Starring Dick Powell, Joan Blondell, Victor Moore, and Glenda Farrell
Directed by Lloyd Bacon
Music by Harry Warren and Harold Arlen; Lyrics by E.Y Harburg and Al Dubin
Despite the success of the 1935 Gold Diggers, Warners was starting to notice diminishing returns with its other Berkeley-esque backstage extravaganzas and lowered the budget on this one. Bacon took over the directing reigns here, letting Berkeley to concentrate on what he did best - creating elaborate dance numbers that let the cameras do the dancing. The studio initially wanted Arlen and Harburg to write the music, but they were so disappointed with the results, they brought Dubin and Warren back in. How well did they all do with the bizarre story of a life insurance salesman who convinces a Broadway producer to buy life insurance and has to keep him alive in order for him to continue to make money from it look today? Let's begin at an insurance convention in Atlantic City and find out...
The Story: Rosmer Peek (Powell) is the top salesman with his insurance company. He hires former chorus girl Norma Perry (Blondell) as his secretary and convinces Broadway producer J.J Hobart (Moore) to sign a million-dollar life insurance policy. His partners Morty Wethered (Osgood Perkins) and Tom Hugo (Charles D. Brown) squandered all of Hobart's money in the stock market. They want that million dollars to back a new Broadway show and do everything they can to push him closer to death, including sending gold digger Genevieve Larkin (Farrell) to seduce him. Genevieve ends up falling for him instead. Now there might not be a show, unless Rosmer and his friends can find another way to get the money without losing their million-dollar golden goose in the process.
The Song and Dance: I give them credit for going with a truly original story this time. I don't know of too many other musicals about singing insurance salesmen and the business of selling insurance. I also love how the insurance company eventually earns the money - via Genevieve's genuine gold digger girlfriends and the wealthy insurance men the snagged at the beginning of the film. Powell and Blondell had just gotten married a few months before this movie's release, and you can see that in their strong chemistry and playful performances. Moore's so adorable as the hypochondriac producer having the most fun he's ever had in his life, you can understand why Genevieve fell for him. Some great costumes, too, especially in the big Berkeley number in the finale, "All's Fair In Love and War."
The Numbers: We open with Powell singing the hit "With Plenty of Money and You" before and during the credits. He also gets our first chorus number, encouraging his fellow salesmen to increase their morale with "The Life Insurance Song." The first version of "Speaking of the Weather" is, surprisingly for a Berkeley musical, a plot number. Rosmer tries to flirt with Norma, even as a storm scatters the paperwork on her desk everywhere. It's charming and cute, and Powell and Blondell have fun with it.
"Let's Put Our Heads Together" is another chorus number as everyone at the party for the life insurance company find romance. We also get a bit of "Speaking of the Weather" here as Rosmer's buddy Boop Oglethorpe (Lee Dixon) shows off a wild, arms-and-legs tap routine and Genevieve dances with J.J. "Speaking of the Weather" is reprised again as part of the "All's Fair In Love and War" finale. This men against women military satire begins with all the lovers spooning in massive rocking chairs. This is traded in for military formations as over a hundred women in white uniforms create Berkeley's iconic overhead patterns.
Trivia: A sixth song, "Hush Mah Mouth," was apparently filmed but not used.
What I Don't Like: Did I mention how weird this is? Life insurance seems like a pretty odd subject for a musical, and mixing it with the backstage shenanigans doesn't make much sense. The "All's Fair" number is somewhat scaled-down compared to the bigger, more dramatic "Lullaby of Broadway" and "The Words are the Music In My Heart" from Gold Diggers of 1935. Considering "Plenty of Money" went on to be a hit in its own right, I'm surprised it only gets that quick run-through from Powell before the credits. You'd think Berkeley would have built that up into a big money-based number like in the earlier Gold Diggers of 1933.
The Big Finale: Worth catching if you're a fan of the cast or the Berkeley backstage imitations of the 1930's for the good numbers and performances.
Home Media: Easy to find on DVD and streaming, the former currently from the Warner Archive.
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