Starring Ruby Keeler, Ozzie Nelson, Harriet Hilliard, and Gordon Oliver
Directed by Edward Dmytryk
Music and Lyrics by various
Ruby Keeler had been one of the biggest musical stars of the early 30's in Warners' Busby Berkeley extravaganzas. By 1941, Berkeley had moved to MGM, and Keeler was dropped by the studio. She did two movies for Columbia before ending her career to focus on her family; this is the only musical.
At this point, Ozzie Nelson and Harriet Hillard had been married and traveling together with his band for six years and were still three years from major stardom in their radio sitcom The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. Ozzie's band appeared in several short-subjects and B films, including this one. How do these three very unlikely college students do with the story of a big band that joins a college to save it from being closed? Let's begin with Ozzie Norton, his orchestra, and their singer and dancer Betty Blake (Keeler) at the College Club nightclub near Lambeth Technical College and find out...
The Story: The club is closed by Minnie Lambeth Sparr (Kathleen Howard), the wealthy and prim daughter of the college's founder. She thinks the band's presence is detrimental to the student body. The band pickets the school, only to be arrested. They're sprung from jail by Harriet Hale (Hillard), the daughter of the president of the school. She wants them to help her raise applications and keep the school from closing. They encourage Betty and the orchestra members to join up; their music will encourage applicants. It works...until Sparr loads the newcomers with impossible exams, and Betty realizes that Ozzie has fallen for Harriet.
The Song and Dance: While no Busby Berkeley spectacular, this is still a nifty little musical. It may be one of the earliest musicals to include a TV production as part of the plot. One of the ways the band spreads the word about the college needing applications is on their own early television show. We briefly see early TV recording and a transmitter; wish they did more with this. Keeler is really the thing here, and she runs with it. She's no sweet ingenue anymore, coming off as funny, tough, and even sexy, and dances up a storm.
Favorite Number: We start off with the film's strongest assets, Nelson's band and Keeler's dynamic dance to the driving "Beat It Out" during a rehearsal at the Club. "When the Glee Club Swings the Alma Mater" is the picket number when the band marches on the school, demanding better treatment. Keeler gets a brief solo instrumental number tapping away in her jail cell, trying to annoy the sheriff into springing them. Hillard performs the gentle ballad "Where" with the band during the broadcast.
Keeler's big number is "Tap Happy," and while she was dubbed (for the only time in her career), she still means every word with her fast-paced routine. Zoot Watson, the black janitor, joins the broadcast later with his band for the lively "Tom-Tom." Hillard's second ballad, "Here We Go Again," comes right before the announcement that the students must take those exams.
Trivia: Also released under the title Broadway Ahead.
What I Don't Like: Neither Oliver as Keeler's love interest nor Ozzie and Harriet are terribly interesting. Harriet in particular has little to do other than her two numbers. I really wish they'd gone further into those early TV broadcasts. They were honestly more unique and enjoyable than the cliche "save the college" story. It sounds more like a musical version of the slobs vs snobs comedies in the 1980's. The plot is of such little consequence, the film ends with a random montage of earlier musical numbers.
The Big Finale: Cute enough time-waster if you're a really big fan of Keeler, the Nelsons, or big band music; unnecessary for anyone else.
Home Media: Not currently on disc, but easily found online. It's free with ads at Tubi.
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