Possible explanations for some names in "Hail, Caesar!"

That's right, Mannix talking to Joseph Schenck (pronounced "Skenk").

Nick Schenk
There was a Nicholas Schenck (apparently Joseph's younger brother) running MGM's movie theater business from New York. He retired in 1955.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_Schenck

Thank you so much for all of this, Sussman! And do keep it coming. At first I thougt ”Hail, Caesar!” was a lesser effort by the Coens – but as usual, I was wrong, thankfully. The psychology here actually goes very deep, I think. And your observations certainly indicate the level of condensation the Coen brothers have reached in weaving a web of intricate references into their work. It’s just a sad fact that so many (of us) have a hard time keeping up with their pace.

BTW, I can see why you would choose Sussman as your icon – and obviously, it is well deserved …

One name not mentioned so far, I think, is Carlotta Valdez: I guess because it’s so obvious (from Hitchcocks ”Vertigo”). But I think it’s one of the nicest twists in the story. Instead of an unhappy demon seemingly possessing a living woman, intriguing but ultimately false and deadly, Carlotta Valdez here is the most lively and exuberant woman in the picture. ”Is it hard dancing with them bananers on yer head?” (Another obvious reference, albeit not namewise.)

Edit: Valdes edited to Valdez. Apparently there is an issue here, regarding the spelling in ”Vertigo”. In any case, the Coen brothers seem to have gone with the ”z”.

Looks like you have put a good amount of effort into this. Might be easier to read if you condensed it all into a review or webpage somewhere. Opening up all the random tabs you've added on is a confusing way to read things.

First it might be adequate to mention some basic themes present in the film, (many of) the name references are connected to:
- the studio system, Hollywood's "golden age" (with its glamour and its hypocrisy)
- Christianity & Communism, religion & idiology
- the "Red Scare" of the McCarthy era
- authority & storytelling (history, gossip):
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0475290/board/thread/254257128
- love & relationship:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0475290/board/thread/260478175
- antiquity theme
- Hitchcock references

Caesar
- Latin caesaries = hairy, thick head of hair. Kicks off the "hair theme": blonde Jesus / mermaid / Burt Gurney; Whitlock = white/fair curl; hair in wrong places, like Danny Kaye's back

Capitol Pictures (thanks to nephihaha for the input)
- Latin caput = head: "the body (of politic, the little guy) & the brain (the boss)" (authority theme)
- the Roman Capitol
- Karl Marx' "Das Kapital"
- In 1936, Standard Capital seized control of Universal Pictures, distributor of "Hail, Caesar!".
- "Don't sit on the pediment!" In Greek/Roman architecture the pediment is the triangular (decorative) gable above a columns portal. Each column is topped by a capital.
- A little side note, but due to the Hitchcock connection maybe worthwhile mentioning: in "The Birds" (1963) the gas station blowing up is owned by the fictitious company "Capitol Oil".

Eddie Mannix (thanks to nephihaha for the input)
- references real-life Eddie Mannix, working as "(problem) fixer" for MGM
- Mannix = "man x" = man of the cross (Christianity theme)
- In "The Ladykillers" (2004), the Mannex Corporation runs the casino, that gets robbed by Professor Dorr's gang (with Dorr citing the Communist motto after the robbery, see below, "Professor Marcuse").

Professor Marcuse
- References Marxist theoretician Herbert Marcuse. "Herbert" also suiting Hobart (Hobie Doyle), Baird & Burt. Baird Whitlock addresses Professor Marcuse as "Herb".
- Side reference: Professor Marcus (Alec Guinness), the gang leader from "The Ladykillers" (1955), also suiting the connections between the Coen Brothers' Ladyillers remake and "Hail, Caesar!": Professor Dorr using the Communist motto "from each according to his abilities [to each according to his needs]"; Professor Dorr saying to Gawain "would that it were so simple", like Laurence Laurentz to Hobie; Professor Dorr instructing Lump: "Now is the moment of praxis. Now, Lump, you must act.", like Professor Marcuse teaching the Communist screenwriters about "direct action, praxis"; the antiquity theme: "the glory that was Greece and the grandeur that was Rome".

