Leon brags about his "super-deluxe" gas station, which he claims is run by chorus girls.Leon brags about his "super-deluxe" gas station, which he claims is run by chorus girls.Leon brags about his "super-deluxe" gas station, which he claims is run by chorus girls.
Photos
Billy Bletcher
- Lonesome Driver
- (uncredited)
Mildred Dixon
- Chorus girl
- (uncredited)
Lester Dorr
- Sign Salesman
- (uncredited)
Cliff Saum
- Repo Man
- (uncredited)
Eddie Shubert
- Chauffeur
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThis was the first of two three-strip Technicolor live-action shorts, completed and released by WB four months before La Cucaracha (1934), which is often identified as the first one. Good Morning, Eve! (1934) was the second one.
- Quotes
Walter Webb: Well, I gotta be goin' home. Look after things, Will.
Will: And I won't take any wooden nickels.
Walter Webb: Wooden nickels? You wouldn't?
- SoundtracksService with a Smile
(1934) (uncredited)
Written by Cliff Hess
Performed by Female Gas Station Attendants
Featured review
One of the earliest Three-Color Technicolor films you can see.
While a variety of color processes were developed before this film came out in 1934, they were either experimental and never really used in commercial films or they were primitive two-color processes. The two-color process made for a color-ish film. Since the color strips were orange-red and green-blue, the color tended to be mostly tones of greens and oranges...and many colors in the spectrum simply looked orange or green (or some shades similar to this). However, "Service With a Smile" is a true color film...using the newly developed Three-Color Technicolor...a color process licensed to only a few studios such as Disney (and no other full color cartoons could me made until this contract expired) as well as Warner Brothers/Vitaphone. While the colors are very intense and a tad garish, it does look color and has purples, yellows and other colors not possible with previous processes employed on commercial films. I think much of the garishness is actually NOT the fault of the film but the color choices--and the guy who developed this color process made the studios agree to employ his ex-wife as a color consultant...and she may well be the reason the colors are so intense.
As for the film, Leon Errol stars as Walter Webb, a guy who owns a service station. It soon burns down and when Errol is asked by his insurance adjuster to describe his old business, he describes it in insanely lavish terms--and you see a HUGE ultra-modern station filled with gorgeous ladies in beautiful uniforms attending to customers. It's ludicrously fancy and deluxe! The overall effect is silly but also mesmerizing due to the color!
This is a very important movie historically. While the studio's first Three-Color film, "La Cucharacha" came out first, this short has the distinction of being the second film using this process from Warner. It's also is more entertaining and looks a bit nicer than "La Cucharacha". Well worth seeing...especially for some of the nutty production numbers...especially the eye-popping one near the end with the ladies in bathing suits dancing about the Walter Webb sign!
As for the film, Leon Errol stars as Walter Webb, a guy who owns a service station. It soon burns down and when Errol is asked by his insurance adjuster to describe his old business, he describes it in insanely lavish terms--and you see a HUGE ultra-modern station filled with gorgeous ladies in beautiful uniforms attending to customers. It's ludicrously fancy and deluxe! The overall effect is silly but also mesmerizing due to the color!
This is a very important movie historically. While the studio's first Three-Color film, "La Cucharacha" came out first, this short has the distinction of being the second film using this process from Warner. It's also is more entertaining and looks a bit nicer than "La Cucharacha". Well worth seeing...especially for some of the nutty production numbers...especially the eye-popping one near the end with the ladies in bathing suits dancing about the Walter Webb sign!
helpful•11
- planktonrules
- Dec 8, 2016
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Broadway Brevities (1933-1934 season) #25: Service with a Smile
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime17 minutes
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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