Movies by David Butler

Straight, Place and Show

Straight, Place and Show

The Ritz Brothers go to the race track. They raise training end entrance money in a wrestling match and help a young man train the horse of his fiancée.

Captain January

Captain January

A little girl named Star lives with a lighthouse keeper who rescued her when her parents drowned. A truant officer decides she should go to boarding school but she's rescued by relatives.

White Fang

White Fang

A woman and her weakling brother inherit a mine. When the brother commits suicide the guide is accused of murder.

The Girl He Left Behind

The Girl He Left Behind

A young man is drafted and goes through the rigors of basic training, ultimately discovering the experience is also character-building. Director David Butler's 1956 film stars '50s teen favorites Tab Hunter and Natalie Wood, with supporting roles played by Jim Backus, Jessie Royce Landis, Murray Hamilton, Henry Jones, James Garner, Alan King, Ernestine Wade, David Janssen and Raymond Bailey.

Bottoms Up

Bottoms Up

Promoter "Smoothie" King helps a pair of phonies con their way into a movie company. As Wanda heads toward stardom, she turns more and more from King toward the matinée idol. King must decide between his plans and her happiness.

My Weakness

My Weakness

A wealthy young man bets his uncle that he can transform a clumsy cleaning lady into a glamorous fashion plate, then marry her off to his bachelor cousin.

Handle with Care

Handle with Care

Bill Gordon (James Dunn), whose lot-in-life is rising, falls in love with Helen Barlow (Boots Mallory), who is raising two cute motherless children who nearly wreck her romance when they can't understand why grown-ups kiss...and other complications.

Playmates

Playmates

Lulu Monahan, the press agent for John Barrymore, is attempting to get a sponsor for a radio program. To that end, she and the agent for bandleader Kay Kyser, plant a story that the great Shakespearean actor, over his heartfelt objections, will teach Kyser how to play Shakespeare, which isn't the same as playing Paducah, which soon becomes evident.

John Loves Mary

John Loves Mary

After four long years apart, there are so many things returning World War II soldier John Lawrence wants to tell his sweetheart, Mary McKinley. That he loves her. That he's missed her. And that he's married.

The Story of Seabiscuit

The Story of Seabiscuit

Horse trainer Shawn O'Hara and his lovely niece, Margaret, come to America to escape the memory of an accident involving Margaret's brother, Danny. Working with thoroughbreds in Kentucky, Shawn takes a liking to a yearling named Seabiscuit, and fights to convince the horse's owner that the tiny horse with big knees will become a top-notch racehorse. Meanwhile, Margaret begins a tentative relationship with jockey Ted Knowles, but is haunted by her brother's death in a steeplechase spill. Written by Ray Hamel

Kentucky

Kentucky

Young lovers Jack and Sally are from families that compete to send horses to the 1938 Kentucky Derby, but during the Civil War, her family sided with the South while his sided with the North--and her Uncle Peter will have nothing to do with Jack's family.

Glory

Glory

A lovesick girl and her grandfather groom their filly for the Kentucky Derby.

Business and Pleasure

Business and Pleasure

On a Mediterranean cruise, Earl Tinker, a manufacturer of razor blades, is the target of a femme fatale in the pay of a business rival, and he becomes embroiled in a feud between two Arab tribes.

Shine on Harvest Moon

Shine on Harvest Moon

Biographical movie about the early 20th century broadway stars Nora Bayes and Jack Norworth.

You'll Find Out

You'll Find Out

The manager of Kay Kyser’s band books them for a birthday party bash for an heiress at a spooky mansion, where sinister forces try to kill her.

Painting The Clouds With Sunshine

Painting The Clouds With Sunshine

The story of three gold-digging ladies searching for millionaires. A loose remake of Gold Diggers of 1933.

Where's Charley?

Where's Charley?

Musical version of the comedy, "Charley's Aunt," by Brandon Thomas. As part of a simple enough ruse, a Cambridge student poses as his aunt but his scheme goes wrong, first when someone falls for the aunt, and then when the real aunt turns up.

Two Guys from Texas

Two Guys from Texas

Two vaudevillians on the run from crooks try to pass themselves off as cowboys.

A Connecticut Yankee

A Connecticut Yankee

Making a delivery to a mysterious mansion in a rainstorm, radio salesman Hank Martin is knocked out when a suit of armor topples on him. Upon awakening, Hank finds himself in the time of King Arthur. At Camelot Castle, Hank uses a cigarette lighter and his skill with a lasso to save himself from being executed as a demon. Hank so impresses Arthur that the king orders him to joust with one of his knights to save the life of Princess Alisande.

Ali Baba Goes to Town

Ali Baba Goes to Town

While visiting Hollywood a starstruck movie fan (Eddie Cantor) fantasizes about himself cast in an Arabian adventure. Director David Butler's comedy--with many songs--also features Tony Martin, Roland Young, Gypsy Rose Lee (billed as Rose Hovick), John Carradine, June Lang, Virginia Field, Charles Lane, The Peters Sisters and many big-name guest stars playing themselves.