Baird Whitlock
- Bil Baird: American puppeteer, who with his wife produced and performed the puppetry sequence in "The Sound of Music" (1965) (shot in Todd AO, see below, "Todd Hocheiser"). Baird Whitlock as puppet in the hands of the Hollywood system and the Communists. Thanks to MichaelMartinDeSapio for the input.
- The origin of the name Whitlock is "someone with white or fair hair", from Middle English whit ‘white’ + lock ‘curl'. Thanks to Tchoutoye for the input.
- Albert Whitlock: famous matte artist. (Al)Bert Whitlock worked in the film industry from the 1920s to the 90s, has won two Special Achievement (Academy) Awards and was Hitchcock's favorite effects painter (he contributed to nine of Hitchcock's movies). Thanks to felixreidenbach for the input.

Burt Gurney
- In "The Ruling Class" (1972), Jack Gurney, 14th Earl of Gurney, who doesn't want to be called Jack and who, according to his wishes, is called Bert, thinks he's Jesus Christ and is suspected by his uncle to be a Communist. Burt Gurney is the Communist screenwriters' "messianic" patron, who in an iconographic scene takes leave of them and embarks on a passage to the Soviet Union ("workers' paradise", their "heaven"), one of several conflations and juxtapositions of Christianity and Communism in the film. Burt Gurney's "trademark pose" resembles Christ's pose on the cross. Gurney being the center of the homoerotically (under)toned "No Dames" musical number may be seen as a kind of "ecce homo".
- Baird/Burt: in "The Stunt Man" (1980), stunt man Burt is replaced by someone who isn't a stunt man. Actor Baird Whitlock is replaced by his stunt double, who can't act. Burt Gurney does his own stunts, which isn't explicitly stated but may be assumed, considering his real-life inspiration Gene Kelly who did his own stunts, as pointed out by Fred Astaire in "That's Entertainment" (1974).

DeeAnna Moran
- DeeAnna = "de Anna" = of/from Anne. Anna/Anne: mother of Mary, Jesus Christ's mother.
- Deanna Durbin: a big star at Universal in the 1930s and 40s, who in later years after her retirement vehemently rejected the image given to her by the studio.
- Dolores Moran: actress, promoted by Warner Bros. along with Lauren Bacall as a new screen personality, when they co-starred with Humphrey Bogart in "To Have and Have Not" (1944). The film made a star of Bacall, but Moran languished, and her subsequent films did little to further her career; "this probably had something to do with Howard Hawks' decision to marginalize Moran in order to boost the screen presence of Bacall, excising some of Moran's scenes. While filming, Moran had an affair with director Howard Hawks, which Hawks undertook mainly as revenge for his rejection by Bacall in favor of Bogart." (*) Moran's film career ended with a featured role in "Silver Lode" (1954), a Western smuggling some more or less hidden "Red Scare" content (the villains name: McCarty).
(*): "..." = unsourced Wikipedia material, so maybe best to be read through "On Wings as Eagles" glasses. ;-)
- See also below "Jonah's Daughter".

Joseph Silverman
- Joseph: like Jesus Christ's foster father. The liaison of DeeAnna & Joe as reference to the nativity story, also with the uncertainty about the child's father.
- "the regular Joe"
- The "goldman" is unknown/unavailable, so the "silverman" has to step in.
- "Silver Lode" (1954): Dolores Moran's last film (see above, "DeeAnna Moran").

Hobart Doyle
- Hobart suits Herbert (Marcuse), Baird & Burt.
- Doyle, like Billy Bob Thornton in "Intolerable Cruelty": "Howard D. Doyle of Doyle Oil".

