Here are 10 things you should know about Ruth Donnelly, born 129 years ago today. She’s one of our favorite character actresses of the 1930s and ’40s.
Tag: precode movies
10 Things You Should Know About Henry Stephenson
Here are 10 things you should know about Henry Stephenson, born 154 years ago today. He enjoyed a stage and screen career that spanned nearly 60 years.
10 Things You Should Know About Frankie Darro
Here are 10 things you should know about Frankie Darro, born 107 years ago today. The 1920s and ’30s were the prime of his career, but he was the rare child star who acted for the rest of his life.
10 Things You Should Know About Gordon Westcott
Here are 10 things you should know about Gordon Westcott, born 121 years ago today. He enjoyed success on the stage and in pictures in his all-too-brief life and career.
Cinematic Slang: Sleeper Jump
Recently, while watching The Death Kiss (1933), a thriller starring Bela Lugosi, David Manners and Adrienne Ames, we heard a slang phrase that was new to us:sleeper jump. Can you guess its meaning?
In the scene in which the term is used, a detective is investigating a murder that has occurred on a set at a movie studio. The detective asks where he can find the makeup man, who might have info that would be beneficial to his investigation.
“The make-up department,” answers the film’s director. “Clear round the end of the block, just the end of F street.”
“Sounds like a sleeper jump,” says the detective.
“I’ll show you if you like,” says the director and off they go.
The context suggested to us that sleeper jump might refer to distance, that the detective was quipping that the makeup department sounded it was quite a distance away, far enough to take an overnight train with a sleeper car.
That was just a guess, but it appears we nailed it.
Turns out, “sleeper jump” was also a term used by vaudeville performers to refer to the least desirable dressing room that typically went to the lowest-billed performer, a dressing room that was several floors up, requiring a climb up multiple flights of stairs (while hauling a heavy wardrobe trunk). And while you can’t take a train to the fifth floor of a building, the idea is the same: a destination that requires something of a slog to reach.
So there you have it—a new vintage slang term. Your homework assignment is to use the term sleeper jump whenever the opportunity presents itself.