Safety In Numbers

Paramount, 1930

Starring Charles "Buddy" Rogers, Carole Lombard, Katheryn Crawford, and Josephine Dunn

Directed by Victor Schertzinger

Music by Richard A. Whiting; Lyrics by George Marion Jr.

Schertzinger went way further back with musicals than The Fleet's In. He started his directing career doing rural comedies in 1917. His first sound musical was segments of the revue Paramount On Parade; this was his first full-length musical film. It was made to showcase Paramount's then-biggest matinee idol, Buddy Rogers. Rogers was an early form of Pat Boone, "America's Boyfriend," the cute, cuddly guy girls can bring home to their parents with no trouble. This was intended to be a big star vehicle for him, allowing him to show just how sweet he could be and promote some of the up-and-coming ingenues on the Paramount lot...including one who would go on to have a major career a few years later. How does this romantic comedy about a young playboy who gets an education in love from three chorus girls look nowadays? Let's begin with that playboy, William Butler Reynolds (Rogers), as he judges a "high kicking contest" among the secretaries in his uncle F. Carstair Reynolds' (Richard Tucker) business and find out...

The Story: Carstair tells his nephew he stands to inherit $350 million dollars on his twenty-first birthday, but only if he goes to New York and learns "the ways of the world." He hires three Follies girls, Maxine (Dunn), Pauline (Lombard), and Jacqueline (Crawford), to show his nephew around New York and keep an eye on him. They get help from a chatty cab driver, Bertram Shapiro (Roscoe Karns), who befriends William and the girls, and several other chorus cuties who volunteer. After things get out of hand at a party, all three ladies admit they're besotted by their charge...but there's only one of them whom William loves so much, he's willing to give up that money for.

The Song and Dance: Not the most exciting story in the world, but there are a few items worthy of note. The music isn't bad, especially the lovely ballad "My Future Just Passed." Nice costumes, too, with some really gorgeous early 30's gowns for the ladies and tuxes for the guys. Rogers may have the lion's share of moments, but it's the ladies who run off with the film. They're hilarious and heartfelt as they try to show their charge how to really live life, especially sweet Crawford as the one who falls for him. Karns has a few good moments too as the boastful cab driver.

The Numbers: We open with our first chorus number, as those secretaries show off their high kicking stuff and Rogers shows off his prowess on the drums to "Business Girl." William switches on the radio so Jacqueline can hear (and be impressed by) his own song, "Do You Play, Madam?" He gets her up for a short dance. He woos Maxine with "I'd Like to Be a Bee In Your Boudoir." Pauline tries to woo him with "Young Man, You Appeal to Me" without actually singing it. The other two are not amused. The ladies' maid (Louise Beavers" joins in for the dance number "The Pick-Up," while the chorus gets "Pepola," in a very strange number that turns into silhouettes of beautiful women dancing against a city projection background at one point.

What I Don't Like: Did I mention up there that this is not the most exciting story? It's basically Rogers chasing women, the ladies chasing him, and Karns popping up here and there. While it's a little more kinetic than usual for the early talkie era, we do get the occasional shots of people standing and talking. Also, if you're expecting something like Lombard's brittle screwball comedy persona from the later 30's, you're going to be disappointed. Other than her "You Appeal to Me" number (where she doesn't even really sing), she doesn't really have that much to do.

The Big Finale: This is cute and has some decent music, but in the end, it's mainly for early talkie enthusiasts or major fans of Lombard or Rogers. 

Home Media: Thanks to it entering the public domain this year, it can now be found all over streaming, including at Tubi. 

Tubi

Girls! Girls! Girls!

Paramount, 1962

Starring Elvis Presley, Laurel Goodwin, Stella Stevens, and Jeremy Slate

Directed by Norman Taurog

Music and Lyrics by various

Let's celebrate the summer season with one of Elvis' bigger hits. Elvis and his wiggling hips seemed to work well with the laid-back vibes of the Hawaiian Islands. This would be the second of three films he made with a Hawaiian setting. It also produced one of the bigger singles to come from one of his movies and helped promote Tiki culture at a time when interest in Polynesia was at an all-time high. How does the movie that produced "Return to Sender" look nowadays? Let's begin with Ross Carpenter (Presley) taking a tourist couple out on his fishing boat the Westwind and find out...

The Story: Ross wants to buy his boat from the new owner, arrogant and egotistical Wesley Johnson (Slate), but he doesn't have the money. His current girl, singer Robin (Stevens), wants him to give up fishing and join her singing at a local nightclub, but Ross is married to his boat. He and his late father built the Westwind. 

He first meets sweet and funny Laurel Dodge (Goodwin) at the club. Unlike Robin, she enjoys sailing with him and understands how he feels about the Westwind. He even introduces her to his friends at Paradise Island, Kin Yung (Benson Fong), his wife (Beluah Quo), and the two little girls they look after. Laurel, however, is not what she seems. Ross doesn't appreciate her attempt to help him by buying the Westwind himself...until Johnson gets his hands on her, and he realizes that Laurel means more to him than any boat.

The Song and Dance: To my surprise, this may be one of Elvis' more charming vehicles. Hawaii does seem to agree with him. He seems a lot more at ease here than with some of his more by-the-numbers later vehicles. He's abetted by two relatively strong leading ladies. Goodwin is adorably sarcastic, Stevens nicely tough when we see her. Some of the music is really fun too, including "Return to Sender," the hilarious "Earth Boy" with the little girls on the island, and the rousing title song.

The Numbers: We hear the title song twice, in the opening as Ross drives the fishing couple and admires all the beautiful young ladies they pass, and dancing with ladies in Hawaiian, Asian, and Latin costumes in the finale. Ross takes us to the club, where we hear Robin perform "Never Let Me Go." She and her boss Sam talk Ross into his credo, "I Don't Want To Be Tied." The Four Amigos perform "Mama" for the wife of the original owner of the Westwind on their anniversary. Ross adorably sings "We'll Be Together" for a grateful Mama. 

He performs "Earth Boy" with the little girls Mai (Elizabeth Tiu) and Tai (Ginny Tiu) on Paradise Island. Back at the club, Robin gets the standard "The Nearness of You." Speaking of standards, Ross also introduces the big hit from this film. "Return to Sender," at the club. He's singing "Because of Love" when Laurel comes in looking for him. Ross and the fishermen get one of the major chorus numbers, "Thanks to the Rolling Sea," on their boat. They perform "The Song of the Shrimp" to lift their morale after they catch nothing. He and Laurel do their idea of a flamenco as they insist "Walls Have Ears" and listen in on the neighbors.

"We're Coming In Loaded" says Ross proudly as his crew finally nets a good catch. Robin gets another smoky number at the club, "Baby Baby Baby," just before Laurel confronts her about Ross. The finale gives us a delicate Japanese dance to "Dainty Little Moonbeams," which Ross sings with the little girls. 

What I Don't Like: Definitely one of Elvis' fluffier vehicles. If you're looking for something darker or sharper, you'd better go to his 50's films. Frankly, it goes on for about 20 minutes too long, too. The girls arguing over Ross gets a little annoying despite Elvis' charisma. Stevens doesn't really have that much to do besides her numbers and insult Elvis. Though they're generally respectful of Japanese and Hawaiian culture, some of the treatment of the residents of Paradise Island occasionally borders on stereotype.

The Big Finale: The film that introduced "Return to Sender" is surprisingly charming and fun if you're a big fan of Elvis or bright and bold 60's musicals. 

Home Media: Easily found on DVD and streaming.

DVD

Amazon Prime

Happy 4th of July! - The Fleet's In

Paramount, 1942

Starring William Holden, Dorothy Lamour, Eddie Bracken, and Betty Hutton

Directed by Victor Scherzinger

Music by Victor Scherzinger; Lyrics by Johnny Mercer

Let's celebrate America's 250th anniversary honoring the US Navy with this rare classic from early in the World War II years. Holden was a true golden boy in the early 40's, having become a star in the 1939 film version of Golden Boy and earned an Oscar nomination in 1940 for Our Town. What he wasn't was a musical star - in fact, this would be his only musical - which is likely why he's surrounded by some of Paramount's most popular musical performers of the war years. Lamour had been popular since the mid-30's, but Bracken and Hutton were up-and-coming comedians and would have their biggest hits during and directly after the war years. How do they all come together in this wacky romantic comedy where a sailor tries to kiss a standoffish nightclub singer to win a bet? Let's begin with another singer, movie star Diana Golden (Betty Jane Rhodes), performing the title song in a nightclub populated by sailors, and find out...

The Story: Diana kisses shy sailor Casey Kirby (Holden) as a publicity stunt. His shipmates, including his best friend Barney Waters (Bracken) are now convinced he's a ladies' man. They make a bet that he can't kiss frigid singer the Countess (Lamour) while on leave. Waters has his own problems. He's being pursued by the Countess' noisy roommate Bessie (Hutton), and he made the bet against his friend Spike's (Gil Lamb) watch. If he doesn't win that bet, Spike will thrash him within an inch of his life. Casey does everything he can to woo the Countess...but to his surprise, finds himself falling in love with her for real. She does, too, until Bessie and her friend Cissie (Cass Daley) spill the beans about the bet. Now Casey has three days to convince the Countess his love is on the level, before they get thrown out...or worse, land in jail.