Carlotta Valdez (thanks to michael-wide for the input)
References the unhappy demon (seemingly) possessing Madeleine in "Vertigo" (1958), intriguing but ultimately false and deadly. The nice twist, that in "Hail, Caesar!" it's the name of the most lively and exuberant woman in the picture, additionally highlights the Hobie & Carlotta scenes.

Scotty (the man at the gate)
Also a "Vertigo" name reference, like "Carlotta Valdez".

Laurence Laurentz
- Latin Laurentius = laurelled. Caesar's laurel wreath that turns into Christ's crown of thorns (in the title image).
- Lawrence of Rome (225-258), a deacon of the city of Rome, was in charge of the Church's material goods and responsible for the distribution of alms to the poor. According to legend, when asked for the treasures of the Church, he brought forward the poor, among whom he divided the treasures as alms, which lead to his martyrdom, being grilled to death on a gridiron.
- Laurence Olivier: Laurence Laurentz, repeatedly saying the line "would that it were so simple" to Hobie Doyle, to get the pronunciation right; like torture dentist Szell (Laurence Olivier) in "Marathon Man" (1976), repeatedly asking Babe (Dustin Hoffman) "is it safe?", and mentioning that he is a fanatic about spoken language. See also the "Spartacus" (1960) connection below, under "Autolycus Antoninus".
- "Lawrence of Arabia" (1962) (see below, "Merrily We Dance", character Monty)
- "Laurence Laurentz presents" -> "Alfred Hitchcock presents"
- Dino de Laurentiis: famous producer of sword-and-sandal-movies like "War and Peace", "Barabbas", "The Bible". Thanks to felixreidenbach for the input.
- Florence Lawrence: actress, formerly known as "The Biograph Girl", in 1910 Carl Laemmle, (co)founder of Universal, promoted her as one of the first stars used by a studio in its marketing.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Lawrence

Arne Seslum (thanks to michael-wide for the input)
- Arne Sucksdorff: Swedish documentary filmmaker, particularly celebrated for his visually poetic and scenic nature documentaries, which probably suits Arne Seslum's enjoyment of physical culture in nature.
- Old Norse Arni = eagle
- Seslum: obscure. Doesn't make sense in Swedish. Still, one comes to think of Victor Sjöström, the great Swedish director and actor, who spent some years in Hollywood and whose last name was anglified into Seastrom: maybe "Seslum” is what the Coens imagine his name would have been, given another couple of decades of assimilation? (He left Hollywood about 1930.)
- Seslum -> "the slum": Hitchcock has been expressing his resentment of theatre actors and writers coming to film with the attitude of "slumming", working in the medium for money, but disdaining it. In "Hail, Caesar!", the Communists (like Seslum's star Burt Gurney) disdain Capitalism, but use it to "make a little dough".

Elsa Flyge (Arne Seslum's wife back in Malmö)
- Elsa Andersson, aka ”Elsa Flygare”: first Swedish woman aviator. "Aviation is serious. Serious business. Serious people." Thanks to michael-wide for the input.

Thora & Thessaly Thacker:
- Thora: the Jewish Thora, the Christian Old Testament
- Thessaly: the Epistles to the Thessalonians from the New Testament. Thessaly about Thora: "She wouldn't know a new story if it bit her on the posterior."
- Thacker: Thackeray, author of (the book Kubrick's) "Barry Lyndon" (is based upon). Both, "Barry Lyndon" & "Hail, Caesar!", are about manners and artificiality in a certain period of history.

Autolycus Antoninus
- In "Spartacus" (1960), Crassus (Laurence Olivier) attempts to seduce his educated house slave Antoninus, a singer of songs and reciter of poetry. Baird Whitlock (Autolycus Antoninus in "Hail, Caesar!: A Tale of the Christ") once got his first major part in "On Wings as Eagles" allegedly by engaging in sodomy with the picture's director Laurence Laurentz. The only time Autolycus is called "Antoninus" is in the direction for the revel scene: "... in comes Antoninus, lots of energy!" Autolycus joins the revel and with his sword accidentally pricks a house slave who plays the lyre.
- In Greek mythology Autolycus was Ulysses' grandfather. In "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" George Clooney played the Ulysses character.
- Greek Autolykos = the wolf itself. According to the Roman founding myth, Romulus and Remus have been nurtured by a she-wolf.
- One of Autolycus' skills was playing the lyre. In the revel scene Autolycus accidentally pricks the extra who plays the lyre.
- Autolycus is also known as prince of thieves. The emotional climax of "Hail, Caesar!: A Tale of the Christ" is Autolycus' speech at the feet of the penitent thief.

