Cult Flops - The Goldywn Follies

Samuel Goldwyn/United Artists, 1938

Starring Adolph Menjou, Andrea Leeds, Vora Zorina, and Kenny Baker

Directed by George Marshall and H.C Potter

Music by Vernon Duke and George Gershwin; Lyrics by Ira Gershwin

Despite the initial success of The Hollywood Revue of 1929 and the decent showing of Paramount On Parade, revues fell out of favor rather quickly in Hollywood. It seemed people did want some semblance of a plot along with their songs and sketches. Even when musicals came back into style with the phenomenal popularity of 42nd Street, revues were not, conspicuously, part of the line-up. Most of the studios tried to revive them, but they tended to turn into something else, as with the decidedly peculiar Hollywood Party. Samuel Goldwyn's musicals had always been known more for their largess than their stories. With Eddie Cantor having left by 1938, Goldwyn opted to throw his focus into this million-dollar semi-revue that showcases some of the top acts of the day. How well do those acts work in this story of a producer who hires a young woman to give his films "the common touch?" Let's start in a small town, where producer Oliver Merlin (Menjou) is about to film a scene with his top actress Olga Samara (Zorina) and find out...

The Story: Sensible small-town girl Hazel Dawes (Leeds) tells Martin point-blank while watching the shoot that she thinks the whole romance is a lot of hooey. Samara doesn't look or act like a normal person in love. Merlin is so enchanted by her honest opinion, he hires her to be "Miss Humanity" and evaluate his films from the point of view of the ordinary, everyday theater-goer. He wants to keep Hazel free of Hollywood affectations, but she falls for sweet singing soda jerk Danny Beecher (Baker). Danny's such a wonderful singer that she gets him a job on the radio, which leads him to a Hollywood contract. Now Hazel is torn between her feelings for Danny and her "common" opinions. Not to mention, Martin has fallen for her, too, and there's a whole bevy of crazy comedians, nutty animal trainers, and wacky ventriloquist acts who are dying to get into Martin's newest show.

The Song and Dance: And with a story that fluffy, song and dance is pretty much the only thing of interest here. As goofy as the story is, some of the numbers are genuinely good. Ira Gershwin turned out a wonderful score, with his brother George and with Vernon Duke after George died. Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy get a few good wisecracks as the ventriloquist act that manages to charm the passionate Olga, while Broadway comedian Bobby Clark also has his moments as Martin's randy assistant. The color is exquisite on the copy I watched, almost candy-like in its softer pastel charms. Menjou is the stand-out along with the music as the producer who is so delighted with his new "common" lady and how she's helped his pictures, he can't see she's falling for someone else.

The Numbers: The two big chorus routines are ballets for Zorina and the American Ballet of the Metropolitan Opera. The "Romeo and Juliet Ballet" turns the famous Shakespearean tragedy into the tale of a war between popular tap dancers and jazz performers and ballet dancers and violinists in Paris. It ends up with a happy ending when Hazel complains that it's too dark and not much fun. "The Water Nymph Ballet," with has Zorina as a supernatural creature in love with a human, is better-received by Hazel. The Ritz Brothers play Russian dancers in "The Volga Boatmen" to impress Zorina. They make use of their animal act to bring in dozens of cats for "Here Pussy Pussy." Their "Serenade to a Fish" turns them into Romans, then mermen. 

Baker gets to introduce the film's three hit songs. He sings "Love Walked In" at the soda shop, and later on the radio. He also gets the standard "Our Love Is Here to Stay" and "Spring Again" in the finale at Hollywood. Scottish comedienne Ella Logan introduces "I Was Doing Alright." Poor Michael Day (Phil Baker), whose parts are perpetually cut or changed, finally gets his chance to play the accordion with "I Love to Rhyme." Opera star Helen Jepson sings numbers from "La Traviata" with baritone Charles Kulllmann and "La Serenada." 

Trivia: George Gershwin's last film project. He died during production. 

What I Don't Like: Despite having an actual story and some terrific Gershwin and Gershwin-Duke songs, this is even more of a mish-mash than the early talkie revues. Zorina is a block of ice with a strange accent, Baker and Leeds are bland as the "common people," and the comedians all seem to have walked in from other, better films entirely. The two ballet sequences are lovely, but seem out of place among the less lavish numbers. It's all just throne together with more budget than sense, despite its emphasis on finding humanity and making movies more "real." That simple story is also drawn out way beyond too long, and the ending drags like crazy. Some of the later numbers could have been trimmed with no one the wiser.

The Big Finale: In the end, this is probably of interest only to fans of ballet, the Gershwins, or the comedians in question. 

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

DVD

Amazon Prime

My Tragic Valentine - Porgy and Bess (1959)

The Samuel Goldwyn Company/Columbia, 1959

Starring Sidney Poitier, Dorothy Dandridge, Sammy Davis Jr., and Pearl Bailey

Directed by Otto Preminger

Music by George Gershwin; Lyrics by Ira Gershwin

Our next star-crossed couple weren't the only ones who had a hard time staying together. This film version of the 1935 Gershwin opera was plagued with production problems from the start. For one thing, Ira Gershwin wasn't crazy about there being a film based on his brother's life work to begin with. Second, Goldwyn made two popular musicals earlier in the decade, but Porgy and Bess was a lot darker than the fluffy comedian-driven extravaganzas he usually preferred. Rouben Mamoulien was originally going to direct as he did in 1935, but fought with Goldwyn and was replaced by Preminger. Arson destroyed the sets and costumes before shooting started, and Dandridge had just ended a relationship with Preminger and wasn't comfortable working with him. With all these problems, how did the film finally come out? Let's begin with the arrival of fishermen returning to Catfish Row in Charleston, South Carolina in 1912 and find out...