The Song and Dance: Sweetly sincere Holden does tend to come off better than most leading men who appear opposite musical ladies. He's certainly enjoying himself more than most of the non-singing guys at 20th Century Fox did as the gob who finds himself falling for this lovely lady in spite of himself. Lamour has even more fun playing opposite him as the standoffish Countess. Mercer and Schertzinger came up with a terrific score, too. Three of the songs - "I Remember You," "Tangerine," and "Arthur Murray Taught Me Dancing In a Hurry" - are now standards. 

The Song and Dance: We open with the title song over the credits before revealing that Diana Golden is singing it at a nightclub. Eddie Bracken reprises it with the sailors on their way back to their ship. Their first trip to the Swingland dance club provides our next numbers. Bob Eberly and Helen O'Connell introduce "Tangerine" with Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra. The Countess steps up next for "When You Hear the Time Signal." Bessie next tears into several sailors while performing "If You Build a Better Mousetrap." (Eberly and O'Connell reprise this later in a version that's less damaging to the sailors.) Barney joins the Countess and Bob Eberly for "Not Mine" in the nightclub. 

The Countess gets the honor of introducing "I Remember You" accompanied by Eberly, O'Connell, and Jimmy Dorsey at the sailors' weenie roast. Dancers Lorraine and Rognan do a spoof ballroom number to an instrumental version later at the club. Bessie blasts "Arthur Murray Taught Me Dancing In a Hurry" in her idea of a tap costume, while Cissie finishes with "Tomorrow You Belong to Uncle Sammy" and Spike does his own acrobatic instrumental dance. 

Trivia: This is based on the 1933 non-musical play Sailor Beware. Paramount would remake it under that title as a vehicle for Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis in 1952. 

Victor Schertzinger's last film. He died in October 1941, four months before the movie was released. 

What I Don't Like: First of all, the plot is annoying. If the Countess would stop and listen (and if Bessie would close her mouth for five seconds and listen), they'd know that Casey doesn't really want to go through with it, either. They both pretty much say it's distasteful, and it is. A little of Bracken and Hutton can go a long way, especially when Hutton is in bombastic mode. Bracken spends most of the movie whining, and Hutton spends most of it yelling at him and throwing him around. 

The Big Finale: In the end, this is worth checking out as you dodge the heat this 4th of July for the good cast and music alone. 

Home Media: Alas, the only place you can find this online at present is YouTube, but at least the TCM copy there is pretty decent.

YouTube

Happy Memorial Day! - Let's Face It

Paramount, 1943

Starring Bob Hope, Betty Hutton, Eve Arden, and ZaSu Pitts

Directed by Sidney Lanfield

Music and Lyrics by Cole Porter and others

Let's celebrate the upcoming Memorial Day weekend with the last of the four comedies Bob Hope did set in the military. On Broadway in 1941, Let's Face It was a farce with Cole Porter songs that made stars out of Danny Kaye as one of three soldiers who are hired by bored wealthy women to escort them and Eve Arden as the most prominent of those women. It was a surprise hit despite less-than-stellar reviews that didn't consider it to be one of Porter's better scores. How does it look nowadays? Let's begin, not at the barracks, but at a dairy farm that is also a health spa for overweight women and find out...

The Story: Winnie Porter (Hutton) is getting tired of her fiancee, Private Jerry Walker (Hope) ducking out of getting married. On the day they're supposed to finally tie the knot, Winnie catches Jerry selling junk food to her clients, and the Army catches him when he accidentally drives a Jeep through a wall. Desperate to pay off the Jeep, he convinces his friends Barney (Dave Willock) and Frankie (Cully Richards) to join him in arranging dates for wealthy Maggie Watson (Arden) and her friends Cornelia Figeston (Pitts) and Nancy Collister (Phyllis Povah). The ladies are tired of their husbands going off on "fishing trips" and leaving them alone. Furious when they catch them with the women, Winnie and Frankie and Barney's girlfriends Muriel (Dona Drake) and Jean (Marjorie Weaver) take the ladies' husbands out on dates at the same nightclub. Unfortunately, the boys' superior officer Sergeant Wiggins (Joe Sawyer) is also out on the town. When he catches them, it sends the boys fleeing again.

The Song and Dance: Though Hope and Hutton both have some good moments, Arden and the older ladies are the ones who really steal the show. They get all the best lines and have some of the best moments, including when their husbands catch them with the soldiers! Hope does get a few moments of his own to shine, notably in the beginning when he's trying to hustle the ladies with the sweets and the end when the guys are fleeing the entire mess. 

The Numbers: We open with "The Milk Song" as Winnie leads ladies of all shapes and sizes in an exercise class. Winnie and Jerry say "Who Did? I Did? Yes I Did!" as they sing along to an album Winnie made and Jerry tries to show off on Winnie's exercise equipment. "Let's Face It" is the sole chorus number as the Army soldiers sing about the presents their girlfriends sent them. "Who Did?" is heard later as an instrumental dance number for the trio of soldiers as they literally stick together to keep the overly amorous older ladies at bay and as they finally do dance with the women. When we get to the nightclub, two dancers do an instrumental routine that seemed to mainly involve variations on the woman smacking the man. Winnie gives her own option on romance as she insists "Let's Not Talk About Love."

Trivia: Jules Styne and Sammy Cahn wrote "Who Did? I Did! Yes I Did!"

Let's Face It debuted on Broadway in 1941 with Kaye in Hope's role singing two patter numbers written by his wife Sylvia Fine in addition to Porter's songs. As mentioned, it was a surprise hit, running two years in New York and a year in London in 1943. It pretty much disappeared after the London run, other than a TV version in 1954 with Bert Lahr and Gene Nelson as the soldiers and Vivian Vance in Eve Arden's role.

What I Don't Like: No matter who wrote the music, this isn't really much of a musical. I really wish they'd kept more of the Cole Porter score, even if it wasn't one of his best. It might have fleshed out more of the characters. We barely see Winnie other than her numbers, and Jerry's buddies and their girls are fairly interchangeable. 

The Big Finale: Mainly for really big fans of Hope, Arden, Porter, or small-scale 40's musicals. 

Home Media: Which makes it just as well that the only places you can currently find this are on YouTube and the Internet Archive.

YouTube

Internet Archive

Li'l Abner (1959)

Paramount, 1959

Starring Peter Palmer, Stubby Kaye, Leslie Parrish, and Billie Hayes

Directed by Melvin Frank

Music by Gene dePaul; Lyrics by Johnny Mercer

Lil' Abner was one of the most popular comic strips of the mid-20th century. From 1934 to 1977, millions of Americans followed the hilarious shenanigans going on in the Kentucky hillbilly town Dogpatch, where characters had names like Earthquake McGoon and Evil-Eye Fleagle and the spoof was broad, hilarious, and firing everywhere. The main characters were the title character, a handsome but hulking young man who was forever being pursued by the sweet Daisy Mae. When Daisy Mae finally caught him in 1952, it was a national event. The strip was popular enough to inspire a hit Broadway musical in 1956. The film version did well enough when it debuted in 1959, but is it still as funny almost 70 years later? Let's begin on "A Typical Day" in Dogpatch and find out...

The Story: Things are moving along in Dogpatch pretty much the way they usually do, with formidable Mammy Yokum (Hayes) giving her strapping son Abner (Palmer) his Yokumberry Tonic, and Abner being chased by lovely Daisy Mae Scragg (Parrish). The ladies are more excited about Sadie Hawkins Day, when the women of the town chase the men they hope to marry. They're shocked to find out Sadie Hawkins Day may not go on this year when Dogpatch is declared the most useless town in the US and is marked for nuclear bomb testing. 

The residents toss out everything they can think of to keep their town from being destroyed, until Mammy tells the government about that Yokumberry tonic. Not only does the government want the tonic, but so does General Bullmoose (Howard St. John). He enters his mistress Appassionata Von Climax (Stella Stevens) in the Sadie Hawkins Day Race and has her catch Abner. She'll marry him and get the tonic recipe, then kill him. 

Daisy Mae and Abner's parents are so horrified when they discover Bullmoose' plot, Daisy Mae agrees to marry Earthquake McGoon (Bern Hoffman), "the dirtiest wrassler in the world," to get him to help. Daisy thinks she'll be stuck being McGoon's wife, but it's the government who figure out what the tonic really does when they use it on the men of Dogpatch...and Abner's Pappy (Joe E. Marks) who finds a way to give his strapping son the gumption to go after the lady he truly loves.

The Song and Dance: You can't fault the cast on this one. Most of them were in the stage version as well, including Palmer as a perfect Abner, Stubby Kaye as the matchmaker Marryin' Sam (who leads most of the chorus numbers), and Julie Newmar, who doesn't need to speak a word for the audience to understand why she's called Stupefyin' Jones. My favorite by far is Billie Hayes, who replaced Charlotte Rae as Mammy on Broadway. I hope she was as much fun as she is here. "Formidable" doesn't begin to describe this tough-minded witch of a hillbilly. You can certainly see why she'd go on to play a more obvious witch in the even stranger world of Sid Kroft over a decade later. The Technicolor is gorgeous, a riot of rainbow colors mixed in every way that shouldn't work and amazingly does. Some really fun songs too, including the hit "I'm Past My Prime" for Kaye and Leslie Parrish.

