Starring Fay Wray, William Powell, Phillip Holmes, and Helen Kane
Directed by A. Edward Sutherland
Music and Lyrics by various
First of all, after today, Musical Dreams Movie Reviews will be going on hiatus for vacation. Reviews will resume October 7th with the early talkie revue Paramount on Parade.
Speaking of Paramount and the early talkie era, MGM was far from the only studio where backstage shenanigans came to the fore. Even the smallest studio dove head-first into backstage stories that could make use of music and sound without actually having to to weave them into the plot. Paramount was no exception to this. Pointed Heels was their big attraction for Christmas 1929. It seems to have done well enough then, but has time been kind to this tale of a producer who chases the chorus girl wife of a poor songwriter? Let's begin at a theater with a rehearsal in progress and see...
The Story: Chorus girl Lora Nixon (Wray) is leaving the show to marry wealthy songwriter Donald Ogden (Holmes). His mother is so heartbroken over the marriage, she cuts the newlywed couple off without a cent, forcing them to live in a tiny New York apartment. Donald's too devoted to writing his jazz symphony to take regular work, so Lorna returns to the show. Producer Robert Courtland is still interested in her and invites her to his penthouse. Donald thinks Courtland is what she wants, but the producer knows that's far from the truth.
The Song and Dance: For a last-minute replacement, Wray is lovely as a chorus girl who marries for love, then wonders why. Richard "Skeets" Gallagher and adorable Betty Boop inspiration Helen Kane have their moments as Donald's brother and his wife, Eugene Palatte gets a few good lines as Courtland's partner, and William Powell is delightfully and impossibly suave as the charming producer who understands love a lot more than Lorna does. The other stand-out here is the production. We have some really nifty Art Deco sets, especially in the theater, and gorgeous late 20's gowns and dance costumes for Wray and the ladies.
The Numbers: Our first, brief number is in a restaurant, where Kane really gets into wiggling along with the music played by wandering musicians at their table. We also get a brief bit by Donald, playing a lovely bit of his "jazz symphony." Gallagher and Kane give us the sweet "Ain'tcha" while he plays the piano at their apartment. Their idea of being "refined" in the dress rehearsals is singing "I Have to Have You" with him in a tux and her in a blonde wig, carrying a huge feather fan. They reprise it in the actual show, this time with him doing goofy drunk dances and her in a much shorter, lacy outfit and doing her Betty Boop "boop-a-doop."
Trivia: The 2-strip Technicolor "Versailles Ballet" with Wray, the Albertina Rasch Dancers, and the chorus does exist and has been seen recently in museums but is not included in older copies currently on YouTube.
If Fay Wray seems like almost as strange of a choice for a musical as Powell, she was a last minute replacement for, among other women, Esther Ralston and Mary Eaton.
What I Don't Like: Other than Powell being urbane and some mildly racy Pre-Code moments, this isn't anything you haven't seen in dozens of backstage musicals before and after. Losing the ballet means most of the songs are performed by Kane and Gallagher. They can be funny, but are usually best taken in small doses. Holmes is especially dull, seeming more like a robot than any kind of musician.
The Big Finale: Nothing you haven't seen in other, better backstage films. Only for the most ardent fans of Wray or Powell.
Home Media: Streaming only. I watched it on YouTube.
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