The Story: Crown (Brock Peters), the town bully, gets a little too rowdy with Robbins (Joe Fluellen) after a craps game and ends up killing him. He flees, abandoning his drug-addicted girlfriend Bess (Dandridge). Porgy (Poitier), a crippled beggar who travels by a goat-drawn cart, takes her in. They fall in love with each other, but when Crown turns up at a town picnic, he does a lot more harm to Bess than stuffing her drugs bought from Sporting Life (Sammy Davis Jr). Bess turns up back at Catfish Row two days later ranting and near-unconscious. Porgy nurses her, with the help of pious Serena (Ruth Attaway) and sensible Maria (Bailey). 

During a massive hurricane, most of the residents of Catfish Row take shelter in the largest house. Not only does Crown return and vow he'll make Bess his again, but Clara (Diahann Carroll) is killed waiting for her fisherman husband who was lost in the storm. Bess and Porgy are happy to take in Clara's baby, but Crown is still determined that Bess should be his alone. Porgy finally stabs and strangles him, but when he's called by the police to identify the body, Sporting Life sees his chance to try to get Bess to come to New York with him one last time...

The Song and Dance: Terrific all-black cast knows how to handle the melodramatic story. At the least, Preminger is on more accustomed turf with a dark opera than he was with the lighter material in That Lady In Ermine ten years before. Poitier makes a wonderful Porgy, especially near the end when he realizes Bess has walked out, and Sammy Davis Jr. is relishing his turn as the deceptively charming drug peddler Sportin' Life. For all the trouble Dandridge had on the set (she ended a stormy relationship with Preminger not long before the movie began), she does well by flighty Bess. The scene with her and Crown on the island is nearly terrifying.

The Numbers: We open with the arrival of the fishermen and Clara and her baby during "Summertime." Sportin' Life and Robbins remind the crap players why "A Woman Is a Sometimes Thing." "Here Comes De Honey Man" introduces the kindly old peddler who sells honey to the locals. Porgy explains his lot with "They Pass By Singin." "The Crap Game" becomes a chorus number when Robbins and Crown end up in a choreographed fight. "Gone, Gone, Gone," Serena wails after her husband's death, because "My Man's Gone Now." The others wonder why Porgy doesn't try for something better. "I Got Plenty O' Nuthin," and that's fine by him.

The duo admit that "Bess, You Is My Woman Now" when she finally agrees to stay with him. "Oh, I Can't Sit Down" sings Maria excitedly with the chorus before the picnic. Serena may scold everyone for having fun, but the chorus points out "I Ain't Got No Shame." After all, Sportin' Life reminds them, "It Ain't Necessarily So." Bess wants to know "What You Want With Bess," but she really already has a good idea of what Crown's after. Porgy begs for Serena to pray to "Oh Doctor Jesus" when Bess is sick. Bess assures her boyfriend "I Loves You, Porgy," while Crown claims "God and Me" will get by when he finds his "Red-Headed Woman." 

"Clara, Clara" is the brief lament for the young mother lost in the storm waiting for her fisherman husband. Bess reprises "Summertime" in her memory. Sportin' Life reminds Bess "There's a Boat Dat's Leaving for New York," and this time, she might be willing to join him on it. After we hear the "Morning Sounds" of the street vendors, Porgy comes home...and wails "O Bess, Where's My Bess?" when he realizes she's gone. We end with him taking off in  his goat-drawn cart as he sings "O Lawd, I'm On My Way."

Trivia: Robert McFerrin (father of singer Bobby McFerrin) dubbed Poitier. Adele Addison dubbed Dandridge. Inez Matthews dubbed Ruth Attaway. 

The original Broadway show debuted in 1935, with Mamoulien directing. It wasn't a success, but the music was popular enough for it be revived in New York in 1942, 1953, 1976, and 2012. 

What I Don't Like: For all the success of its music, there's a reason so many black performers turned this down, and many theater critics and historians have problems with it to this day. First of all, many of the characters here can come off as stereotypical, especially some of the nastier men like Crown and Sportin' Life. Second, this is heavy going. We're not talking about one of the Gershwin's lighthearted romps from the 30's here. Four people die (admittedly two of them in the hurricane), a woman is insinuated to have been raped, and they all but shout what that "happy dust" Sportin' Life keeps giving Bess is. 

Truth be told, no matter how much Goldwyn admired the original Broadway production, he was in over his head with this one. Preminger had a point that the lavish sets and costumes are maybe a bit too lavish for a run-down fishing neighborhood in South Carolina. No wonder someone burned them. For all the size, they're also too cramped. This is more like the filmed opera it is than an actual movie. Except for the location shooting on the island, you may as well be watching this at the Met. 

The Big Finale: Problematic but fascinating, with terrific music and performances that make it worth checking out despite the dated and dark story and treatment of black culture. 

Home Media: The Gershwin estate was so disappointed with how this came out, they won't allow it to be released on legitimate home media. The only places you can find it are in washed-out, blurry copies on YouTube and the Internet Archive.

YouTube

Internet Archive

Strike Me Pink

Goldwyn/United Artists, 1936

Starring Eddie Cantor, Ethel Merman, Sailly Eilers, and Harry Einstein (Parkyakarkus) 

Directed by Norman Taurog

Music by Harold Arlen; Lyrics by Lew Brown

By the mid-30's, the Goldwyn/Cantor extravaganzas weren't the only game in town for merriment. Berkeley had moved to Warners, while the Production Code ensured that the Goldwyn Girls could no longer show skin and Cantor's blackface numbers couldn't be quite so suggestive. Musicals had come back into fashion, and now every studio was creating lavish spectaculars featuing big numbers with lots of pretty girls. How does Cantor's last movie for Goldwyn reflect these changes? Let's begin, not with Cantor, but with college student Butch Carson (Gordon Jones) as he defends a smaller student from bullies, and find out...