The Numbers: We open over the credits with "A Typical Day," as the residents of Dogpatch introduce themselves and their unique home. Abner and the younger men of the town sing about what they'd do "If I Had My Druthers." Marryin' Sam leads the towns folk in a rousing salute to local hero "Jubilation T. Cornpone," which is heard briefly again in the finale after Dogpatch is saved. "Don't That Take the Rag Offen the Bush" and "Room Enough for Us" are numbers for the townspeople before and after learning they have to evacuate their home. 

Abner finally admits that yes, he does kinda have feelings for "Namely You," Daisy Mae. "What's Good for General Bullmoose" is performed by his lackeys several times, usually whenever he's come up with another nefarious idea. Every woman in town chases after the closest thing to eligible males during the wild Sadie Hawkins Day Ballet, including Appasionata and Daisy Mae. Daisy laments that "I'm Past My Prime," ignoring the fact that Marryin' Sam is more interested in taking her to the altar. "I Wish It Could Be Otherwise" is Abner and Daisy's big ballad right before she's supposed to marry Earthquake McGoon. The ladies of Dogpatch demand "Put Em' Back" twice, in the lab after they find out their men are now stronger but also less romantic, and in the finale, leading to "The Matrimonial Stomp" with Marryin' Sam.

Trivia: Look for Jerry Lewis in a cameo as Dogpatch resident Itchy McRabbit, and Donna Douglas (later Elly May Clampett on The Beverly Hillbillies), Valerie Harper, and Beth Howland as three of the Dogpatch ladies who later catch themselves husbands. 

Lil' Abner debuted on Broadway in 1956 and was a hit, running over a year. As mentioned, Charlotte Rae was the original Mammy but left early in the show's run, Tina Louise was Appasionata Von Climax, and Edie Adams was Daisy Mae. It's only returned to New York in an Encores concert since then, but is fairly popular with regional and high school theaters. 

The film cut a couple of numbers from the original show, including a really nice ballad for Abner and Daisy, "Love In a Home," a number for the scientists "Oh Happy Day," and one for General Bullmoose, "Progress Is the Root of All Evil." 

What I Don't Like: The stage origins of this one show all too plainly. Everything is filmed flat and looks like the stage play it's based on. The sets are about as fake as you can get, which admittedly does go with the comic book vibe. As in many musicals of the 1950's, the chorus numbers really have nothing to do with anything - "Rag Offen the Bush" and "Room Enough for Us" come out of nowhere and contribute nothing to the story. Also, if you don't go in for broad comedy or hillbilly comedy, or you don't know much about the mid-late 50's, you'll probably want to hurry elsewhere quickly. 

The Big Finale: This is funny and tuneful enough to get a recommendation if you love wacky hillbilly comedies or the big, bold, bright musicals of the 50's and 60's. 

Home Media: Don't be fooled - this one is currently DVD-only. Plex is listed as having it online, but they really show the non-musical, black and white 1940 film version. (Which admittedly has a few virtues of its own, including Buster Keaton as Native Lonesome Polecat.)

DVD

Somebody Loves Me

Paramount, 1952

Starring Betty Hutton, Ralph Meeker, Billie Bird, and Robert Keith

Directed by Irving Brecher

Music and Lyrics by various

We return to Woman's History Month with our second Betty Hutton biographical film. Hutton was still one of Paramount's biggest stars when she appeared in this film on one of the pioneering ladies of jazz. She's paired here with Ralph Meeker, then an up-and-coming leading man who was just coming off the original run of Mister Roberts. How well do they do as one of the most popular couples in vaudeville during the 1920's and 30's? Let's begin with Blossom Seely (Hutton) singing in a San Francisco nightclub in 1906...right before the San Francisco earthquake hits...and find out...

The Story: The first theater to reopen after the quake recovery is Grauman's Vaudeville. The manager said he'd put Blossom and her friend Essie (Bird) on the bill, but Blossom is last. Not only that, he gives her best song to the more refined headliner Nola Beach (Adele Jergens). Essie makes use of a banana and a hungry monkey to make sure Blossom gets that song. Not only does she get the spot, she's a sensation who becomes one of the top vaudeville headliners. 

While traveling in Paris, Blossom sees handsome Benny Fields (Meeker) and his buddies Forrest (Henry Slate) and Henry (Sid Tomack) performing at a club. She invites the guys to perform with her, but she really wants Benny. The other two go on without him after their number, which infuriates Blossom and Benny and causes Benny to break up the act. Blossom and Benny become a team, but he's consistently late for rehearsals and is always out with some girl...before he reveals that he wants to marry her. She's thrilled at first, but when she goes on vacation without him, he claims he married her for her fame. They break up, but he can't get bookings without her. She arranges for him to get a solo act...but he doesn't appreciate it until her friend Sam Doyle (Keith) points out how much she cares about him and wants him to be happy.

The Song and Dance: For all the Technicolor and lavish gowns for Hutton and Bird, I like how intimate this is compared to most biographies of this ilk. The focus is where it should be, on the two leads and Blossom's two best friends. Hutton herself is surprisingly subdued for her, though she does get to have fun tearing through two of Seely's signature numbers, "Toddlin' the Toledo" and "Way Down Yonder In New Orleans." Meeker matches her well as the tough guy who thinks he's marrying her for her fame, but ends up falling for her anyway. Oh, and look for Jack Benny introducing the two of them with a brief but hilarious routine with his violin. 

The Numbers: We open in that saloon in San Francisco with Blossom attempting the "Teasin' Rag" and "I Can't Tell You Why I Love You but I Do" before the earthquake hits. The more elegant Nola Beach sings "Honey, Oh My Honey" and starts "Toddlin' the Toledo" before a hungry monkey sits on her dress train. Blossom finishes the song in a far more energetic style. We then get a medley of "Dixie June," "San Francisco Bay," and "Smiles" for the doughboys in the trenches during World War I, ending with a major celebration after the end of the war. 

Meeker gets his first number on the ship to America, "I Cried for You." Their big number leads, with a stereotypical black maid dressing Blossom, leads into the more romantic "Rose Room." Blossom has way more fun with the black and yellow "Way Down Yonder In New Orleans." Forrest and Henry get into big trouble doing a number on their own afterwards, which leads to Benny breaking up the act. "Jealous" is a far simpler act, just the two of them at the piano...but it's a pretty accurate assessment of her feelings about his carousing. After they marry, she declares she'll "Love Him."

The one major chorus number is also the film's most problematic today. Hutton sings "Wang-Wang Blues," "Mister Banjo Man," and "Dixie Dreams" in blackface. Her rendition of "Dixie Dreams" is lovely, but it's also hard to separate it from the racial connotations. Benny's "I'm Sorry I Made You Cry" is drowned out by a noisy and indifferent audience and two comics who tear off his clothes. They sing "On Your Own Little Feet" together in her room, then he reprises "Dixie June." He reprises the number with chorus girls at the theater, along with "Thanks to You." They finish with "Somebody Loves Me."

Trivia: Unlike many film biographies, this one had a happy ending in real-life and on-screen. Seeley did go into retirement after the death of vaudeville in the mid-30's. The relative success of this film pushed her and Fields back out into the limelight. They performed together on stage, record, and television until his death in 1959. She would continue into the 60's as a solo act, becoming one of the great female jazz singers of the 20th century until her death in 1974. 

Hutton was pretty much the only person who wasn't dubbed. Meeker was dubbed by Pat Morgan, Adele Jergens by Barbara Ames, Sid Tomack by Le Clark, and Henry Slate by Jack Baker. 

Film debut of character actor Nick Adams.

Hutton's last movie for Paramount.

What I Don't Like: First of all, see all that dubbing above. Couldn't they have found someone whose singing voice actually sounded like it belonged to Meeker? Morgan's voice is way too deep to be Meeker's. Second, this is about as typical of a biography as you can get. Meeker usually did film noir or drama and is not the first person you think as a leading man in a musical, and Hutton is oddly subdued for her. (She'd just come from surgery to remove growths on her throat, which explains a lot about her performance.) It has some bright spots and good songs, but is largely pretty ho-hum. 

The Big Finale: This is mainly for major fans of Hutton or the big 50's biographical musicals. 

Home Media: Which makes it just as well that the only place you can currently find it is YouTube.

YouTube

Incendiary Blonde

Paramount, 1945

Starring Betty Hutton, Arturo de Cordova, Bill Goodwin, and Barry Fitzgerald

Directed by George Marshall

Music and Lyrics by various

Our first of three Women's History Month movies is also the first of two vehicles we'll be seeing featuring energetic comedienne Betty Hutton. Of the four biographies she appeared in, this one might suit her the most. Texas Guinin lived a colorful life from the late 1900's through the early 1930's, working everything from rodeos to Broadway to films, ending up as "queen of the nightclubs" in the 20's, singing and talking to the customers in her own lavish speakeasies. How well does the film do with depicting her wild Roaring Twenties world? Let's begin with the rodeo coming to Waco, Texas, and find out...

