Swing Parade of 1946

Monogram Pictures, 1946

Starring Gale Storm, The Three Stooges (Moe and Curly Howard and Larry Fine), Phil Regan, and Edward Brophy

Directed by Phil Karlson

Music and Lyrics by various

Jukebox musicals go back much further than most people realize. Many very early stage musicals had songs culled from the popular hits of the day. As late as the early 30's, musical comedies on stage, even ones that weren't revues, often tended to be jumbles of whatever hit songs the producers could get their hands on. The situation was changing in New York by the 1940's as more composers followed Rogers and Hammerstein's lead and wrote all of the music for the whole show, but the Poverty Row studios frequently couldn't afford this route. 

Monogram did manage to get popular radio singer Storm and borrowed the Three Stooges from Columbia for what is a relatively lavish affair for them. How does the story of a singer who finds herself mixed up with a new nightclub and three very goofy waiters look today? Let's begin with Carol Lawrence (Storm), the young lady in question, as she's being evicted from her apartment for not paying the rent and find out...

The Story: Carol goes to millionaire Daniel Warren (Russell Hicks) for a secretarial job. He ends up hiring her to deliver an eviction notice to his son Danny Warren Jr. (Regan) that would close the nightclub he's been working on. Warren Sr. wants his son to join him in the family business. Gale is first hauled off by the three dishwashers (The Three Stooges) Danny hired, then faints from hunger. 

After she realizes how kind they've all been to her and that Danny never touched her, she agrees to audition as a singer. She passes...but she still hasn't served that eviction notice. Daniel Sr. goes to the club to find out what's going on, but after the Stooges throw him out, he's more convinced than ever that his son needs to close down and come home. Wealthy patron Marie Finch (Mary Treen) is the one who finally gets through to him and makes him understand that there's no harm in going out and having a little fun once in a while.

The Song and Dance: This was much better than I figured it would be from the low-budget pedigree. Storm is reasonably charming. Brophy plays it to the hilt as the stage manager determined to keep the Stooges in line and process servers out, while Treen runs with her rare chance to portray a relatively sophisticated lady instead of a maid or secretary. Curly Howard is a bit peppier and like his old self here than he was in the shorts the Stooges made at Columbia around this time, maybe because they aren't the whole show. Monogram even brought in a couple of real hit bands and singers, including Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five and Connie Boswell. 

Favorite Number: We don't get our first real number until almost 15 minutes in, but it's Storm singing "Oh Brother" at the audition. Almost all of the other songs are performed at the nightclub. Boswell ladles her throbbing contralto into "Stormy Weather" twice, in her solo performance and in the big finale. Louis Jordan and his boys are really glowing when their instruments light up for "Don't Worry 'Bout That Mule." They have the hit "Caldonia" earlier. 

"On the Sunny Side of the Street" turns into one of the show's big numbers, with dancers swinging in glittery star-trimmed costumes as they swing around Storm. Treen gets to join Will Osborne and His Orchestra to remind Carol and Danny that "A Tender Word Will Mend It All" and "Just a Little Fond Affection" will do their relationship a world of good. Danny's big ballad is "Small World." He finally joins Carol for "After All This Time" in the finale.

Trivia: There's a colorized version (which is what I watched). 

Rifftrax did a show around this as Swing Parade. 

What I Don't Like: Many Stooge fans aren't really big on this film and wish they had more to do besides chasing Storm off a few times. I wish Regan was as much fun as them. He's about as interesting as the cardboard nightclub sets. Obviously, this isn't for someone who wants a stronger story. It's also not for those who aren't fans of the Stooges or the big band and swing music of the 30's and 40's. 

The Big Finale: Fun time-waster if you're a big Stooge fan or really love big band and swing music. 

Home Media: On DVD from the Warner Archives. It can currently be found streaming for free on Tubi.

DVD

Tubi

Dancing Lady

MGM, 1933

Starring Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, Franchot Tone, and Winne Lightner

Directed by Robert Z. Leonard

Music and Lyrics by various

Once 42nd Street was a hit early in 1933, all of the studios resumed making backstage musicals. This time, however, a tougher, grittier sheen replaced the innocent sherbet-colored antics of the early talkie backstagers. The Depression suddenly made putting on a show not only something to do for the tired businessman, but a vital part of the economy that provided jobs and hope for dozens of performers, stagehands, and musicians and gave people something to take their minds off the crisis. MGM responded by throwing everything they had into this glittering vehicle for Joan Crawford. How does this slightly tough confection look today? Let's start in downtown New York at a burlesque joint and find out...

The Story: Janie Barlow (Crawford) and her roommate Rosetta "Rosie" LaRue (Lightner) just finished a strip number when the theater is raided and they're arrested for indecency. Wealthy playboy Tod Newton (Tone) bails them out, having seen the show and been attracted to Janie's moxie. Janie spends weeks trying to see big-time director Patch Gallagher (Gable), who keeps brushing her off. Tod finally offers to finance the show if he'll put Janie in the chorus. Patch is so impressed with her when he does see her dance, he gives her a featured role, then moves her into the star spot. 