The Story: Butch is a sweet guy, but he's not very bright. He turns to his friend Eddie Pink (Cantor), the owner of the tailor shop where he studies, to help him ace his final exams. He was supposed to take over managing his mother Hattie Carson's (Helene Lowell) amusement park, but joins the Navy instead. Eddie, who has read a book on how to be more assertive, gallantly agrees to take the job.

He instantly regrets it when he realizes that a group of gangsters led by Mr. Couple (William Frawley) have been pushing to have their illegal slot machines in the amusement park and have killed all of Eddie's predecessors. He manages to avoid their bullets and hypnotize one of their men, though he doesn't have much luck dodging his meddling bodyguard Parkyakarkus (Einstein). His crush on nightclub singer Joyce Lennox (Merman) may be what does him in when she convinces him that she killed a man. He'll do anything to help her, but even he thinks there's something going on when gangsters phony ghosts who can burp and play cards start chasing him and Parkyakarkus all over the amusement park!

The Song and Dance: Cantor dominates this from start to finish. He does get some good routines, especially when he's hypnotizing gangsters or convincing them he's impervious to their bullets. (I also appreciate that this is one of two Goldwyn movies where he doesn't end up in blackface, not even to avoid the mob.) Eliers gets a few good lines as his disbelieving secretary, and Frawley's a decent menacing gangster. Goldwyn's usual lavishness gives us gorgeous gowns for the ladies and location shooting at the long-gone The Pike amusement pier in Long Beach, California. 

Favorite Number: Taurog begins Merman's nightclub number "First You Have Me High" with a striking shot of her in black, with just her white face surrounded by a dark background. This eventually becomes dozens of dancing Goldwyn Girls who are joined by handsome partners as they swirl around her. Cantor admires comely Dona Drake and the Goldwyn Girls as they swirl across the stage, singing about how "The Lady Dances." Merman and Cantor sing on the Ferris wheel about how he'll be smoking a "Calabash Pipe" when they grow old together, despite her having no real interest in him. Merman gets to solo on the peppier "Shake It Off With Rhythm," this time joined by Sunnie O'Dea and the Goldwyn Girls tapping to their mirrored reflections.

Trivia: Look for a young Brian Donlevy among the thugs threatening Eddie. 

What I Don't Like: No one besides Cantor and the gangsters really have all that much to do. Merman is top-billed with Cantor, but other than her numbers and luring Eddie with her phony murder story during the middle of the movie, she's barely there. You think Jones will be a prominent character, from what a big deal they make over Eddie helping Butch out in the opening, but he vanishes after ten minutes and is neither seen, nor heard from again. Harold Arlen and Lew Brown's songs are lovely, but not that memorable.

The Big Finale: Fine for major fans of Cantor or Merman. Casual viewers will want to start with one of his earlier, better-received vehicles like The Kid from Spain or Roman Scandals. 

Home Media: Once again, easily found on streaming and DVD, the latter from the Warner Archives.

DVD

Amazon Prime

The Kid from Spain

Samuel Goldywn/United Artists, 1932

Starring Eddie Cantor, Lyda Roberti, Robert Young, and Ruth Hall

Directed by Leo McCarey

Music by Bert Kalmar; Lyrics by Harry Ruby

This week, we're returning to the wild world of comedian Eddie Cantor with two more of his vehicles for producer Samuel Goldwyn. Cantor's wacky movies were the height of escapist entertainment during the worst years of the Great Depression. Between his stage appearances, his annual movie in November or December, and his radio show, Cantor was one of the biggest stars in the world at this point. Does he live up to that legacy here, or should this movie be chased off by a bull? Let's begin very far from Spain in an oversized college room ala Goldwyn and find out...

The Story: Eddie Williams (Cantor) and his friend Ricardo (Young) are expelled from college after Ricardo gets his friend drunk and leaves him in the women's dormitory. As they figure out what to do next, Eddie accidentally finds himself mixed up in a bank robbery and forced to drive the criminals to Mexico. To Eddie's horror, he learns there's a detective (Robert Emmett O'Connor) who's hot on his trail. 

He reunites with Ricardo in Mexico and poses as Don Sebastian II, a great bullfighter, to avoid being caught. This has its own problems. Eddie tries to help Ricardo win sweet Anita Gomez (Hall), but she's promised to Pancho (John Miljan). Meanwhile, her sister Rosalie (Roberti) falls for Eddie, but she's already involved with the bandit Pedro (J. Carrol Naish). Eddie's going to have to fight that bull whether he likes it or not in order to avoid the authorities and prove to everyone that he has what it takes to be a real fighter. 

The Song and Dance: This wild bit of Hollywood fantasy benefits from Cantor's nutty brand of humor, Goldwyn's typical largess, and delightful directorial touches from both McCarey and Busby Berkeley. Berkeley's signature style is all over this movie, from the sexy (and extraneous) opening number in the pool to the big "What a Perfect Combination" number at the night club. Roberti more than matches Cantor with her odd accent and equally manic energy, while J. Carrol Naish has fun as the menacing bandit who doesn't like Eddie messing around with his girl.

Favorite Number: And we open in that girls' dormitory with their big number, "But We Must Rise (The College Song," as they begin their morning routine. Somehow their morning routine includes doing formations for an overhead camera in a huge pool and descending down a slide to their dorm room. After Eddie gets to Mexico, he sings about all the naughty things that happen "In the Moonlight" as he passes couples. 