The Story: Texas Gunian (Hutton) may be a goofy tomboy, but she's no fool. The new owner of the rodeo, Bill Romero Kilgallon (de Cordova), is so impressed when she manages to stay on a bucking bronco, he hires her on the spot...and she holds out for more money. Press agent Tim Callahan (Goodwin) is even more so after he sees her act "rescuing" a child. She's in love with Kilgallon, but he's married to an invalid. She ends up going off to become a Broadway star with Callahan, but then follows her old friend Cherokee Jim (Charlie Ruggles) to Hollywood to become a movie star. 

She does well, getting back together with Bill to make their own features, but Bill runs afoul of gangsters and ends up convincing Texas to sell out and get the money. Back in New York, Texas has few prospects until she inadvertently discovers how well she can handle a nightclub crowd. Her songs and talking directly to them jazzes up speakeasy-goers and brings in the crowds. Unfortunately, they also attract gangster Joe Cadden (Albert Dekker), who takes over the club and Texas' contract. Texas is still a smash, and with Bill's wife having passed on, she's hoping to marry him...but his getting caught between warring gangsters and her realizing she has a terminal illness makes them realize how impossible that is.

The Song and Dance: When she's allowed to do the rip-roaring comedy that she does best, Hutton has way too much fun here. This may be the biographical role that suited her best. Guinan was a tough-talking tomboy who lived one of the most colorful lives of the early 20th century, not too far from Hutton herself. She really throws herself into Guinan's trademark nightclub patter and that bucking bronco in the opening. Great production, too, with gorgeous Edith Head costumes and some nice Technicolor cinematography, especially in the first half.

The Numbers: We open with Texas singing "Ragtime Cowboy Joe" with her siblings as they watch the rodeo parade. We get  montage of Texas moving up from chorus line cutie to featured dancer to a star with shows based around her, including the (rather stereotypical) African spoof "Oh By Jingo" with her shaking her hips in feathers among "natives." "What Do You Want to Make Those Eyes at Me For?" is a more romantic roundelay, with Hutton in a massive lavender gown and picture hat singing to a handsome leading man. 

Texas joins three acrobats throwing each other around to ad-lib and get herself kicked out of the show...but them throwing her around turns out to be so hilarious, she ends up staying in the show. She gets the energetic "Row Row Row," turning a fur coat and a table into a boat and sweetheart, while black pianist Maurice Rocco earns the contract Texas gives him with his incredible instrumental "Darktown Strutters Ball." Texas sings "It Had to Be You" on New Year's Eve, right before she and Bill are supposed to get married.

What I Don't Like: It's true that Texas Guinan did start out in wild west shows, she did make silent movies at her own production company (and two sound features, one of which is currently lost), and she was "the queen of the nightclubs" who resurrected her career singing and mingling with the crowds in the speakeasies she owned. Her life was even more colorful than that, with her clubs frequently getting raided, her telling truth-skirting interviews to the press, and her living with two men for years without marrying either. Her only known legal husband bore no resemblance to either de Cordova or Goodwin, both of whom are dull in thankless love interest roles. Only Fitzgerald as her Irish father who is even more inclined to embroider the truth comes anywhere near Hutton.

The Big Finale: Despite the heavy cliches, this is colorful enough to rate a look if you're a fan of Hutton or the big bright Technicolor musicals of the mid-late 40's.

Home Media: To my knowledge, this is currently only available on YouTube in a blurry copy taped from a TCM showing. 

YouTube

Musicals On Streaming - On the Come Up

Paramount Plus, 2022

Starring Jamila C. Gray, Sanaa Lathan, Michael Cooper Jr., and Da'Vine Joy Randolph

Directed by Sanaa Lathan

Music and Lyrics by various

First of all, I've changed my mind about ending Musical Dreams. I am going to continue doing it, but I'll only be posting one review on Thursday night starting next week. I still have some musicals I'd like to cover in a full review, but I don't have the time anymore to do three a week. You might get an old movie, a new movie, a TV movie, an animated film, a streaming special. You never know what you'll get from week to week, so keep an eye out! 

Now that the announcements are out of the way, on with the review. Whitney Houston was hardly the only black woman to deal with sudden fame. In this adaptation of the 2019 novel of the same name, a teen who is popular on the underground rap battle circuits also finds herself dealing with smarmy producers who ask her to be something she isn't and the aftermath of fame...but unlike Whitney, she's able to do something about it and change things for the better. We've already met real-life teen rap battle queen Roxanne Roxanne in 2024. How does this story of a fictional teen rap warrior compare? Let's begin with Brianna "Bri" Jackson (Gray) remembering the day her heroin-addicted mother Jayda (Lathan) gave her and her brother Trey (Titus Malkin Jr.) up and find out...

The Story: Bri's father Lawless Jackson had been a rapper in her neighborhood Garden Heights before his untimely death. She's determined to take up his legacy in the underground rap battle ring and make it where he couldn't. Her Aunt Pooh (Randolph) is her manager who keeps pushing her into the ring, even when she backs down. Her two best guy friends Sonny (Miles Guiteirrez-Riley) and Malik (Cooper Jr.) support her, including when she's suspended for selling candy in school. Bri's mother tries to point out that the security guards were way too aggressive with her daughter, but the principal insists this isn't the first time she's been in trouble.

Bri finally enters the rap ring as a way to earn money for her out-of-work mother. When she defeats a fellow female rapper outside of the arena, Supreme (Method Man), a smarmy producer who had once worked with her father, takes notice. He tries to change her image and insists she record a song, "On the Come Up," in Atlanta. Her mother and her guy friends think the song is way too violent for her. Supreme has convinced her it's good for her career...but then she sees the furor the lyrics, or how people have interpreted the lyrics, caused at school and in the ring. The King's Crown gang thinks she's at war with them. The school thinks she's anti-cops. After Aunt Pooh has a run-in with the King's Crown gang that leaves her in the hospital and they steal Bri's most precious treasure from her, she knows she has to get back into the ring and show everyone that she can handle some of the strongest insults and lyrics thrown at her and still be herself.

The Song and Dance: You'd never know this was Gray's first role. She handles the drama and the fast-paced rap "battles" with equal ferocity. Latham is a warm mother who is trying hard to do better for her daughter and manages a few decent directorial touches as well, especially in the ring and when Bri's being attacked at school. The grays and blues and neutral colors beautifully show off Bri's tough, battle-scarred world where words have more power than any gun. And unlike Roxanne Roxanne, we do get to see some rap battles in full and get an idea of what they're like and why they're such a big deal for the characters. 

The Numbers: The "musical" numbers here aren't numbers in the typical sense. Our first "rap battle" isn't until nearly 20 minutes into the movie. Bri first takes on Supreme's up-and-coming son Milez (Justin Martin), and wins it handily. "Miss Tique vs. Bri" is the battle outside the arena with a blonde who calls herself Miss Tique (Lady London) and...well, Bri's right that she couldn't be more fake-looking if she tried. Bri wins that one handily, too. The title song is the rough and ready rap number that caused all the trouble. I'm going to agree with Bri and say the lyrics don't sound like anything against cops or gangs to me, but I guess everyone has their own interpretations of songs. Bri also gets "Bri-LLIANT." We end with the two rap battles between Bri and the head of the King's Crown gang, and Supreme's best rapper, Infamous Milz (Lil' Yachty). 

What I Don't Like: As with the Roxanne, Roxanne bio, this is fairly rough going. It's from a teen novel, so it's not quite as rough as Roxanne's story, but there's still violence (including against a teen girl in her own school), swearing, and gun play. This is for older teen rap fans who can handle the violence. It's also pretty predictable. You can guess where it's going to go and that Bri will end up defeating all comers in the ring, especially the ones who killed her father. There's also the simple fact that the rap battles, which are strictly words without musical accompaniment, don't make this your average musical. Those looking for a typical musical romp will definitely want to go elsewhere.

The Big Finale: Touching story of a girl who finds herself and her community through her music and her father's legacy is worth checking out for older teen and adult rap fans and those who read the book of the same title.

Home Media: Surprisingly not on Paramount Plus anymore, but it can be found on DVD and on other streaming services, including Pluto TV for free with commercials.

DVD

Amazon Prime

Pluto TV On Demand

Footloose (2011)

Paramount, 2011

Starring Kevin Wormald, Julianne Hough, Dennis Quaid, and Andie MacDowell

Directed by Craig Brewer

Music and Lyrics by various

Let's move down south for an altogether more dynamic remake. The success of the 1998 stage version of the popular 1984 film sparked talk of a movie remake. Brewer came on 2010 after Kenny Ortega dropped out. Zac Efron was originally supposed to play the lead, but when he left, Wormald stepped in. Hough, a professional dancer on Dancing With the Stars, was making her big-screen debut here. How well do they all handle the story of a grieving teenager who proves to a small town that dancing is no crime? Let's begin with the event that sparked the restrictive law, the death of Bobby Moore, the son of Reverend Shaw Moore (Quaid) and his friends in a car crash on the bridge, and find out...

The Story: The reverend is so beside himself with grief, he convinces the town council to pass several rigid laws concerning their teenage children, including one banning unsupervised dancing within city limits. Ren McCormack (Wormald) is also grieving when he arrives in town from Boston three years later. He's living with his Aunt Lulu (Kim Dickens) and Uncle Wes (Ray MacKinnon) and their little girls after the death of his mother, but he's having a hard time fitting in. Though he does make friends with goofy Willard (Miles Teller) and falls for Moore's rebellious daughter Ariel (Hough), most of the town sees him as a troublemaker. When he and the other teens insist on holding a real senior prom, Reverend Moore continues to insist that dancing and rock will lead to no good. It takes a talking-to from his daughter and wife Vi (MacDowell) to show him how his protectiveness may be causing more harm than good. 