Ted, however, isn't happy that his "dancing lady" seems to be growing further away from him, and he'll even shut down the show to keep her closer. Patch, however, isn't willing to let go without a fight...and even Janie admits she'd rather dance than live in a love nest with a man who can't understand that performing is her life. 

The Song and Dance: You can't fault the cast for this one. Crawford is surrounded by some of the best MGM had to offer. Tone begins what would become a career of playing similar playboys with his playful yet selfish man about town. The Three Stooges have a few slapping-around bits that preview many of the routines from their later Columbia shorts. Crawford is fine when she's not called on to actually dance, especially in the end, when she explains to Tone why "dese things" and "those things" can't work together. Lightner also has a few funny lines, and there's Robert Benchley as Gable's buddy and a Walter Winchell-style gossip hound and Fred Astaire and Nelson Eddy doing tiny parts in the finale. Some of the Art Deco sets, especially in the finale, are amazing, and the costumes are absolutely gorgeous. 

Favorite Number: We open with "Hold Your Man" at the strip joint. Lightner performs the number as the women parade around her, but Crawford has more problems when her zipper gets stuck while she's trying to strip. Singer Art Jarrett gets the one standard to come from this film, "Everything I Have Is Yours," to Crawford as she dances with Tone at the party. 

The major numbers come at the end. We kick off with none other than Fred Astaire joining a white-clad Crawford for "Heigh-Ho, the Gang's All Here" as a formal-dressed chorus dances and drinks around them. Somehow, a magic disc whisks them off to Germany, where the peasant-clad chorus now drinks beer and sings the virtues of that drink in "Let's Go Bavarian." Rogers and Hart's "The Rhythm of the Day" begins with a chorus clad in 17th century dress lead to a modern New York by Nelson Eddy in a tuxedo. This eventually encompasses an amazing Art Deco mirror merry-go-around, with chorus girls riding on horses going around the glittering sunbursts. 

Trivia: The debut film of Fred Astaire and Lynn Bari, who is in the chorus. 

What I Don't Like: First of all, no amount of constant praise can turn Crawford into a dancer. With her flailing arms and wobbling legs, she more closely resembles someone trying to kill flies than perform a dance routine. It's especially awkward next to the genuinely talented Astaire. She just cannot keep up with him in the complicated "Heigh-Ho." Doesn't help that her singing was dubbed, too. Gable's miscast as the Warner Baxter-type tough director and is definitely not happy to be here. 

The movie wants desperately to be Busby Berkeley, but the glossy MGM style just can't figure it out. Those big finale numbers may be shiny and fast-moving, but they also make absolutely no sense whatsoever, lurching from one big set piece to the next with no form or function. They're just not about anything, not even the sexual undercurrents that often ran through Berkeley's numbers. 

The Big Finale: The cast alone makes this worth seeing at least once for fans of Crawford or 30's musicals.

Home Media: Easily found on DVD and streaming, the former now via the Warner Archives.

DVD

Amazon Prime

Time Out for Rhythm

Columbia Pictures, 1941
Starring Rosemary Lane, Rudy Vallee, The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Curly Howard, and Larry Fine), and Ann Miller
Directed by Sidney Salkow
Music by Saul Chaplin; Lyrics by Sammy Cahn

And I'm back! My first review after my vacation hiatus is this rare B-tuner from Columbia Pictures. A surprisingly good cast for a small-scale musical enlivens this story of the maid of a popular singer who may have to go on for her boss when the singer causes trouble between a pair of agents. Let's head to a popular nightclub to see where the Three Stooges fit into all this...

The Story: Harvard graduate Danny Collins (Vallee) and mouthy agent Mike Armstrong (Richard Lane) meet at a nightclub, where the latter is admiring singer Frances Lewis (Rosemary Lane). They form a fruitful partnership, including bringing Frances into the spotlight. Mike really loves her, but she has her own plans. Danny realizes that she's out for her own gain and is only using Mike, but he's too smitten to believe him. Her interference eventually destroys their friendship, causing them to break up the agency. Danny works out slightly better than Mike on his own. He discovers that Frances' maid Kitty (Miller) is an amazing dancer in her own right, but she's shy and doesn't like the spotlight. It'll take Mike seeing Frances for what she is and patching up hurt feelings with Danny to finally get Kitty out of her shell and onto the stage.

The Song and Dance: So where do the Stooges fit into this? They're messengers for Danny and Mike who really want a chance at a stage contract. As such, they get to perform some classic routines, including the first theatrical version of the "Maharajah" sketch. I like that the emphasis is on Mike and Danny's relationship with each other, not with the ladies. Not every musical has to be about romance.