"Look What You've Done" Eddie fusses to the delighted Rosalie as she tells him she's in love and he admits he's got a lot more on his mind than romance. Dancer Grace Poggi does a brief flamenco to an instrumental song before Eddie turns up in blackface for his big routine. "What a Perfect Combination" he claims as Goldwyn Girls in black and white lace Mexican-style outfits dance and make formations around him. 

Trivia: Real-life American matador Sidney Franklin is seen showing off his actual skills in the ring right before Eddie comes out.

What I Don't Like: This is pure Hollywood fantasy, even for Goldwyn. None of the Mexicans are played by anyone who looks or sounds remotely Mexican, including Young and Hall. Hall is so dull she fades into the woodwork. Young's having a little more fun as Eddie's more dashing friend. The songs aren't bad, but they're far from Kalmar and Ruby's best. There's also all the skin shown during that (completely extraneous) opening number, and Cantor turning up in his signature blackface for no reason to sing "What a Perfect Combination." 

The Big Finale: If you can get past the goofy stereotypes, this is one of Cantor's better vehicles and his recommended for fans of him or Berkeley's other musicals of the 30's and 40's.

Home Media: Easily found on streaming and DVD, the latter from the Warner Archives.

DVD

Amazon Prime

Kid Millions

Samuel Goldwyn Productions/United Artists, 1934

Starring Eddie Cantor, Ethel Merman, Ann Southern, and Warren Hymer

Directed by Roy Del Ruth

Music and Lyrics by various

Cantor's vehicles became an annual event for moviegoers in the early 30's. Every year in November or December, they could count on seeing Cantor clowning and dodging the advances of a crusty comedienne,  doing a blackface routine or two while Busby Berkeley created incredible chorus routines around half-naked Goldwyn Girls. Berkeley moved to Warners after the success of 42nd Street in 1933. The Production Code went into effect earlier in 1934, and among the things it forbid was scanty costumes. 

Goldwyn had to find other diversions to pair with Cantor. He came up with a new Broadway comedienne who had just made a splash two years before and an improved three-strip Technicolor process. How does all this reflect on the story of a young man who is literally chased to Egypt and back to get a fortune? Let's begin as singer Dot Clark (Merman) learns about the death of her ex-boyfriend Professor Edward Wilson (Cantor) at the shop where she works and find out...

The Story: Professor Wilson wanted his son Eddie (Cantor) to inherit the 77 million dollar fortune he found in the pyramids of Egypt. Eddie lives with his abusive adoptive father (Jack Kennedy) and stepbrothers on a leaky barge in Brooklyn, watching over the children who also live there. He only agrees to go so he can marry his girl Toots (Nora Davenport). 

Turns out, he's not the only one who thinks he deserves a cut of that cash. Dot and her current boyfriend Louie (Warren Hymer) claim to be Eddie's mother and uncle and try to kill him. Colonel Harrison Larrabee (Berton Churchill) says his company financed Wilson's explorations and should get a cut, too. Wilson's assistant Jerry Lane (George Murphy) just wants to marry Larrabee's niece Joan (Sothern), but she's angry when he tells her the money belongs to Eddie. And then after Eddie inadvertently rescues the daughter (Eve Sully) of a shiek (Paul Harvey), it turns out the money really belongs to his ancestors, and he intends to kill the son of the man who stole it!

The Song and Dance: Cantor gets a better supporting cast and a terrific production backing him this time. He and Merman are hilarious together, especially on the ship when she plays leapfrog and tickles him in order to get him to sign over the money. Sothern and Murphy have slightly more to do than usual for the young lovers in Cantor's films. Hymer's hilarious as the gangster who just wants to bump Eddie off and get the dough, and Harvey is a riot as the shiek whose sense of humor overrides the fact that he actually thinks Eddie is a nice guy. The finale in the ice cream factory of Eddie's dream is gorgeous Technicolor in shades of sherbet and candy straight out of banana splits. 

Favorite Number: We open right with Merman performing "An Earful of Music" at a song sheet store, backed by a chorus of Goldwyn Girls. Cantor sings "When My Ship Comes In" for the kids on the barge, promising them a better life with free ice cream and no spinach. The Nicholas Brothers and Goldwyn Girls give us a huge minstrel show on the barge, singing "I Want to Be a Minstrel Man." Blackface-clad Eddie gets Irving Berlin's hit "Mandy," while Murphy woos Sothern in massive hoop skirts with "Your Head On My Shoulder." 

The Goldwyn Girls amuse Cantor, Harvey, and the sheik's audience with "The Harem Dance." Cantor sings "Ok, Toots" to explain why he's devoted to his girl. The movie ends in blazing Technicolor with "The Ice Cream Fantasy," as the Girls mix the flavors in Eddie's massive streamline factory and the kids wait impatiently to get in.

Trivia: The music for "I Want to Be a Minstrel Man" would be reused as "You're All the World to Me" in the 1951 MGM film Royal Wedding. 

Look for Lucille Ball among the Minstrel Show Goldwyn Girls. 

Cantor originally introduced "Mandy" in The Ziegfeld Follies of 1919. 

What I Don't Like: This may be the strangest Cantor movie yet. Nothing makes the tiniest bit of sense, including the Egyptian setting. The second half is awash in the goofiest Middle Eastern stereotypes I've ever seen, and there's Eddie's blackface during the "Mandy" minstrel number, too. The lavish ice cream number is nifty to look at to this day, but the choreography misses Berkeley's creative and outrageous touch. 