The Song and Dance: If nothing else, I give them credit for getting people who can actually dance this time. No need to put in a substitute for Wormald in his big blow-off-steam solo "Catch Hell." He was a back-up dancer for Justin Timberlake (who recommended him) and certainly knows what he's doing. He's even from Boston in real-life, with the accent to match. Quaid's the other stand-out as the rigid reverend who hasn't gotten over the loss of his son and thinks it's the dancing and music that lead to his demise. As in the first film, gorgeous cinematography, this time in and around rural Georgia and the Atlanta suburbs, helps ground this old-fashioned story in the here and now. Some terrific choreography too, especially in the scene when Ren takes Willard, Ariel, and Ariel's friend Rusty (Ziah Colon) to a cowboy bar and when the kids finally get their prom in the finale.

The Numbers: We open with the title song as we see Bobby and his friends dancing and partying...and realize that it was likely drinking, not dancing, that was one of the major causes of the accident. "Where the River Goes" covers Ren's arrival in Bomont and his stroll across the town, checking out the sellers at a local fair before he ends up at his aunt and uncle's house. Ren's got the "Walkin' Blues" when he's fixing up the old Volkswagen to be his car. "Bang Your Head" provides the backdrop at the local speedway, where Ariel's boyfriend Chuck (Patrick John Fluger) is a driver. "Holding Out for a Hero" is now a slow ballad as Ren remembers his late, beloved mother while working on the Volkswagen. "Dance the Night Away" is the big chorus number at the drive-in, where Ren gets all of the kids dancing to the dance-rap tune 

Fed up with being accused of being a troublemaker when he's really just grieving and out of place, Ren takes out his anger in the dynamic "Catch Hell" solo dance routine at the garage. "So Sorry Mama" is the second big chorus routine, the country line dance at the cowboy bar where Ren finally teaches the nervous Willard how to dance. Willard finally gets into the spirit of the thing with the big line dance "Fake I.D." It's Ren's little girl cousins and their friends who finally teach the football players to dance with the help of their Barbie speaker and the original "Let's Hear It for the Boy." This turns into the teens printing out flyers and drumming up support for their fight against Bomont's city council.

"Little Lovin'" provides the backdrop for all of the teens and their families cleaning up the cotton mill for the big dance. (The cool chandelier the kids make from metal tubing, old glass bottles, and light bulbs shows how well they've really, really been paying attention in shop class.) As in the original film, "Almost Paradise" covers Ren and Ariel's entrance and the football team spreading out to find dance partners. The movie ends with country star Blake Shelton turning the title number into a foot-stomping country anthem in a delightfully riotous dance routine for the teens.

Trivia: The stage version of Footloose opened on Broadway in 1998. Despite mixed reviews that complained about the dated story, it ran for two years. The London mounting in 2006 only managed five months. It was briefly revived in London in 2017 and turns up occasionally in regional stagings. 

What I Don't Like: The good cast can't the fact that the story hasn't dated well in either version. This was annoyingly melodramatic in 1984, let alone the 21st century. Despite the dusty rural Georgia setting, this also lacks some of the Midwestern grit that attached itself to the 1984 film. Wormald has the opposite problem from Kevin Bacon in the original. He's a sensational dancer who needs no double, but doesn't have Bacon's charisma. 

The Big Finale: Honestly, same deal as with the 1984 version. It's still too melodramatic for my taste, but if you liked the original or the dance-oriented movies of the 2000's-early 2010's, you'll want to dance on over and hear it for the boys.

Home Media: Easily found on all formats, often for under $10. Paramount Plus currently has it and the original with a subscription. 

DVD

Blu-Ray

Paramount Plus

Cult Flops - The Vagabond King (1956)

Paramount, 1956

Starring Oreste Kirkop, Kathryn Grayson, Rita Moreno, and Walter Hampden

Directed by Michael Curtiz

Music by Rudolf Friml; Lyrics by Brian Hooker and Johnny Burke

Operetta made a comeback in the early 1950's when several classic operettas of the 1910's and 20's were recreated on TV and on record. Paramount saw the success of The Student Prince at MGM and "spectaculars" like The Chocolate Soldier on television and went looking for their own version of Mario Lanza. They thought they found him in Maltese opera tenor Oreste Kirkop, who, despite his limited knowledge of English, was handsome, manly, and possessed a marvelous singing voice. They picked up Kathryn Grayson from MGM and gave dancer Rita Moreno one of her first major roles, but then let it sit on the shelf for over a year before it was released to an indifferent public. Did this deserve that fate, or should this rousing color retelling of Francois Villon's story deserve another chance to rule? Let's begin with the scheming Duke of Burgundy (Tom Duggan) and his men just outside of Paris and find out...

The Story: Francois Villon (Kirkop) and his fellow vagabonds are arrested by Louis the XI (Hampden) and his men when they visit the tavern he frequents disguised as peasants. Louis anoints him the new provost marshal after his actual marshal Thibault (Leslie Nielson) is revealed to be a spy to Burgundy. He's hoping to enlist him and his fellow peasants, poets, and drinks in battling the Duke and his army. Earlier in the day, Francois had encountered the beautiful Princess Katherine (Grayson) at a church and had fallen hopelessly in love with her, despite already having a girlfriend in the tavern wench Hugette (Moreno). It's the ladies who are willing to lay down the line - and in Hugette's case, her own life - to make sure Louis stays on the throne and Francois stays off the hangman's noose.

The Song and Dance: The ladies are the stand-outs here amid the brilliantly colored pageantry of 15th-century France. Grayson is equally spunky and sweet, especially later-on, when she begins to fall for Villon. Moreno brings enough fire and passion to Hugette to power the entire City of Lights, and is certainly more realistic as a tavern wench than cutesy Lillian Roth was. The production benefits from the improved Technicolor, with lavish medieval costumes and fanciful headgear for both genders that would make the rainbow pale. We even get a medieval ballet near the end with a literal warring heaven and hell that gives us a good idea of court amusements among the rich in the fifteenth century. And at least if they had to have additional numbers, Friml actually got to write the music this time. 

The Numbers: Our first number is "Bon Jour," which introduces us to Francois and his men as they travel back to Paris, waving to the peasants they see along the way. Hugette joins the vagabonds for the swirling chorus number "Viva La You" at the tavern. Katherine performs "Some Day" in the courtyard as she dreams of the man she saw at the church. Francois, Hugette, and the Vagabonds make "Comparisons" between the wealthy and the poor and Burgundy and Louis just before Francois is arrested. "Hugette Waltz" takes us to the dungeons as Hugette laments the loss of her beloved rogue. 

"Only a Rose" is performed in the courtyard, with Francois telling Katherine how much he's fallen for her. "Watch Out for the Devil" is the big ballet depicting the fight between heaven and hell - or Louis and Burgundy in this case - performed by Katherine and Francois. We end with "Song of the Vagabonds" for Francois and the chorus as they rout the Duke of Burgundy and his men and a reprise of "Only a Rose" as Francois and Katherine drive off into the countryside.

Trivia: Final movie for Katherine Grayson and only movie for Oreste Kirkop. Kirkop didn't speak English at the time. His speaking voice was dubbed by Elliot Reid.

Rita Moreno's singing voice was dubbed by Eve Boswell. 

That's Vincent Price doing the narration in the opening sequence.

What I Don't Like: The men are the problem here. While Hampden isn't bad as opportunistic Louis, Jack Lord and Leslie Nielson are simply too modern to be believable as scheming medieval spies. Kirkop is a wonderfully lusty singer, but lacks the presence of either Dennis King or Mario Lanza (who had been considered for the role early-on). He has no chemistry with Grayson or Moreno and frankly belongs back in an opera house in Malta, not film. Not to mention, the dubbing on his voice is terrible, with Reid sounding nothing like his singing voice. The sets look spectacular but are obviously fake and give the film the feeling of an overripe stage play, and Friml and Burke's added songs are pleasant but unremarkable compared to the soaring "Some Day" and "Only a Rose" or the devastating "Hugette's Waltz." 

The Big Finale: Mainly worth checking out for operetta fans like me or fans of Grayson, Moreno, or the huge colorful musicals of the 50's and 60's. 

Home Media: At press time, this rarity can only be found on YouTube. 

YouTube

Cult Flops - The Vagabond King (1930)

Paramount, 1930

Starring Dennis King, Jeanette MacDonald, O.P Heggie, and Lillian Roth

Directed by Ludwig Berger

Music and Lyrcis by various

For the next two weeks, our weekday reviews will look at musical remakes, either of older films, or a remake and the original. This version of the 1926 stage hit of the same name was intended to be Paramount's stately answer to major film operettas like Warner Bros' The Desert Song or MGM's (now-lost) Rogue Song. It proved to be too stately for 1930 audiences who were looking for war movies and gangster films, but how does it look now? Let's begin in fifteenth-century Paris, where only a lawless poet stands between the King of France (O.P Heggie) and the Duke of Burgundy's attempt to take over his throne...

