Joe McDoakes
Directed by
Written by
George O'Hanlon
Various
Produced by
Richard Bare
Gordon Hollingshead
Cedric Francis
Starring
George O'Hanlon
Jane Harker
Phyllis Coates
Jane Frazee
Rodney Bell
Fred Kelsey
Ted Stanhope
Clifton Young
Narrated by
Music by
Production
company
Richard L. Bare Productions
Distributed by
Warner Bros. Pictures
The Vitaphone Corporation
Release date
November 14, 1942 – July 14, 1956
Running time
10 minutes (per short)
Country
United States
Language
English
Joe McDoakes is an American short-film comedy series produced and directed by Richard L. Bare for Warner Bros. A total of 63 black-and-white, live-action, one-reel films were produced and released between 1942 and 1956. The Joe McDoakes shorts are also known as the Behind the Eight Ball series (for the large eight ball Joe appeared behind in the opening credits) or the So You Want... series (as the film titles began with this phrase). The character's name derives from Joe Doakes, which was a popular American slang term for the average man.
The theme song of the series is "I Know That You Know" by Vincent Youmans from his Broadway musical Oh, Please! (1926), used later in the MGM musical Hit the Deck (1955).
George O'Hanlon, who would later provide the voice of George JetsoninHanna-Barbera's animated sitcom The Jetsons, starred as the series' title character, Joe McDoakes. These one-reel shorts were written by Bare and O'Hanlon, although Bare usually received sole screen credit as the writer. Art Gilmore served as the narrator through 1948. Gordon Hollingshead, who won five Academy Awards for producing other short subjects for Warner Bros., was also credited as a producer on the series until his death in 1952, although his role on this series was primarily as liaison between the studio and the director.
The series began with So You Want to Give Up Smoking, produced by Bare to teach his students at the University of Southern California the fundamentals of filmmaking. It was acquired by Warner Bros. for $2,500 and became the first of a series of short subjects. Only one more short was produced before World War II caused the suspension of the series, but production resumed in 1945 with So You Think You're Allergic.
These first three shorts were filmed silent, with narration added in post-production in the manner of the popular Pete Smith shorts produced at MGM from 1931 to 1955. They also resembled the Smith shorts in their focus on actual, everyday problems (such as smoking cessation, eye care and coping with allergies) in an instructional but humorous way.
In 1946, the series began using live sound recording, and the addition of dialogue afforded the films a new dimension. The action was now played strictly for laughs, with many familiar character actors such as Fritz Feld, Ralph Sanford, Philip Van Zandt, Fred Kelsey and Leo White frequently appearing. Semiregular actors included Clifton Young and later Del Moore as Joe's loudmouthed pal Homer, Rodney Bell as dumb Marvin and Ted Stanhope as an all-purpose authority figure. Many of the shorts are domestic comedies in which McDoakes persists in some sort of endeavor, with often disastrous consequences.
Warner Bros. contract player Jane Harker costarred as Joe's wife Alice in eight comedies, beginning with So You Want to Play the Horses in 1946 and ending with So You Want to Build a House in 1948. Screen newcomer Phyllis Coates assumed the role of Alice in So You Want to Be in Politics. Coates had married Bare that same year, and the working relationship would survive their later divorce. Former singing star Jane Frazee assumed the role beginning with So You Want to Be Your Own Boss (1954), but Coates returned in 1956 for the last three installments. While the Alice character appeared in most of the shorts, the actresses playing the role were not credited. In several of the films, Alice does not appear, and in some, Joe is a bachelor, as there is no continuity between installments.
In the late 1940s, the series won three consecutive Academy Award nominations in the category of Best Short Subject, One-reel for So You Want to Be in Pictures (1947), So You Want to Be on the Radio (1948) and So You Think You're Not Guilty (1949). For most of the series' run, the shorts were the only live-action comedies offered in 10-minute length, making them attractive for theater owners to include in their programs. The series ran until 1956, when the decline of the studio system brought an end to the production of short subjects by Warner Bros. and most of the other Hollywood studios.
Appearance credits for uncredited actors may be incomplete or incorrect because of inaccurate sources.