Favorite Number: "The Boogie Woogie Man" is a nifty number with Glen Gray's Casa Loma Orchestra that shows off somer really cool black and white contrasting effects. Miller shines in the solo "A'Twiddlin' My Thumbs" when she's still working for Frances and is dancing as a maid and the charming duet with Allen Jenkins, "Obviously the Gentleman Prefers to Dances." The Stooges and the two secretaries they'd been flirting with join Miller for the big sparkly Latin-themed finale to the title song. (And yes, that is Curly dressed as Carmen Miranda.)

What I Don't Like: I wish Miller was in more of the movie. She really brightens the second half, and is infinitely more interesting than nasal Richard Lane and stiff Vallee. This isn't for people who prefer their musicals bigger and more epic in scope, or are looking for a meatier story. (And it's definitely not for non-Stooges fans.)

The Big Finale: If you're a fan of Miller or the Stooges, or want to see what a backstage musical looks like on a small budget, this short movie is worth taking time out for.

Home Media: Currently only available as a made-to-order DVD from the Sony Choice Collection or as part of the 20 Musicals set from Mill Creek Entertainment.

DVD
DVD - Musicals 20 Movies Collection

Cult Flops - Snow White and the Three Stooges

20th Century Fox, 1961
Starring Carol Heiss, The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Joe DeRita), Edson Stroll, and Patricia Medina
Directed by Walter Lang
Music and Lyrics by Harry Harris and Earl K. Brent

The Three Stooges and musical fairy tales. Those are not words you expect to see together in the same sentence. The famous knockabout comedians did make one musical fantasy after their careers saw a resurgence in the early 60's. Originally intended as a showcase for Olympic gold medal-winning figure skater Carol Heiss, it was inflated into a huge extravaganza, with elaborate sets and costumes and big skating numbers for Heiss and the chorus. How do the Stooges fit into a wintry adaptation of the famous Brother's Grimm story? Let's take a horse-drawn gypsy cart to the Kingdom of Fortunia and find out...

The Story: A king and queen give birth to a child who is white as snow and red as blood, whom they name Snow White. The queen passes away, and the king weds another woman who is beautiful but cold as ice. The new queen (Medina) is vain and selfish, and she's jealous of her stepdaughter's own loveliness and popularity with the people. After the king dies, she locks Snow White (Heiss) away in a tower before sending her out into the woods with her huntsman (Michael David). He's supposed to kill her, but she's so sweet and pretty, he releases her instead.

Meanwhile, the Three Stooges are minstrels and con-men who are house-sitting for the Seven Dwarfs with their adopted son Quatro (Stroll). They come upon Snow White sleeping in the house and are all immediately taken by her beauty and kindness. Quatro falls hard for her, but fears they'll never be together, as she is a princess and he is a mere commoner. As it turns out, Quatro isn't what he seems. Snow White's original intended Prince Charming was kidnapped as a child and is also missing. The Queen will stop at nothing to make sure these two lovers and their comedian friends never end up on the throne...even becoming a hag and giving Snow White that poisoned apple...

The Song and Dance: The Stooges have some good routines here, especially while selling a phony cure-all tonic in a flashback sequence and during their brief tenures as chefs after they sneak into the castle. This is a rare chance to hear Mel Blanc in live-action as the voice of Quinto, Quatro's cheeky ventriloquist dummy. Medina and Guy Rolfe as her henchman Count Olga are wonderful villians, perfectly playing their roles to the absolute menacing hilt. The widescreen cinematography nicely shows off the elaborate Technicolor fairy-tale costumes and sets, including two ice ballets for Heiss.

Favorite Number: Heiss' ice ballets are a real treat, especially for skating fans. We get one in the opening with her and the chorus, "Once In a Million Years," and a darker dream ballet towards the end of the film when a grieving Snow White believes that Quatro has been killed. Blanc's little ditty for Quinto, "I'm In Love," is also cute.

What I Don't Like: Heiss and Stroll are stiff as boards as the fairy tale lovers, and were dubbed to boot. While it's nice to see the Stooges, there isn't nearly enough of them to justify their placement in the title of the film, and they're a bit subdued for them when they do appear. The Stooges' brand of knockabout comedy clashes badly with the romantic fantasy, and works even less well with the genuinely frightening villains. Considering that Heiss' ice-skating is the reason this movie exists, I'm surprised there's only two ice ballet numbers. I guess the writer's couldn't justify Snow White constantly skating.

The Big Finale: Intended as a children's attraction for the summer of 1961, it couldn't get enough families or Stooge fans into theaters and wound up as a fair-sized flop. Most major Stooge fans really hate this one, and the Stooges themselves weren't big fans.

I'm going to disagree with both. While it has its flaws, I mostly find this to be charming and fun, with some great ice-skating routines, two enjoyably hammy villains, and some of the better later-day Stooge routines. If you have princess-crazy little girls, are a figure-skating fan, or are a fan of the Stooges who is willing to try something a little different with the guys, this is worth checking out.

Home Media: This is another one with a cult following that makes it easily available on DVD and Amazon Prime. The DVD features a restored print with glorious color and the widescreen version on a flip-disc.

DVD
Amazon Prime