The Story: Francois Villon (King) is arrested by Louis the XI and his men while drunk and brought to the castle. Louis anoints him king for a day, hoping to enlist him and his fellow peasants, poets, and drinks in battling the Duke and his army. Earlier in the day, Francois had rescued the beautiful Princess Katherine (MacDonald) and had fallen hopelessly in love with her, despite already having a girlfriend in the tavern wench Hugette (Roth). It's the ladies who are willing to lay down the line - and in Hugette's case, her own life - to make sure Louis stays on the throne and Francois is hung for a king's amusement the next day.

The Song and Dance: Oh, how I wish the full color copy was available online! What little color is seen during the "Only a Rose" number is blurry but exquisite, with MacDonald looking every inch the princess she's supposed to be in exquisite peach, standing out against the lavish green garden. In fact, even in the blurry mostly black and white copy currently on YouTube, it's that much-vaunted pageantry where this stands out. MacDonald is a radiant princess in glittering gowns amid enormous, craggy castles and the fetid alleys of a shadow-strewn Paris, while Heggie makes a wonderful opportunistic King Louis. European director Ludvig Berger had made several similar sumptuous fantasies in France and Germany during the silent era, and he knew something about spectacle and how to make it work.

The Numbers: We open over the credits and at the tavern Francois frequents with "Song of the Vagabonds." "King Louis" is Francois' mocking rhyme and assessment of Louis' ability to rule his people. "Mary, Queen of Heaven" is a number for the choir when Katherine is praying in Notre Dame. The ballad "Some Day" is Katherine's first solo as she changes for bed and contemplates Francois and their first meeting in Paris. Francois declares to his followers what he would do "If I Were King." He tells the disguised Louis "What France Needs." 

"Only a Rose" is the only Technicolor sequence existing in current online prints. The gorgeous singing from King and MacDonald and exquisite color somewhat make up for MacDonald being right about King's ego and his continued attempts to push his nose or hands into her shot. Roth's solo is "Hugette's Waltz," as she explains to the vagabonds that she is how she is, take her or leave her. Francois and Katherine get a second duet, "Love Me Tonight," shortly before he is to fight the Burgundians. The people of Paris reprise "Song of the Vagabonds" during the actual siege. "Nocturne" is the executioner's number as he's about to hang Francois.

Trivia: The color prints do exist and were restored by UCLA in 1990, but alas, to date have only seen there other than the "Only a Rose" sequence taken from the PBS documentary Broadway: The American Musical. 

This is based on the fanciful book and non-musical play If I Were King. If I Were King was filmed as a non-musical three times, in 1920 and 1938 under its original title and in 1927 as The Beloved Rogue. 

The Vagabond King opened on Broadway in 1925 with King as Villon and was a huge hit for the time, running over 500 performances. It had a brief revival on Broadway in 1943. It hasn't been seen there since, but remains popular with light opera companies in New York and elsewhere. The film would be remade in 1956 with Kathryn Grayson as Katherine (which we'll be looking at on Thursday). 

What I Don't Like: Jeanette MacDonald had a point about Dennis King and his ego. He's a little too into the role, proclaiming everything to the rafters when film calls for a somewhat subtler approach. He's too hammy even for a swashbuckler. This is likely why he very rarely made movies after this. Lillian Roth has the opposite problem. She's too much of a cute comedienne to be playing a sensual streetwalker and really can't pull off her "Hugette's Waltz." And oh, how I wish UCLA would release the rest of that color copy to the general public! I have the feeling it would help this tremendously, and certainly be nicer to look at than the dim, blurry copy currently on YouTube.

The Big Finale: In the end, as lovely as it is, it's really only for fans of MacDonald, operetta, or early film musicals. 

Home Media: Which perhaps makes it just as well that the only place you can see this is in that blurry copy I mentioned that's currently on YouTube. 

YouTube

Two for Tonight

Paramount, 1935

Starring Bing Crosby, Joan Bennett, Mary Boland, and Lynne Overmann

Directed by Frank Tuttle

Music by Harry Revel; Lyrics by Mack Gordon

Bing was at the height of his early success as a crooner when he made this short movie for Paramount. By this point, Paramount was beginning to codify just what Bing's movies were all about. They needed a goofy supporting cast, a girl for Bing to sing to (whether he actually gets her in the end or not), and some good songs that would make it on the hit parade. This was pretty much the prototype for Bing's vehicles during the 1930's. This may be the most typical of them. Just how does this confection about a songwriter who has to write a show for a demanding star in just a few days look now? Let's begin with Mrs. Smythe (Boland) as she tries to chase off a census-taker at her door and find out...

The Story: Mrs. Smythe has three sons by three different husbands, and they're trying to make ends meet by selling their songs. One day, as the eldest Gilbert Gordon (Crosby) is trying to perform a number for producer Alexander Myles (Maurice Cass) when a plane hits the tree he was singing next to. Gilbert ends up in the hospital, leading his mother to claim he was working on a musical and get $50,000 from the pilot.

Turns out the pilot's a woman, Bobbie Lockwood (Bennett), who can pay them 15 a week...but can also get them in to see her boss Harry Kling (Overmann), a Broadway producer. Kling's having a hard time finding a suitable musical for his actress girlfriend Lily Bianco (Thelma Todd) and thinks Gilbert's show would be perfect. Trouble is, Gilbert never wrote a show, but Kling thinks that the plane incident is the plot. He asks the butler Homps (Ernest Cossart) for ideas, and even starts a riot to get arrested. Even after he gets out, he gets into trouble with Bobbie and Kling when rehearsing a love scene with Lily and Kling walks out. It looks like the show won't go on, until his mother convinces a most unlikely backer to step forward.

The Song and Dance: For a movie lasting a little over an hour, this almost has more plot than Wicked: For Good! There's a lot going on here, including some genuinely good songs. Bing is charming as the eldest son who gets caught up in the lunacy, while Mary Boland is hilarious as his much-married mother who will do anything to get money for her boys. In fact, this has a bit more comedy than usual for one of Bing's movies, including that goofy sequence with the airplane drowning Bing out and how the riot in the nightclub gets started.

The Numbers: We open with Bing performing the title song over the credits. The brothers compose "Takes Two to Make a Bargain" as their mother deals with the census man. It includes several lines that are either spoofs of other songs, or referring to the piano being repossessed even as they work. Gilbert reprises it on the tree that gets drowned out by first a bee, then the airplane. He sings "From the Top of Your Head" to Bobbie while trying to come up with ideas for the play. The lovely ballad "Without a Word of Warning" is Gilbert's attempt to woo Bobbie, but she thinks he's interested in Lily. He performs "I Wish I Was Aladdin" with the prisoners while in jail in the film's only large-scale chorus number. Gilbert reprises "Word of Warning" near the end to win Bobbie back.

What I Don't Like: Um, yeah, for all the crazy stuff that happens, this is about as fluffy as you can get, even by the standards of 30's musicals. Bennett makes slightly more of an impression as strong-willed Bobbie than Todd as Lily, who doesn't have that much to do. The second half is far less interesting as the attempt to put on the show takes a backseat to Gilbert chasing Bobbie while Lily chases him. 

The Big Finale: Harmless hour's worth of fun if you're a fan of Bing or Joan Bennett or want to check out a smaller-scale 30's musical.

Home Media: Maybe it's just as well that the only place you can currently find this one is on YouTube with Portuguese subtitles. 

YouTube

Paramount On Parade

Paramount, 1930

Starring Jackie Oakie, Richard "Skeets" Gallagher, Leon Erroll, Maurice Chevalier, and others

Directed by Edmund Goulding, Ernst Lubistch, Dorothy Arzner, Victor, Schertzinger, and others

Music and Lyrics by various

This week, we're going to do something entirely different and investigate three different versions of a musical genre that doesn't often turn up in films after 1930. Revues have been a part of musical theater going back centuries. These collections of songs, skits, and lavish showgirl parades were wildly popular on Broadway in the 1910's and 20's. After the success of Ziegfeld's Follies, every producer in town created their own lavish spectacles, filled with gags, girls, and specialty numbers from star comics. When sound came in, the studios sought to continue this tradition with their own versions. Paramount, the most sophisticated studio in 1930, may also have the most fascinating of the revues. How does Paramount's parade stand out from the pack? Let's head to the theater just as the curtain is rising and see...

The Story: This is a revue, so there isn't one. Comics Jack Oakie, Skeets Gallagher, and Leon Erroll introduce a vast array of Paramount stars of the time in numbers and sketches suited to their unique talents.

The Song and Dance: And actually, one of the places this stands out is in the sequences where there's no song involved at all. If you're a fan of vintage mysteries, you'll love "Murder Will Out," which spoofs popular detectives right in the very start. If you ever wanted to see Sherlock Holmes (Clive Brook), Philo Vance (William Powell),  and Charlie Chan (Warner Oland) solve a mystery together, here's your chance...and it's hilarious. George Bancroft tossing shade at his own bad guy reputation in "Impulses," as we see what party guests really want to say to each other, is pretty funny too. Some of the musical numbers that survive are among the most enjoyable of the era - Maurice Chevalier, Clara Bow, Nancy Carroll, and Jack Oakie and Zelma O'Neal are among those who make the biggest impressions musically.