Notes including key co-stars with George O'Hanlon[3]
So You Want to Give Up Smoking
Early 1942
November 14, 1942
Art Gilmore (narrator)
So You Think You Need Glasses
Early 1942
December 26, 1942
Art Gilmore (narrator)
So You Think You're Allergic
June 1945
December 1, 1945
Knox Manning (narrator), Barbara Billingsley (cameo)
So You Want to Play the Horses
June 1946
October 5, 1946
Art Gilmore (narrator), Jane Harker, Richard Erdman, Leo White, Clifton Young, Fred Kelsey
So You Want to Keep Your Hair
April 1946
December 7, 1946
Art Gilmore (narrator), Leo White, Fred Kelsey, Iron Eyes Cody, Buster Brodie
So You Think You're a Nervous Wreck
September 1946
December 28, 1946
Art Gilmore (narrator), Clifton Young, Fred Kelsey, Howard M. Mitchell, Ted Stanhope
So You're Going to Be a Father
December 1946
May 10, 1947
Art Gilmore (narrator), Jane Harker, Fred Kelsey, Leo White, Emmett Vogan
So You Want to Be in Pictures
December 1946
June 7, 1947
Art Gilmore (narrator), George Chandler, Clyde Cook, Ralph Sanford, Jack Carson, Ronald Reagan, Wayne Morris, Janis Paige. Nominee for Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film.
So You're Going on a Vacation
December 1946
July 5, 1947
Art Gilmore (narrator), Jane Harker, Ted Stanhope, Lennie Bremen, Clifton Young
So You Want to Be a Salesman
February 1947
September 13, 1947
Art Gilmore (narrator), Jane Harker, Lennie Bremen, Ted Stanhope, Rose Plumer, Lottie Williams
So You Want to Hold Your Wife
June 1947
November 22, 1947
Art Gilmore (narrator), Jane Harker, Ted Stanhope
So You Want an Apartment
July 1947
January 3, 1948
Art Gilmore (narrator), Jane Harker, Ted Stanhope, Clifton Young, Fred Kelsey
So You Want to Be a Gambler
August 1947
February 14, 1948
Art Gilmore (narrator), Clifton Young, Douglas Fowley, Leo White
So You Want to Build a House
June 1947
May 15, 1948
Art Gilmore (narrator), Jane Harker, Clifton Young, Fred Kelsey, Ralph Peters, Donald Kerr, Ralph Littlefield
So You Want to Be a Detective
September 1947
June 26, 1948
Art Gilmore (narrator), Lila Leeds, Clifton Young, George Magrill, Olaf Hytten, Fred Kelsey, Howard Mitchell, Charles Horvath, Philo Mccullough, Charles Marsh, Donald Kerr, Kit Guard
So You Want to Be in Politics
July 1948
October 2, 1948
Phyllis Coates, Clifton Young, Fred Kelsey
So You Want to Be on the Radio
July 1948
November 6, 1948
Phyllis Coates, Clifton Young, Fred Kelsey, Ted Stanhope, Leo White, Jack Lomas. Nominee for Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film.
So You Want to Be a Baby Sitter
March 1948
January 8, 1949
Art Gilmore (narrator), Phyllis Coates, Clifton Young, Billy Gray
So You Want to Be Popular
December 1948
March 12, 1949
Art Gilmore (narrator), Phyllis Coates, Clifton Young, Creighton Hale, Ted Stanhope, Leo White
So You Want to Be a Muscle Man
March 1949
July 2, 1949
Phyllis Coates, Clarence Ross, Willard Waterman
So You're Having In-Law Trouble
April–May 1949
August 27, 1949
Phyllis Coates, Clifton Young, Willard Waterman
So You Want to Get Rich Quick
August 1949
October 28, 1949
Phyllis Coates, Fred Clark, Joe Turkel, Frank Nelson
So You Want to Be an Actor
August 1949
December 3, 1949
Art Gilmore (narrator), Fred Clark, Fred Kelsey, Frank Nelson, Ralph Sanford, Clifton Young, Ted Stanhope, Dorothy Vaughan
So You Think You're Not Guilty
October 1949
December 21, 1949 (preview) April 7, 1950 (release)
Phyllis Coates, Ralph Sanford, Ted Stanhope, Fred Kelsey, Willard Waterman. Nominee for Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film.
So You Want to Throw a Party
October 1949
February 4, 1950
Phyllis Coates, Billy Curtis, Willard Waterman, Ted Stanhope, Fred Kelsey, Jack Lomas, Edward Gargan
So You Want to Hold Your Husband
May 1950
July 1, 1950
Phyllis Coates, Ted Stanhope, Fred Kelsey, Monte Blue, Art Gilmore
So You Want to Move
May 1950
August 19, 1950
Phyllis Coates, Rodney Bell, Ralph Sanford, Charles Sullivan
So You Want a Raise
July 1950
September 23, 1950
Phyllis Coates, Willard Waterman, Margie Liszt, Edward Gargan, Fred Kelsey
So You're Going to Have an Operation
July 1950
December 2, 1950
Fritz Feld, Ted Stanhope, Frank Nelson
So You Want to Be a Handy Man
July 1950
January 3, 1951
Rodney Bell
So You Want to Be a Cowboy
November 1950
April 14, 1951
Phyllis Coates, Ted Stanhope, Eddie Gribbon, Harry Wilson.
