Starring James Dunn, Alice Faye, Frank Mitchell, and Grant Mitchell
Directed by George Marshall
Music by Richard Whiting; Lyrics by Sidney Clare
Singer Alice Faye is in the spotlight this week in two of her earliest hits. She was an up-and-coming star at Fox when she made this, her fourth major film, and just 19 years old. James Dunn was also a new star at Fox, having made two movies with Shirley Temple earlier in 1934. The real story in Hollywood at this point were the backstage musicals Warners made with Busby Berkeley the year before. Suddenly, every studio in Hollywood wanted their own spectacular backstage shows, and Fox was no exception. How does their Tinseltown-set backstage story look today? Let's begin at an acting school run by former Hollywood director Jimmy Dale (Dunn) and find out t...
The Story: The acting school is really a front for Dale and con man Percy (Frank Marshall) to take hopeful actors' money. What Jimmy never expected is for a girl with genuine talent to walk through their doors. Alice Perkins (Faye) proves to be such a good singer, he decides it's time to return to Hollywood and make a movie starring her. Marshall still wants to play con games and skim the money intended for the film's budget from the naive young millionaire (Frank Melton) who is backing it, but Dale is falling for Alice and is happy to be back in Tinseltown. He'll see this movie through and make sure the money is there if it kills him and Alice. Alice just wants him to see her as more than a set of pipes.
The Song and Dance: First of all, I do like that this is set in movies, rather than it being a Broadway show like the Warners films. At least they're trying for something slightly different. Alice Faye may have platinum hair like Jean Harlow, but her warm, good-natured demeanor makes her a lot more than a mere vamp and pairs well with the equally down-to-Earth Dunn. There's some decent costumes, especially in the two big musical numbers, and the numbers themselves are a trip, to put it mildly.
Favorite Number: Our first real number isn't until almost fifteen minutes in, but it's "Give Him Love," which Alice sings at a party for the acting school. Dunn's so impressed with her voice he promotes her to leading lady, in his life and work. After Dale spends ten minutes berating and pushing Alice and trying to better her voice, we finally see her perform "I'd Like to Say Yes to You." It starts off ordinary, with Alice singing it with a line of chorus boys. Things really get bizarre when she chases John Bradford, as her smarmy co-star Adrian Almont. literally around the world. He keeps seeing different versions of her in every country he stops at, until he turns things around and chases her. There's some nice special effects early-on in the number when he keeps seeing her everywhere.
The finale number "My Future Star" is nearly as bizarre. It also starts out very meta, with Dole trying to decide which lady will star in his big number. Somehow, this becomes him and Alice imagining Mae West ends up in trees with Tarzan and gives him the kisses to end all kisses. We also briefly hear acting school student Jack Durant imitating Bing Crosby singing his huge hit "When the Blue of the Night Meets the Gold of the Day."
Trivia: Apparently, there's a reason the copy currently seen at Amazon is so bad. This was sourced from the only surviving print.
What I Don't Like: Despite the relatively unique setting and story, this still follows all the standard beats for a backstage musical from this era. It wears its Busby Berkeley imitation card on its sleeve. The two big musical numbers are among the most bizarre I've ever seen in a major musical from this time. I know the Tarzan films and Mae West's comedies were popular in 1934, but their appearance in "My Future Star" makes no sense whatsoever. Nor does the around-the-world chase in "I'd Like to Say Yes to You." Durant and Frank Mitchell are supposed to be the comic relief as a pair of friendly ice delivery men who are also students at the acting school, but they're far more annoying than their are funny.
The Big Finale: Fans of Faye, Dunn, or the big Busby Berkeley-style musicals of the 30's will be glad to see this in any shape. It's worth checking out for those strange numbers.
Home Media: Easily found on DVD and on streaming.
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