Gift of Gab is a 1934 black-and-white film released by Universal Pictures. Edmund Lowe stars as a man with the "Gift of Gab"—he can sell anyone anything. The film costars Ruth Etting, Ethel Waters, Victor Moore, and Gloria Stuart, and features Boris Karloff and Béla Lugosi. The film's sets were designed by the art director David Garber.
Contents
Plot
A fast talking grifter and his stooge, after failing in selling a patented ink remover, inadvertently find themselves pushed into the radio broadcasting business. What follows is a series of blackouts behind the scenes of a radio studio.
Cast
Edmund Lowe – Phillip "Gift of Gab" Gabney
Gloria Stuart – Barbara Kelton
Ruth Etting – Ruth
Phil Baker – absent-minded doctor
Ethel Waters – Ethel
Alice White – Margot
Alexander Woollcott – cameo appearance
Victor Moore – Colonel Trivers
Hugh O'Connell – Patsy
Helen Vinson – nurse
Gene Austin – radio artist
Thomas Hanlon – radio announcer
Henry Armetta – janitor
Sterling Holloway - Sound Effects Man
Andy Devine – McDougal, the waiter
Wini Shaw – cabaret singer
Boris Karloff – cameo appearance
Béla Lugosi – cameo appearance
Roger Pryor as himself
Production
Ruth Etting sings "Talking to Myself" and "Tomorrow, Who Cares?"
Originally the Three Stooges were signed to appear in the film, but they had just signed with Columbia Pictures for Woman Haters, the first of their short subjects, so three look-alike actors replaced them in Gift of Gab.