The Big Finale: Strange as the plot is, Cantor's antics and the nice supporting cast makes this one of his better vehicles. Highly recommended if you're a fan of him or the wacky comic musicals of the 30's and 40's. 

Home Media: Easily found on DVD from the Warner Archives and on streaming. Like many Goldwyn offerings, it's currently free with commercials at Tubi. 

DVD

Tubi

Palmy Days

Samuel Goldwyn/United Artists, 1931

Starring Eddie Cantor, Charlotte Greenwood, Barbara Weeks, and Charles Middleton

Directed by A. Edward Sutherland

Music and Lyrics by various

Eddie Cantor was on top of the world after the film version of his Broadway vehicle Whoopee! ended up as the biggest hit of 1930. Producer Samuel Goldwyn immediately put him and director Busby Berkeley into more of the same. Gigantic Art Deco sets replace the Technicolor, but the Goldwyn Girls are still being put through their overhead paces, and Cantor has another hard-nose comedienne to play off of, down-to-earth Charlotte Greenwood. How does his first original starring role on film look today? Let's start, not with Cantor, but with the Goldwyn Girls making cakes and donuts at that massive streamline bakery and find out...

The Story: Eddie Simpson (Cantor) is the assistant for phony psychic Yolondo (Middleton), until he realizes Yolondo is tricking people like gym coach Helen Martin (Greenwood) out of their life savings. He turns on Yolondo and flees, passing himself off as an efficiency expert at the bakery. He tells the owner Mr. Clark that he needs more entertainment to lure in customers, and that he wants his pretty daughter Joan (Weeks) as his secretary. He thinks he's fallen for Joan, but she's in love with Steve (Paul Page). When Yolondo and his men try to make off with the bakery's payroll, it's up to Eddie and Helen to stop them and save the day!

The Song and Dance: Cantor and Greenwood may seem to be a strange fit on paper, but they make a rather charming couple. Her crusty demeanor contrasts nicely with his motor mouth and nervous tics. Goldwyn, as usual, spared no expense on this one. We have the biggest Art Deco bakery in Hollywood, gorgeous gowns for the ladies, and cinematographer Gregg Toland helping out Berkeley with some terrific overhead shots in his numbers. Berkeley continues to show what made him a legend with his two surreal numbers here. Middleton, best known for playing Ming the Merciless in the Flash Gordon serials, makes a great exotic heavy, too. 

Favorite Number: The first number takes the Goldwyn Girls from the bakery to the gym as Charlotte Greenwood encourages them to "Bend Down Sister." They certainly do that as Greenwood leads them through calisthenics. Berkeley takes over after the switch to using sticks, slowing them down as their hands wave, filming them overhead and in an S formation. Cantor prances to "There's Nothing Too Good for My Baby" in blackface at the bakery show. 

The big hit here was "My Baby Said Yes, Yes." Surprisingly for one of Cantor's movies, it starts off as a plot number, with Cantor excitedly admitting to Joan that he loves her. The Goldwyn Girls take over mid-way through the song, holding up circle boxes as they make box formations. 

Trivia: Look for George Raft in one of his earliest films as Yolondo's goon Joe. 

What I Don't Like: Cantor's brand of manic comedy is an acquired taste for many audiences today. I think he still has his moments, but others find him to be too annoying or fussy. The songs besides "Yes Yes" aren't that memorable, no matter how many overhead shorts Berkeley gives them. The story is even goofier than Whoopee! and makes even less sense. (Though at least this avoids the stereotypes that mar that film.) Weeks is charming enough as sensible Joan, but Page is so colorless as the guy she really loves, he's barely in the movie. 

The Big Finale: If you like Cantor or Greenwood or want to see some of Berkeley's early work, say "yes, yes" to this wild comedy. 

Home Media: Easy to find on DVD and streaming; the former is from the Warner Archives. 

DVD

Amazon Prime

A Song Is Born

Samuel Goldwyn Productions/RKO, 1948

Starring Danny Kaye, Virginia Mayo, Benny Goodman, and Hugh Herbert

Directed by Howard Hawks

Music and Lyrics by various

Kaye's movies had been among the top moneymakers for their year since Up In Arms debuted...but A Song Is Born ran into unexpected problems. Kaye was separated from his wife Sylvia, and he wouldn't sing anything that she didn't write. Hawks wasn't happy about remaking his 1941 non-musical comedy Ball of Fire and only did this because Goldwyn offered him a hefty paycheck. With all this going on, how well does the story of seven music professors who protect a nightclub singer come off? Let's begin at the old Victorian mansion that houses the Totten Foundation and find out...

The Story: Professor Hobart Frisbee (Kaye) and seven other professors have been writing a musical encyclopedia for the past nine years. They realize there's types of music even they don't know about when two window washers (dance team Buck and Bubbles) tell them about pop music - jive, big band, blues, swing, and be-bop. Frisbee goes to nightclubs in search of performers who can represent these types of music in their albums.

He returns with some of the most beloved musicians of the day, along with singer Honey Swanson (Mayo). Honey has her own reasons for being there. She wants protection from her gangster boyfriend Tony Crow (Steve Cochran), who wants to force her into marriage so she can't testify against him in court. Hobart and their stuffy housekeeper Miss Bragg (Esther Dale) object to Honey's hotter and sexier type of music at first, until she teaches Hobart about kissing. Hobart enjoys it so much, he falls for her and wants to marry her. Not only does Miss Bragg not approve and wants Honey out, but Crow and his boys are hot on her trail, too!

