Sleepy Lagoon is a 1943 American musical comedy film directed by Joseph Santley and featuring comedian Judy Canova and singer Dennis Day. The film was written by Prescott Chaplin, while Frank Gill, Jr. and George Carleton Brown wrote the screenplay. It was Canova's final feature for the Republic studios until 1951.
While closely coincident in time, the movie was entirely unrelated to the Sleepy Lagoon murder which led to the Zoot Suit Riots, nor to the song which lent its name to that incident.
Overview
The story deals with the travails of a newly elected female mayor, Judy Joyner (Canova), in a growing and mildly corrupt small town. Horror film actor Rondo Hatton had a bit part as "Hunchback."
Cast
Judy Canova as Judy Joyner
Dennis Day as Lancelot Hillie
Ruth Donnelly as Sarah Rogers
Joe Sawyer as Lumpy
Ernest Truex as Dudley Joyner
Douglas Fowley as J. "The Brain" Lucarno
Will Wright as Cyrus Coates
Forrest Taylor as Samuel
Kitty McHugh as Mrs. Small
Eddie Chandler as Ticket Seller
Herbert Corthell as Sheriff Bates
Ellen Lowe as Mrs. Simms
Jack Raymond as Joe, the Clown
Margaret Reid as Mrs. Crumm
Mike Riley as Bandleader
Rondo Hatton as Hunchback (uncredited)