing his job if the football team can’t defeat their rival school. The bad news is, the team only has one good player — Joe E. Brown. He concocts a plot where the President’s daughter (Joan Bennett) takes off her glasses, becomes an irresistible beauty, and pretends to romance ten other football players … if only they’ll transfer to Upton.
Of course, eventually they find out that they’re all romancing the same girl, and plan to sit out the big game. Until …
As I say, it’s not deep. But, it’s enjoyable fluff.
Comedy highlights
- Joe E. Brown wrestling with a bear – the wrong bear
- Joan Bennett tipped over in a canoe
Trivia
- The recruited football players are actually members of the 1928 and 1929 All-American football teams.
- This was re-titled Eleven Men and a Girl when it was sold to television in 1956, in order to avoid confusion with another film of the same name, Maybe It’s Love (1935).
Songs
- Maybe It’s Love (1930), Music by Archie Gottler and George W. Meyer, Lyrics by Sidney D. Mitchell, Sung by Joan Bennett and then by James Hall
- All American (1930), Music by Archie Gottler and George W. Meyer, Lyrics by Sidney D. Mitchell, Sung by Joan Bennett and James Hall with the team as a chorus
- Keep It Up for Upton (1930), Music by Archie Gottler and George W. Meyer, Lyrics by Sidney D. Mitchell, School song
Editorial review of Eleven Men And A Girl courtesy of Amazon.com
In Elmer the Great and two more baseball-themed hits, fan and former semi-pro player Joe E. Brown wound up and pitched winning comedy. In Eleven Men and a Girl, he swaps horsehide for pigskin and – surrounded by the 1929 All-American football team, who make the lithe Brown look like a greyhound at a Rottweiler convention – scores more big laughs. Directed with plenty of gridiron action by William A. Wellman (Wings), the story concerns a college with a losing team, until the college president’s daughter whips off her glasses and va-va-vooms 11 football heroes into choosing a new alma mater. Joan Bennett plays the daughter and a pre-Code scene with her garbed in a soaking-wet, see-through frock proves it was more than going from four eyes to two that captured the athletes’ attention.