The Song and Dance: For all the trouble they had making it, this turned out to be unexpectedly fun. Kaye is an adorable befuddled professor, and while Mayo isn't Barbara Stanwyck, she's not bad as the tough-minded tootsie who causes a lot of the trouble. The big attraction here, of course, are the orchestras and singing groups brought together to jam in the second half. If you love swing or big-band music, you'll probably see at least one favorite musician here. Look for drummer Lionel Hampton, Louis Armstrong, Tommy Dorsey and his orchestra (and references to his brother Jimmy), The Golden Gate Quartet, and Charlie Barnet and his group. 

Favorite Number: We open with the title number, which is heard over the credits and performed by Virginia Mayo (and dubbed by Jeri Sullivan) at the nightclub. Benny Goodman, who plays one of the professors, joins Ford Washington Lee (Buck) for "B-A-C-H Boogie" and "Anitra's Boogie." Tommy  Dorsey and his band lay into "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You," while Mel Powell gets "Muskrat Ramble." Lionel Hampton and Louis Armstrong show off the "Goldwyn Stomp" at the nightclub, while Charlie Barnet and his orchestra go on a "Redskin Rhumba." The professors all sing the old hit "Sweet Genevieve" for Honey, while the Golden Gate Quartet sing "Old Blind Barnabas." 

All the bands join in to ultimately fight off the bad guys - and bring down a drum on them - with the traditional spiritual "Joshua Fit de Battle of Jericho." The Quartet performs it first, but when that doesn't make the drum go in the right way, everyone joins in...including Hampton and Kaye's smashing performance on the drums!

What I Don't Like: This is actually a rather unusual role for Kaye. His rift with Fine means we don't get one of his usual patter numbers, and with the exception of the opening folk dance routine with Miss Totten (Mary Field) and the big finale, seems oddly detached from the proceedings. While it's not nearly as bad as Hawks made it out to be later, it lacks a lot of the sharper comedy in the original, as well as the odd juxtaposition between slangy Stanwyck and drawling Gary Cooper. 

The Big Finale: If you love the jazz and big band music of the 40's and early 50's, this is recommended for the cameos by many famous orchestras and musicians alone. 

Home Media: The solo DVD is currently very expensive, but it is available bundled with the other early Kaye Goldwyn movies on a Warner Archives set, and can be easily found streaming for free. 

DVD - Danny Kaye: The Goldwyn Years

Amazon Prime

The Kid from Brooklyn

Samuel Goldwyn Productions/RKO, 1946

Starring Danny Kaye, Vera-Ellen, Virginia Mayo, and Steve Cochran

Directed by Norman Z. McLeod

Music and Lyrics by various

This week, we're jumping from Universal to Goldwyn for two early Danny Kaye vehicles. This was Kaye's third movie, coming after Up In Arms and Wonder Man. It used most of the same cast as the latter, including Vera-Ellen and Virginia Mayo, and the same idea of a mild and meek Kaye going up against tough guys. Classic comedian Harold Lloyd did this in 1932 as the non-musical comedy The Milky Way. How well does the story of a milkman who turns boxer to impress a singer look with Kaye's brand of manic comedy? Let's begin with the Goldwyn Girls, as they doll up their bovine friends, and find out...

The Story: The opening number is actually a commercial for Sunflower Dairy, which is the company Burleigh Sullivan (Kaye) works for. He first encounters Polly Pringle (Mayo) when the horse pulling his milk truck collapses and he borrows her phone to call a vet. He's smitten and tries to get her a job as a singer at the nightclub where his dancer sister Susie (Vera-Ellen) works. That only ends up getting him fired. However, when he catches two guys trying to assault Susie behind the theater, he accidentally knocks both of them out!

Turns out the two guys were champion boxer Speed McFarlane (Cochran) and his bodyguard Spider (Lionel Stander). The story is picked up by local newspapers, which just gets Speed's manager Gabby (Walter Abel) angry. At least, until he sees Burleigh knock Speed out again and decides he wants Spider to train him as a fighter. Gabby wants to fix Burleigh's fights and bet money on them to win. Burleigh's ego inflates when he thinks he's doing it...until his old boss at Sunflower Dairy buys his contract and Gabby convinces him to do a charity fight with Speed for wealthy Mrs. LeMoyne (Faye Bainter). He'll need a little help from both women if he wants to survive in the ring!

The Song and Dance: Kaye's hilarious boxing bouts and his interaction with burly Stander and fast-talking Abel are the highlights of this one. Eve Arden also gets a few good lines as Gabby's sarcastic and knowing girlfriend Ann. Though the story is a bit simpler than Wonder Man, Goldwyn still spared no expense on the production. We get Technicolor, glittering costumes for the ladies, and some interesting sets, especially with the dairy number in the opening. Mayo and Vera Ellen have a little more to do this time, particularly the latter, who gets a romance with Speed and two big chorus routines. Bainter is hilarious in the second half as the patron of the arts who is the one who finally gets to take down Burleigh. 

Favorite Number: We open with the Goldwyn Girls as country gals in flowered hats and checked shorts, singing "The Sunflower Song" as they extol the virtues of dairy products and contented cows. "Hey, What's Your Name?" is Vera Ellen's big chorus number at the nightclub, as she performs with a male choir and the Goldwyn Girls in early 1900's dress. Mayo admits "You're the Cause of It All" once she does finally get a job at a club. Mayo's "I Love an Old Fashioned Song" at Mrs. LeMoyne's benefit gala with a kindly old policeman leads into another early 1900's dance routine for Vera-Ellen and the chorus, "Josie." Kaye disrupts the end of the number with Russian dancers and his homage to famous Russians, "Pavlova."

What I Don't Like: Honestly, the story's even thinner than Up In Arms, and it relies just as heavily on Kaye's brand of manic slapstick. If you don't like him, forget it. The songs aren't terribly memorable, and other than the opening dairy number with the Goldwyn Girls, don't have much to do with the plot. 