The Numbers: Alas, the movie's Technicolor opening number "Showgirls On Parade" is totally lost except the sound, so our first number defaults to our MC's. "We're the Masters of Ceremony," say Gallagher, Erroll, and Oakie. They're clearly enjoying it, and tend to be far looser MCs than the ones on other early revues that try too hard or not enough. With "Showgirls" missing, our first chorus number we can actually see in current prints is "Anytime Is the Time to Fall In Love." Buddy Rogers and Lillian Roth woo each other on a giant clock while other young people dance under it. It's cutesy, but the song is fun and Roth and Rodgers are adorable.

Following "Murder Will Out," we have Maurice Chevalier and tough-lady character actress Evelyn Brent introducing the "Origin of the Apache" in a satire of the famous passionate French dance, directed by none other than Ernest Lubistch. The next number in the surviving print brings in another tough-love couple. Jack Oakie and Zelma O'Neal spar in more than one way at a gym, insisting "I'm In Training for You." The dancing here almost matches their hilarious performance - the snappy chorus routine is surprisingly good for the early talkie era. Ruth Chatterton, as a French tart among doughboys (including a very young Fredric March) sort-of sings "My Marine." Chevalier gives us a far more pleasant French interlude as a randy gendarme who admits "All I Need Is One Girl." Mitzi Green comes off as a lot less annoying than she generally did in movies of this era doing impressions of him.

Helen Kane is probably the least-likely teacher you can imagine, which is likely how her "What Did Cleopatra Say?" history lesson turns into her teaching the kids to boop-oop-a-doop. Nancy Carroll's "Dancing to Save Your Sole" starts out with her and Abe Lyman's band being pulled from a shoe box, but Carroll's sexy swinging and the catchy song makes this one of the film's best numbers. The fleet's in, and rowdy Clara Bow wants her pick of the cadets, claiming "I'm True to the Navy Now." Chevalier return for the Busby Berkeley-esque finale, with chorus girls doing overhead formations as he plays a French chimney sweep leaping among rooftops, "Sweeping the Clouds Away." 

Trivia: Alas, more than a quarter of the film remains missing from even the longest copies currently on YouTube, including all but one of its original Technicolor numbers. Of the missing footage, only sound has turned up for the opening "Showgirls" chorus parade. "Dream Girl," with Gary Cooper, Richard Arlen, Fay Wray, and Jean Arthur singing "Drink to the Girl of Your Dreams," and Dennis King singing "Nichavo!" have Techincolor footage existing, but no sound. "Come Back to Sorrento" with Nino Martini and "I'm Isodore the Torredor" with Harry Green and Kay Francis have picture and sound, but have yet to turn up online.

The Marx Brothers and Jeanette MacDonald supposedly had short sequences in this, but their parts were either cut or only turned up in international versions. 

Paramount On Parade filmed Dutch, German, Romanian, Spanish, French, and Scandinavian versions. 

The "Sweeping the Clouds Away" finale was originally in color, but survives in black and white.

 

What I Don't Like: First of all, note everything that's mentioned as missing in the Trivia section. In the copy I watched on YouTube, "Dream Girl" is introduced but not seen, and they don't even mention "Nichavo!" or "Come Back to Sorrento." "Isdore" and "Showgirls" have sound but not picture. The black and white footage doesn't look so hot, either. Universal really needs to take a very big swing at restoring this. 

Second, not everything lands. Errol's hospital sketch is annoying, Ruth Chatterton's "My Marine" is too dark for this light-hearted film, and the "Anytime" dance routine can come off as a bit too sweet. Not to mention, if you're not a fan of this era in general or Chevalier in particular, this movie probably won't change your mind. You really need to be a fan of Chevalier and/or understand what was going on in Hollywood and the world in 1930 to get a lot of what's going on.

The Big Finale: There's enough remaining here that's good to put this in the "recommended for fans of Maurice Chevalier, old-time mysteries, or the early talkie era musicals" column.

Home Media: To my knowledge, only on YouTube in copies of varying length and quality - this is the longest length I could find. (It includes two numbers from the mostly-lost Scandinavian version, one only with sound.)

YouTube

Pointed Heels

Paramount, 1929

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.

YouTube

Pardners

Paramount, 1956

Starring Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Lori Nelson, and John Baragrey

Directed by Norman Taurog

Music by Jimmy Van Heusen; Lyrics by Sammy Cahn

We're staying out west with two more popular comedians who ironically also began at Paramount. By 1956, rumors abounded that Martin and Lewis were breaking up their very profitable partnership and going solo. This movie was one way they denied those rumors. How does this remake of the Bing Crosby vehicle Rhythm On the Range look nowadays? Let's begin out west, as Matilda Kinglsey (Agnes Moorehead) flees the K Ranch with her son Wade Jr shortly before bandits kill her husband Wade (Lewis) and his partner Slim Mosley (Martin) and find out...

The Story: Wade Jr. (Lewis) longs to be a cowboy in the real wild West, but his mother would rather he marry a formidable girl from a wealthy family. He's impressed with the son of Slim (Martin), who is a ranch hand at the K-Ranch, and his cousin Carol (Lori Nelson), who runs it, and follows them to the rodeo. Slim wants to win a bull named Cuddles and replenish their stock after a raid, but Wade's bungling costs him the top prize. Feeling guilty and still wanting to see the authentic West, Wade buys him Cuddles and inadvertently ends up following him there when he gets stranded on the train. Slim was annoyed with Wade at first, but finally warms up with him to the point where they agree to become partners like their fathers.

There's even more trouble when they do finally arrive at the K Ranch. Banker Dan Hollis (Baragrey) has been trying to buy the ranch and sell the land for a dam and asking Carol to marry him. She's not interested in selling or marrying him. Slim, hoping to avoid teasing, claims Wade is Killer Jones, the roughest, toughest man in the entire state. The townspeople dub Wade their new sheriff, but because they think he's the one who stopped a runaway stagecoach. It was really Slim, who has to help keep Wade from ending up like all the other sheriffs in town and dig up the dirt on who is really after the K Ranch and its holdings.

The Song and Dance: You'd never know Martn and Lewis were having problems by this point with hilarious performances here. Martin has more to do, for once, and runs with it, especially in the second half when he's supposed to be protecting Wade and making him look like a lawman. Though this starts out relatively similar to Rhythm On the Range, once they get Cuddles to the ranch, it becomes a whole different - and frankly, far more interesting - story. The focus on Martin, Lewis, and Lewis' antics as a mama's boy who learns to take care of himself also keeps this from degenerating into a series of unrelated specialty numbers like Rhythm did near the end of the film. Not to mention, this feels a lot more like an actual western complete with bandits, shoot-outs, and land-grabbing schemes.

The Numbers: "The Wind, The Wind" is Slim's song at the rodeo, which he performs to win enough money for Cuddles after Wade's antics end with him dropping out of the bucking bronco race. "Buckskin Beauty" is Wade's song once he's out west. They declare themselves "Pardners," first on the way out west with Cuddles, and later in the finale. Slim sings "Me N' You N' the Moon" later for Carol when they're at the ranch.

Trivia: Taurog also directed Rhythm on the Range. 

What I Don't Like: Martin and Lewis are really the only ones who have much to do. Nelson and Jackie Loughery as the saloon dancer Wade falls for barely register as much more than love interests. Both Hollises are pretty obvious villains, too. Where this really falters is with the music. Rhythm on the Range produced the standard "I'm an Old Cowhand" and had a few other decent songs. None of the four numbers here get anywhere close to that, though "The Wind The Wind" is mildly interesting.

The Big Finale: One of Martin and Lewis' better later vehicles is worth checking out for fans of theirs or of 50's comedy.

Home Media: Only on DVD in the US as part of a collection of Martin and Lewis movies, though the solo Blu-Ray is due on September 12th. At the moment, you may be better off streaming this. Like most Martin-Lewis titles, this can currently be found for free with commercials at the Paramount-owned Pluto TV.

DVD - Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis Collection Volume 2

Blu-Ray

Pluto TV On Demand

Back to School Again - College Holiday

Paramount, 1936

Starring Jack Benny, George Burns, Gracie Allen, and Mary Boland

Directed by Frank Tuttle

Music and Lyrics by various

Our next collegiate story is a bit more unique. Most of Paramount's college-set stories usually took place on the actual campus. This one varies the setting enough to take the kids on vacation to a fictional resort in trouble, with a bit of Busby Berkeley backstage mixed in. How does this strange combination of school, wacky comedians, and then-fashionable theories on human breeding look nowadays? This time, let's begin as those kids dance at their prom and find out...

The Story: Sylvia Smith (Marsha Hunt) is called from the dance by her father, who had a mental breakdown when he found out they might lose their California hotel the Casa Del Mar, thanks to his less-than-astute partner J. Davis Bowster (Benny). The mortgage is held by eccentric heiress Carola Gaye (Boland), who is given to obsess over whatever strange fad catches her fancy. At the moment, that's eugenics and ancient Greek history, thanks to Professor Hercules Dove (Etienne Giradot). Bowster promises her gorgeous college bodies for her eugenics mating program if she'll fund the college kids staying at the hotel. Bowster tells the kids they're there as entertainers, as he wants to raise enough money for them to put on a show.