Todd Hocheiser (the actor playing Jesus)
- Hocheiser: references (the Hocheisers of) "Where's Poppa?", a question of particular relevance concerning Christ Jesus.
- Hoc-heiser: "hoc est corpus meam" (Christianity theme)
- Todd AO (AO = American Optical; Christian connotation: "Alpha & Omega"): one of a number of widescreen film formats created in the 1950s, first (commercially successful) 70mm film format
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Todd
http://www.widescreenmuseum.com/widescreen/index.htm
- Found in Akron, Ohio, in a nationwide talenthunt. The choice of "Akron" might have been inspired by the place, where the 14th Earl of Gurney (see above, "Burt Gurney") has had his life changing vision, after which he thought he's Jesus Christ: East Acton.

Nick Schenk (New York based studio boss)
- Nicholas Schenck: studio executive running MGM's movie theater business in New York. He retired in 1955.
- Joseph M. Schenck: cofounder of 20th Century Fox, older brother of Nicholas. Thanks to HobieDoug for the input.
- also, Nicholas was the name of the last Russian Czar: suits the impending end of Hollywood's studio system; "Czar" is derived from "Caesar"; the Communist screenwriters don't believe in Santa Claus (Saint Nicholas), like their Russian comrades in 1917.

Gloria DeLamour
- Dorothy Lamour: actress, known for her part in the "Road to ..." pictures (with Bing Crosby & Bob Hope), referred to by the "All The Way..." pictures in the Communist study group.
- Gloria de l'amour -> "The Glory of Love", sung by Hobie & Carlotta (love & relationship; authority: the brain (Eddie Mannix) seeks to control "the glory of love", while the body (Hobie) praises it in a song)
- Her exclamation "Jesus Christ on a scooter!" references the movie "Roman Holiday" (1953), where the two main characters drive on a scooter. Jesus Christ is title character of "Hail, Casar!: A Tale of the Christ".

Mr. Smitrovich (the photographer taking pictures for the Communists' newsletter)
Probably a made-up Russian version of "Smitty", Jennifer Jason Leigh's reporter colleague in "The Hudsucker Proxy", played by Bruce Campbell.