The Big Finale: One of Kaye's better Goldwyn vehicles if you're a fan of him or the leading ladies. 

Home Media: Easy to find on DVD and streaming. It's on many free streaming sites, including Tubi. 

DVD - Danny Kaye: The Goldwyn Years

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Saluting Our Troops - Up In Arms

Samuel Goldwyn Productions/RKO, 1944

Starring Danny Kaye, Dinah Shore, Dana Andrews, and Constance Dowling

Directed by Elliot Nugent

Music and Lyrics by various

We salute the men and women of the Armed Services for Veteran's Day with Danny Kaye's first feature-length movie and vehicle for Goldwyn. Ever since Eddie Cantor left in the late 30's, Goldwyn had looked for another star comedian of his caliber. He found him in former nightclub comic Kaye, who had just scored a major success on Broadway in the stage hit Lady In the Dark. Goldwyn spared no expense for Kaye's first film, pairing him with beloved radio singer Shore and heartthrob Andrews in what amounted to a World War II-themed remake of Cantor's first sound film Whoopee! How does the story of a hypochondriac who ends up in the Army look today? Let's start in the hospital, where elevator operator Danny Weems (Kaye) constantly rattles on to people about their non-existent health problems, and find out...

The Story: Nurse Virginia Merrill (Shore) is in love with Danny, but he's in love with another nurse, Mary Morgan (Dowling). Mary's really interested in Danny's best friend Joe (Andrews). Danny is horrified when he's drafted into the Army. All those germs overseas! Joe joins up to keep an eye on him. Mary and Virginia are also enlisted as Army nurses. Danny smuggles Mary onboard their transport ship to the South Pacific, but they're caught and he ends up in the brig. 

He's still in prison after they land on the South Seas island. That works to his advantage when he's inadvertently rescued by a troop of Japanese soldiers. He's going to have to do a lot more than worry about these guys' health when he has to impersonate their head commander and capture them himself!

The Song and Dance: Kaye bursts out of the gate running on his first try. He did a few low-budget shorts in the late 30's, but nothing like this. He runs with it, sometimes literally, whether he's rattling off lists of his non-existent symptoms (and everyone else's), or doing a song and dance in literal Hell with Shore. Shore's not bad as the nurse who is really interested in him. She manages to hold her own with him in the Hell number and sounds gorgeous on her ballads. 

Favorite Number: Kaye's best number is early in the film, when he recreates what sounds like Goldwyn's idea of the  musical Something For the Boys in lobby of a movie theater. He even gets the patrons doing a Carmen Miranda conga line at one point. Shore performs the gentle ballad "Now I Know" while making a record for the folks back home at a carnival. "All Out For Freedom" is the big rousing chorus number as everyone, the soldiers and the nurses, march onto the transport boat. The chorus also joins in for Shore's other ballad, the bluesy "Tess' Torch Song" on board ship. Kaye's other patter number, which he performs to distract the troops from Mary's presence, is "Melody In 4 F." 

The one for the books is Kaye's dream sequence near the end of the film. We first have him in a pastel nightclub, complete with pale blue goat on a leash, as he's about to marry his Mary. That dream turns quickly into something quite different as the Goldwyn Girls trade pastel bridesmaids dresses for slinky black gowns as they recline against spindly trees and Shore comes out scatting in a tight black gown. 

Trivia: Goldwyn originally planned to have the Disney short "The Gremlins" as the fantasy sequence, but the spot and short were eventually scrapped.

Dowling's film debut. Virginia Mayo can be spotted in the chorus. 

What I Don't Like: This hasn't dated any better than Whoopee! In fact, despite having a different story, it shares the same problems - namely, stereotyped minority characters and an extremely stiff second couple. Andrews, charismatic as he is, was never really comfortable in musicals. Dowling is so dull, you can't really understand what either man sees in her. The last 20 minutes, with Danny leading a troop of Japanese soldiers around while dressed as a stereotypical Japanese officer, will be more than a little uncomfortable for many viewers today. Not to mention, the sudden switch to action comedy doesn't really work well with the slapstick farce that came before it. There's also the abrupt ending, with one last doctor gag from Danny before a sudden, nonsensical reprise of his fantasy/Hell number with Shore and the Goldwyn Girls.

The Big Finale: This is only for major fans of Shore, Andrews, and Kaye or wartime musicals. Everyone else is advised to check out Kaye's better vehicles like The Court Jester or White Christmas before coming anywhere near here. 

Home Media: Available on streaming and on DVD as part of the Warner Archives set Danny Kaye: The Goldwyn Years. 

DVD - Danny Kaye: The Goldwyn Years

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Wonder Man

Samuel Goldwyn/RKO, 1945

Starring Danny Kaye, Virginia Mayo, Vera-Ellen, and Donald Woods

Directed by H. Bruce Humberstone

Music and Lyrics by Sylvia Fine

This week, we're going to dive into Danny Kaye's career with two of his more unique musicals. Not too many comedians could pull off a dual role...but Danny did it four times, twice in musical films, including this one. This was his second film for Samuel Goldwyn, and may be the first to show off the full range of his talents - singing, dancing, manic comedy, slapstick, even a bit of drama. How does this story of a history writer who gets involved with his louder twin's troubles look now? Let's start with the recent headlines in New York that reveal how comic Buzzy Bellew (Kaye) is the only witness to the murder of a chorus girl by gangster "Ten Grand" Jackson (Steve Cochran) and find out...