So You Want to Be a Paper Hanger
December 1950
June 2, 1951
Phyllis Coates, Rodney Bell, Arthur Q. Bryan, Anne O’Neal
So You Want to Buy a Used Car
December 1950
July 28, 1951
Phyllis Coates, Fred Kelsey, Bobby Jellison
So You Want to Be a Bachelor
June 1951
September 22, 1951
Phyllis Coates, Ted Stanhope, Chester Clute, Jack Rice, Fred Kelsey
So You Want to Be a Plumber
July 1951
November 10, 1951
Phyllis Coates, Rodney Bell
So You Want to Get It Wholesale
July 1951
January 12, 1952
Phyllis Coates, Rodney Bell, Frank Nelson, Ted Stanhope, Charles Sullivan, Jack Mower, Georg Penbroke
So You Want to Enjoy Life
January 1952
March 29, 1952
Del Moore, Fritz Feld , Arthur Q. Bryan
So You Want to Go to a Convention
January 1952
June 7, 1952
Phyllis Coates, Connie Cezan
So You Never Tell a Lie
January 1952
August 2, 1952
Phyllis Coates, Rodney Bell, Emory Parnell, Jack Mower, Anne O’Neal
So You're Going to the Dentist
July 1952
September 20, 1952
Rodney Bell, Frank Nelson
So You Want to Wear the Pants
July 1952
November 8, 1952
So You Want to Be a Musician
August 1952
December 14, 1952
Maurice Cass, Philip Van Zandt, Fred Kelsey, Chester Conklin, Paul Maxey, Fritz Feld
December 1952
March 28, 1953
Emory Parnell, Jack Mower, Creighton Hale, Jesslyn Fax
So You Want a Television Set
December 1952
May 23, 1953
Phyllis Coates, Rodney Bell, Philip Van Zandt, Fred Kelsey, Doris Day, Gordon MacRae
So You Love Your Dog
December 1952
August 1, 1953
So You Think You Can't Sleep
August 1953
October 31, 1953
Phyllis Coates, Ted Stanhope, Fred Kelsey
So You Want to Be an Heir
August 1953
December 19, 1953
Phyllis Coates, Philip Van Zandt
So You're Having Neighbor Trouble
November 1953
December 26, 1953
Phyllis Coates, Rodney Bell, Arthur Q. Bryan
So You Want to Be Your Own Boss
December 1953
March 13, 1954
Jane Frazee, Rodney Bell, Phil Arnold, Fred Kelsey, Lyle Talbot
So You Want to Go to a Night Club
December 1953
May 1, 1954
Jane Frazee, Philip Van Zandt, Del Moore, Joi Lansing, Jack Chefe, Ralph Brooks
So You Want to Be a Banker
April 1954
July 3, 1954
So You're Taking in a Roomer
August 1954
October 30, 1954
Jane Frazee, Rodney Bell, Joi Lansing, Fred Kelsey, Herb Vigran
So You Want to Know Your Relatives
September 1954
December 18, 1954
Jane Frazee, Frank Nelson, Emory Parnell, Herb Vigran, Iris Adrian
So You Don't Trust Your Wife
September 1954
January 29, 1955
So You Want to Be a Gladiator
December 1954
March 12, 1955
Jane Frazee, Del Moore, Philip Van Zandt, John Doucette
So You Want to Be on a Jury
December 1954
May 7, 1955
Jackson Wheeler, Phil Arnold, Arthur Q. Bryan, Philip Van Zandt
So You Want a Model Railroad
December 1954
August 27, 1955
Jane Frazee, Ted Stanhope, Anne O’Neal, Arthur Q. Bryan
So You Want to Be a V.P.
September 1955
October 29, 1955
Emory Parnell, Del Moore, Joi Lansing, Minerva Urecal, Philip Van Zandt
So You Want to Be a Policeman
October 1955
December 17, 1955
Arthur Q. Bryan, Joi Lansing, Sandy Sanders
So You Think the Grass Is Greener
October 1955
January 28, 1956
Jane Frazee, Joi Lansing, Emory Parnell, Del Moore
So You Want to Be Pretty
December 1955
March 10, 1956
Phyllis Coates, Fritz Feld, Iris Adrian
So You Want to Play the Piano
December 1955
May 5, 1956
Phyllis Coates, Ralph Sanford, Lester Dorr, Charlie Hall
So Your Wife Wants to Work
December 1955
July 14, 1956
Phyllis Coates, Emory Parnell, Lester Dorr
Warner Archive Collection has released the entire series of 63 shorts in DVD-R format as The Joe McDoakes Collection. Individual shorts also appear as extras on DVD and Blu-ray discs of some Warner Bros. films of the period:
Films
Film and
television series