Character names of "Merrily We Dance"
Allegra
- of Italian origin meaning joy (happy), lively; a meaning that would perfectly fit Carlotta. Allegra is bored by Monty, but apparently needs his money (?) to feed the monkey with Biff at Lake Onondaga. In contrast, Carlotta enjoys the arranged date with Hobie, an encounter of two innocent curious beings hiding no ulterior motifs, just "fixing to be friendly". The expression "(that) suits me" in the "Allegra & Biff" sequence is also used repeatedly in Hitchcock's "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" (1941); the first time, when Mr. Smith (Robert Montgomery(!)) has threatened Mrs. Smith that she would get no more money from him, and she leaves the taxi to enter the store, that turns out to be her new workplace.
Dierdre
- tragic heroine in Irish legend
Biff
- The bully's name from "Back to the Future" (1985). No coincidence, considering how often the word "future" is used in "Hail, Caesar!" ("you have to think about the future", "we are 'The Future'"), including a line that would suit a time travel movie: "Someone from 'The Future' is calling you." Monty is (relationship-wise) bullied by Biff ("haunted by his grip"). The "Our Father", heard as last song during the end credits, praises "the power and the glory" of God, who, according to the Catholic priest, "is love". "Back to the Future" features the song "The Power of Love". Hobie and Carlotta sing "The Glory of Love".
Monty
- monetary ("We're not even talking about money, we're talking about economics.")
- The scene with Monty and Dierdre may seem like from a generic drawing-room melodrama, but I'm pretty sure that it's particularly inspired by the scene in Hitchcock's "Rebecca", where Joan Fontaine and her employer Mrs. Van Hopper meet Mr. de Winter (Laurence(!) Olivier) in Monte(!) Carlo. While Edythe Van Hopper harbors deep feelings for Monte (Carlo), like Dierdre for Monty, Joan Fontaine isn't very impressed by Monte, like Allegra who prefers to see Biff instead of Monty.
- One of the real-life inspirations for Hobie Doyle is Tim Holt, who was cast against type in a "dinner jacket role" in "The Magnificent Ambersons" (1942), where, in the horseless carriage snow ride scene with the nostalgic iris wipe at the end, the cast sings "The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo", a song also sung in "Lawrence of Arabia" (1962) by T.E. Lawrence (Peter O'Toole), who in "A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia" (1992) was played by a young Ralph Fiennes.
- When Hobie leaves Carlotta tailing Burt Gurney, outside the restaurant posters are advertising "Luigi's Monte Carlo".

C.C. Calhoun
- The Merry Widow Waltz editor C.C. Calhoun put on the dailies of "Merrily We Dance" is a musical reference to Hitchcock's "Shadow of a Doubt". "Shadow of a Doubt" with the two Charlies: C.C.
- Rory Calhoun: television and film actor, star of some B-Westerns. If one takes e.g. a look at "Ride Out for Revenge" (1957) one might get the idea that parallels are implied between the two "red scares", Indian and Communist. Also in 1955 his agent Henry Willson disclosed information about Calhoun's years in prison to Confidential magazine in exchange for the tabloid not printing an exposé about the secret homosexual life of Rock Hudson, another Willson client, which reminds a bit of the deal Eddie Mannix makes with Thora Thacker.

"On Wings as Eagles" (Laurence Laurentz picture starring Baird Whitlock)
- Isaiah 40,31: "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up on wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." "They shall mount up" might describe what happened before the film (in the casting) according to the well known gossip.
- According to the credits of Cecil B. DeMille's "The Ten Commandments", one of the sources providing material for the film was "On Eagle's Wings" by Reverend A.E. Southon.

"Tucumcari"
- Film whose second unit has been idol in Gallup, New Mexico, due to heavy rain. References an Indian tale of unfulfilled love.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tucumcari,_New_Mexico#Legend_surrounding_the_area

"Jonah's Daughter"
- Film with DeeAnna Moran. Like Jonah in the Bible, the mermaid is swallowed by a whale. Later on, she marries Jonah Hill (Joe Silverman).
- In the original draft script the DeeAnna Moran picture was called "Neptune's Daughter" (instead of "Jonah's Daughter"). Eddie Mannix mentions a nightclub scene, that's left to be shot. In "This Gun For Hire" (1942) (whose poster is hanging in the studio hallway) Veronica Lake performs in a nightclub called "Neptune's Club".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veronica_Lake

The song "No Dames" (performed by Channing Tatum)
- A reference to the song "There Is Nothing Like a Dame" in "South Pacific" (1958) (shot in Todd AO, see above, "Todd Hocheiser").

Tobacco trademarks of cigarettes smoked...
- ...by the Lockheed man: Viceroy. Ruling Uncle Sam's "colonial" territory.
- ...by the Communists: Elysian. Dreaming of "workers' paradise".

Sam Stampfel (director of "Hail, Caesar!: A Tale of the Christ")
- German, colloquial: Stampfer, Stämpfel = plunger (i.e. tool to clear a blocked pipe)
Legend has it that Universal's (co)founder Carl Laemmle (a German immigrant) got the idea for the studio's name from a truck passing by with the writing "Universal Pipe Fittings" on it.