The kids aren't happy when they discover that Hercules wants his "genetically perfect" daughter Calliope (Allen) to select who gets to pair off. Dick Winters (Leif Erikson) has been trying to find out Sylvia's first name ever since the dance, and he'd rather be with her than with Gaye. There's also Calliope's actual boyfriend George Hymen (Burns), who would rather avoid she check his measurements to find her Apollo, and the stagehand (Ben Blue) who tries to chase new student Daisy Scholggenheimer (Martha Raye), but has a hard time avoiding the fists she's been trained to use in order to ward off men. They all end up putting together a minstrel show in support of the hotel, and to show Hercules and Carola that true "perfection" is in the eye of the beholder.

The Song and Dance: While the story isn't much, even for a Paramount college musical, some of the individual performances do have merit. Jack Benny has fun firing off some hilarious lines, while Raye and her fists do even better playing off the adorably bewildered Blue. Boland and Dove are befuddled riots as the duo with more wealth than brains who actually believe his ridiculous theories. Allen and Burns have a blast too, especially when Gracie attempts to pair off everyone!

The Numbers: We open under the credits with everyone performing "The Sweetheart Waltz" at that dance. The California Collegians Glee club sings "The Maine Stein Song" on board the train going to the resort. Dick and Sylvia really get into their cute "A Rhyme for Love" tap routine at the back of the train. Bowster even joins in briefly near the end. Daisy wonders "So What?" when asked about men. Bowster also gets to conduct the Collegians singing "Hail! Hail! The Gang's All Here" and plays (or tries to play) "Love In Bloom" during the minstrel show. 

The ballad "Enchanted (I Love You)," performed by Sylvia and Dick with the chorus, is the big ballad in the minstrel show. Calliope, Ben, and George get into lavish colonial garb for an attempt at what they think is a dainty dance to the "Minuet In G." Martha Raye gets more into her blackface routine to "Who's That Knocking at My Heart?" with the Collegians. 

What I Don't Like: Where to start with this one? How about eugenics has largely been discredited since 1936, making Dove's theories look even sillier now than they likely did then. Or how dull Erikson and Hunt are compared to all the loonies around them. There's also the finale revolving around a minstrel show. In 1936, it was quaint nostalgia from a rosy past. Nowadays, the blackface alone may make the final 20 minutes a slog for many people. Or the songs are cute but nothing special, with only the wordplay on "A Rhyme for Love" being even a mild stand-out. Or Raye and Blue seeming to have come from another world entire; Blue is dropped into the second half with little rhyme or reason.

The Big Finale: Only for the most ardent fans of the star comedians. 

Home Media: Once again, this can currently only be found on YouTube (admittedly in a decent copy taken from a TCM showing). 

YouTube

Back to School Again - She Loves Me Not

Paramount, 1934

Starring Bing Crosby, Miriam Hopkins, Kitty Carlisle, and Edward J. Nugent

Directed by Benjamin Glazer

Music and Lyrics by various

Let's head west to Princeton, New Jersey for our next school story. School musicals vanished during 1930, along with other forms of the genre. They too would make a comeback in the mid-30's, though they largely tended to be smaller in scale than the Busby Berkeley dance spectaculars that helped revive the genre. Bing Crosby also rose to prominence around 1933 as he became a popular singer and favorite of women in particular. He was fast becoming one of Paramount's top draws, mostly specializing in small-scale romantic comedies with music like this charming comedy. How does this story of two Princeton students who hide a dancer from gangsters look nowadays? Let's begin as the bell tower of Princeton is contrasted with dancer Curly Flagg (Hopkins) and her routine in a skimpy outfit and find out...

The Story: After Curly witnesses a gangland murder, she flees, with Princeton being the furthest she can afford to go. She ends up in the dorm room of student Paul Lawton (Crosby). He sends her to his buddy Buzz Jones (Nugent), who suggests dressing her as a student and hiding her in plain sight. They cut her hair and give her men's clothing. Paul suggests she get a job with Buzz's movie owner father to support herself.

This turns into her story being leaked to the press in increasingly wild fashion, with the movie men making it look like she's an innocent girl who was taken in by men who wanted to do wrong by her. This upsets both Dean Mercer, the head of Princeton (Henry Stephenson) and his daughter Midge (Kitty Carlisle) who truly loves Paul, not to mention Paul's angry fiancee Frances (Judith Allen). It isn't until Buzz and Paul resign from the school that Curly realizes the trouble she caused...and everyone discovers the gangsters are still on her trail.

The Song and Dance: Charming small-scale school tale with a hilarious premise. Hopkins is the stand-out here. She's straightforward no matter what, whether she's running from the cops, wailing because of the loss of her hair, or doing a tap dance in slippers. Her vivacious heat is a marked contrast to Carlisle, who manages to be both warm and imperious, often in the same moment. Her sweet performance of the hit "Love In Bloom" with Crosby is a major highlight.

The Numbers: We start things off with a Princeton choir singing "Old Nassau" over a shot of a bell in a tower...which takes us into our first number under the credits. Curly, in her skimpy shorts and huge bow top, sings "Put a Little Rhythm Into Everything You Do," finishing right before the gangsters commit murder. She also attempts a tap number in slippers to "Cocktails for Two" after Paul takes her in, and she gets drunk on gin when they cut her hair. Paul and Midge duet on the hit ballad "Love In Bloom" and the jauntier "Straight from the Shoulder." Later on, Paul says "I'm Hummin', I'm Whistlin', I'm Singin'."

Trivia: The song "Love In Bloom" is more associated today with comedian Jack Benny, who used it as his theme song for years.

Would be remade twice, as True to the Army in 1943 and How to Be Very, Very Popular in 1955. 

What I Don't Like: Why was this set at Princeton? The guys are barely shown in school and are never seen studying. Not to mention, there's the problem of them being way too old for college students again and pretty interchangeable. Paul is, frankly, a bit of pill, and is pretty dull for one of Bing's characters. It's interesting too that he ends up with Carlisle, not Hopkins, with whom he really has more chemistry anyway.

The Big Finale: Not Bing's best film, but a cute enough way to pass an hour and a half if you're a huge fan of him or the leading ladies.

Home Media: Which makes it just as well that the only way you can currently find this one is on YouTube in a copy with Portuguese subtitles. 

YouTube 

Happy Labor Day! - Thanks for the Memory

Paramount, 1938

Starring Bob Hope, Shirley Ross, Charles Butterworth, and Otto Kruger

Directed by George Archainbaud

Music and Lyrics by various

We honor writers and their creative process this Labor Day with this lesser-known Bob Hope comedy. Ross, Hope, and their performance of the song "Thanks for the Memory" had been the major stand-out number amid the chaos of the semi-revue The Big Broadcast of 1938. After the song won an Oscar, Paramount rushed the two into this low-budget comedy, based on the stage play Up Pops the Devil. How does the story of a newlywed couple who start to question their relationship when she goes back to work so he can focus on his novel look nowadays, with far more women in the workplace? Let's begin with that couple, Steve (Hope) and Anne (Ross) Merrick, at their cozy apartment in New York and find out...

The Story: Steve loves schmoozing with his mooching friends, including Biney (Butterworth) and his wife Polly (Hedda Hopper) and George Kent (Roscoe Karns), who is married to a wealthy woman. Anne, though she enjoys their parties, is less enamored by their cost. Steve has taken a second job while working on his novel, which he isn't close to finishing. Anne insists on him quitting his job while she works for her ex-finacee, publisher Gill Morrell (Kruger). 

Steve's ultimately frustrated by staying at home. He's not a great cook and can't concentrate. Likewise, Anne doesn't appreciate Gill's advances, though she does like the money she brings home. Anne finally makes a major discovery, only to see Steve out with their clingy southern Belle neighbor Lulella (Patricia Wilder) and jumps to the wrong conclusion. For his part, Steve is tired of feeling "kept." They're about to sell their apartment when a couple comes to see it and they realize how much they still want it...and are willing to give each other a second chance.

The Song and Dance: For something Paramount tossed off in response to another movie, this is honestly pretty cute. Hopper and Butterworth are a riot as Steve's well-dressed pals who show up whenever there's food or gin to be had, and Karns has some funny moments as Steve's hangdog pal who isn't sure he loves his wife, but knows he loves her money. The story - and how it treats writers and gender reversal - is pretty interesting too. Steve has a harder time writing when there's no distractions than when there's friends all over the place, while Anne is bored by her modeling job. 

The Numbers: The title song opens and closes the film, first as we meet Anne and Steve and see their life together in the apartment, and then right before the end when they recall their relationship and realize they don't really want to leave each other. In between, we get another charming duet that became a standard. Anne and Steve are "Two Sleepy People" who are enjoying each other's company way too much to hit the sack by dawn.

What I Don't Like: First of all, "Two Sleepy People" aside, this isn't really a musical. It's more of a B-comedy with an A-list cast. Second, though the story is relatively original for a romantic comedy, it hasn't dated that well. Nowadays, many people, men and women, work from home, and men are just as likely as women to take on domestic chores. 

The Big Finale: Not really of much interest unless you're a huge fan of Hope and his theme song or 30's screwball comedies. 

Home Media: On DVD from the Universal Vault and Blu-Ray from Kino Lorber.

DVD

Blu-Ray