Starring June Clyde, Arthur Lake, Dorothy Reiver, and Ann Pennington
Directed by Marshall Neilian
Music by Oscar Levant; Lyrics by Sidney Claire
Wheeler and Woosley weren't the only actors at RKO who went on vacation during the early talkie era. June Clyde made an earlier trip to the beach in this 1929 comedy. It originally began as a comedy, but when musicals suddenly became the next big thing in Hollywood, RKO stuffed a couple of songs into the story of a young woman (Clyde) who tries to fix all of her family's problems during a holiday at the seashore. How well does she do? Let's begin at the beach, with ladies talking about the big upcoming talent show, and find out...
The Story: Peggy Reynolds (Clyde) is completely fed up with her parents flirting with younger people. Her father (Albert Gran) is having a dalliance with Mrs. Lyons-King (Reiver), while her mother chases Peggy's friend Roger Fleming (Allen Kearns). Her sister Janet (Sally Blaine) thinks she's in love with stuffy Clinton Darrow (Edmund Burns), but he only wants her money. Darrow is working with Mrs. Lyons-King to blackmail Janet with romantic letters she sent him. Peggy tries to get the letters back, but that only puts her on the outs with her boyfriend Bill (Lake), who thinks she's dallying with Darrow. Now she has to get those letters back, before her sister ends up broke...or worse yet, her parents find out.
The Song and Dance: Adorable summer comedy almost feels like a warm-up for the Disney family films of the 1960's and 70's or Jane Powell's 40's and 50's vehicles, with its perky young protagonist trying to solve all of her family's problems and keep her guy. Clyde is cute as a button as the young lady trying to save her family from disaster, while Kearns and dancer Ann Pennington have a few good minutes as her flirtatious buddy and his sassy girlfriend Tootie. They even get to save the day in the end in a make-believe robbery. Love some of the flapper costumes and bathing suits, too, especially once they get to the talent show.
Favorite Number: We open with a bevy of beauties in bathing suits who can't keep in sync trying to entice us to "Come In the Water." Kearns and Pennington tell each other "You're Responsible" for driving the other crazy with a lively little dance. Clyde joins the bare-legged ladies for the title number on the beach after they steal the stockings off two women who wore them among the beach-goers and saw them stolen right off their legs for their troubles. Pennington has a solo number in a huge fluffy black and white feather tutu at the ball that's all high kicks and wild wiggling with her hips.
What I Don't Like: I'm afraid nothing else really works. Lake is whiny, annoying, and a terrible singer; he'd come off much better a decade later as Dagwood Bumstead in the Blondie films and radio show. The story with Darrow and the blackmail plot is really a bit dark for this light film. It even ends with Peggy getting shot in the shoulder (though it's not really that bad). The songs are dull, completely unnecessary, and in the case of "Responsible," with its accents on the wrong syllables, poorly written. It's pretty obvious this was originally intended to be a B comedy that had a few songs jammed in here and there at the last minute. Other than her numbers, Pennington is underused and barely seen.
Also...what happened to the ending? The movie just kind of...stops...right as the family is reconciling. It feels rushed and unfinished. Considering this is barely an hour, more of the family getting back together and what happened afterwards might be nice. We don't even see Lake again. Looks like the last few minutes may be lost for good.
The Big Finale: Bad songs, a plot that's alternately too silly and too dark, and a no-name cast makes this only of interest to the most ardent fans of the early talkie era.
Home Media: Currently, this rare film can only be seen on YouTube and occasionally on TCM.
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