Starring Danny Kaye, Vera-Ellen, Virginia Mayo, and Steve Cochran
Directed by Norman Z. McLeod
Music and Lyrics by various
This week, we're jumping from Universal to Goldwyn for two early Danny Kaye vehicles. This was Kaye's third movie, coming after Up In Arms and Wonder Man. It used most of the same cast as the latter, including Vera-Ellen and Virginia Mayo, and the same idea of a mild and meek Kaye going up against tough guys. Classic comedian Harold Lloyd did this in 1932 as the non-musical comedy The Milky Way. How well does the story of a milkman who turns boxer to impress a singer look with Kaye's brand of manic comedy? Let's begin with the Goldwyn Girls, as they doll up their bovine friends, and find out...
The Story: The opening number is actually a commercial for Sunflower Dairy, which is the company Burleigh Sullivan (Kaye) works for. He first encounters Polly Pringle (Mayo) when the horse pulling his milk truck collapses and he borrows her phone to call a vet. He's smitten and tries to get her a job as a singer at the nightclub where his dancer sister Susie (Vera-Ellen) works. That only ends up getting him fired. However, when he catches two guys trying to assault Susie behind the theater, he accidentally knocks both of them out!
Turns out the two guys were champion boxer Speed McFarlane (Cochran) and his bodyguard Spider (Lionel Stander). The story is picked up by local newspapers, which just gets Speed's manager Gabby (Walter Abel) angry. At least, until he sees Burleigh knock Speed out again and decides he wants Spider to train him as a fighter. Gabby wants to fix Burleigh's fights and bet money on them to win. Burleigh's ego inflates when he thinks he's doing it...until his old boss at Sunflower Dairy buys his contract and Gabby convinces him to do a charity fight with Speed for wealthy Mrs. LeMoyne (Faye Bainter). He'll need a little help from both women if he wants to survive in the ring!
The Song and Dance: Kaye's hilarious boxing bouts and his interaction with burly Stander and fast-talking Abel are the highlights of this one. Eve Arden also gets a few good lines as Gabby's sarcastic and knowing girlfriend Ann. Though the story is a bit simpler than Wonder Man, Goldwyn still spared no expense on the production. We get Technicolor, glittering costumes for the ladies, and some interesting sets, especially with the dairy number in the opening. Mayo and Vera Ellen have a little more to do this time, particularly the latter, who gets a romance with Speed and two big chorus routines. Bainter is hilarious in the second half as the patron of the arts who is the one who finally gets to take down Burleigh.
Favorite Number: We open with the Goldwyn Girls as country gals in flowered hats and checked shorts, singing "The Sunflower Song" as they extol the virtues of dairy products and contented cows. "Hey, What's Your Name?" is Vera Ellen's big chorus number at the nightclub, as she performs with a male choir and the Goldwyn Girls in early 1900's dress. Mayo admits "You're the Cause of It All" once she does finally get a job at a club. Mayo's "I Love an Old Fashioned Song" at Mrs. LeMoyne's benefit gala with a kindly old policeman leads into another early 1900's dance routine for Vera-Ellen and the chorus, "Josie." Kaye disrupts the end of the number with Russian dancers and his homage to famous Russians, "Pavlova."
What I Don't Like: Honestly, the story's even thinner than Up In Arms, and it relies just as heavily on Kaye's brand of manic slapstick. If you don't like him, forget it. The songs aren't terribly memorable, and other than the opening dairy number with the Goldwyn Girls, don't have much to do with the plot.
The Big Finale: One of Kaye's better Goldwyn vehicles if you're a fan of him or the leading ladies.
Home Media: Easy to find on DVD and streaming. It's on many free streaming sites, including Tubi.
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