The Story: The moment Ten Grand is let out of jail, he has his goons Chimp (Allen Jenkins) and Torso (Edward Brophy) murder Buzzy in his dressing room. The only one who knows is Buzzy's meek twin Edwin (Kaye). He's more interested in writing his history book and dating pretty and smart librarian Ellen Shandley (Mayo) than his twin's problems, until Buzzy gets him into the park and possesses his body. Now Edwin has to dodge the crooks, do Buzzy's nightclub act, figure out what to do about his amorous fiancee Midge Mallon (Vera-Ellen), and explain to Ellen and the district attorney (Otto Kruger) that he's not crazy, before he joins his twin ten feet under!

The Song and Dance: Kaye jumps into the roles of the mild and shy Edwin and the wild and wacky Buzzy with relish. The special effects that allows Kaye to interact with himself won an Oscar in 1945 and still look good today, especially when Buzzy's possessing Edwin, or he's running around the park, grabbing onto tree limbs and kicking cops. Jenkins and Brophy have a few funny moments as Jackson's men, who can't believe Buzzy keeps turning up after they killed him. Lavish sets and costumes and gorgeous Technicolor bring sparkle to a relatively dark story.

Favorite Number: The film kicks off with the peculiar "Bali Boogie," a cross between Javanese dancing and swing that gives Vera-Ellen a chance to show off her dancing and Danny Kaye to mug outrageously. "So In Love" is Vera-Ellen's other big number as the Goldwyn Girls encourage her to wait for her boyfriend in colorful gowns and she ends up dancing with other guys. Buzzy takes control of Edwin's body to imitate a Russian going into sneezing fits over flowers at the nightclub in "Otchi Tchorniya," but it's Edwin who gets into the spirit of his big opera number in full Renaissance dress with real-life diva Alice Mock.

Trivia: Vera-Ellen's first film.

Fans of the East Side Kids and Bowery Boys comedies may recognize the sailor who punches Edwin after he thinks he's flirting with his girl. It's Huntz Hall, aka Satch, appearing in his only color film. 

What I Don't Like: Obviously, if you're not into Kaye's brand of manic comedy, this isn't for you. Vera-Ellen does get in on one big number and has another to herself, but Virginia Mayo could have been given more to do than fuss over Edwin standing her up. The songs aren't that great, and none of them really have much to do with anything, other than the opera spoof keeping Edwin away from the gangsters in the end. 

The Big Finale: One of Kaye's better Goldwyn vehicles if you're a fan of his or the two leading ladies.

Home Media: On DVD as part of the Danny Kaye: The Goldwyn Years set from Warner Archives; can also be found on streaming. 

DVD - Danny Kaye: The Goldwyn Years

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Whoopee!

United Artists, 1930

Starring Eddie Cantor, Ethel Shutta, Eleanor Hunt, and Paul Gregory

Directed by Thorton Freeland

Music by Walter Donaldson and others; Lyrics by Gus Kahn and others

Florenz Ziegfeld had been the biggest impresario on Broadway since his famous Follies began in 1907. Women came from across the country to be "glorified" and glamorized in his huge extravaganzas. Cantor worked his way from vaudeville stardom to becoming one of Ziegfeld's most popular players; Whoopee! was his biggest hit for the producer. Desperate for money after the Depression wiped him out, Ziegfeld partnered with another famous producer, Samuel Goldwyn, to bring Whoopee! to the big screen. How does this modern-set western look now? Let's start on the ranch, just as a wedding is being announced, and find out...

The Story: Pretty Sally Morgan (Hunt) is supposed to marry Sheriff Bob Wells (Jack Rutherford), but she really loves half-native, eastern-educated Wanenis (Gregory). Hoping to evade Wells and find Wanenis, she escapes out a window with hypochondriac guest Henry Williams (Cantor). He thinks he's giving her a ride out of town, but she left a note claiming they're going to elope! Bob, his deputies, Sally's father Jud (Walter Law) go after Williams to arrest him; his nurse Mary (Shutta) wants to marry him. Williams does everything from steal a car to dress in blackface to join an Indian tribe in order to avoid the entire lot of them.

The Song and Dance: Busby Berkeley's first Hollywood assignment, the gorgeous color, and a few good bits from Cantor are the selling points here. This is one of the few full two-strip Technicolor films of its era left, and it looks incredible. That rich turquoise sky pops off the screen. Shutta matches Cantor pretty well as the tough lady who likes her men meek and mild. Berkeley's style is obvious even at this early point, with several overhead shots of ladies in cowboy hats and native headdresses and choreography that plays to the camera, rather than just tapping in front of it. 

Favorite Number: The big hit that made it into the film was Cantor's knowing "Makin' Whoopee," which he sings (with different lyrics) surrounded by a bevy of pink-clad bridesmaids. An incredibly young and perky Betty Grable opens the movie with the chorus singing about how much they love "Cowboys" as they tap for the camera and Berkeley makes overhead patterns with their hats. Cantor laments to Hunt how he lost "A Girlfriend of a Boyfriend of Mine" when they're on the run from the Sheriff in the car. "The Song of the Setting Sun" brings on the Indian tribe for some big native dances, feather-trimmed overhead shots, while the charter roster of Goldwyn Girls parade their beaded costumes and fancy capes before the camera.

Trivia: The original Broadway show opened in 1928 and ran a year, not bad for the time. A revival on Broadway in 1979 lasted about three months and added a few extra songs not in the original show, including "My Baby Just Cares for Me" from the film.

What I Don't Like: Stereotypes of all varieties run amok in this one, from Cantor's blackface routine to the extraneous "My Baby Just Cares for Me" to the ridiculous Indian-loves-white-woman plot and overdone Indian tribe. That over-the-top finale in particular with what Waneris turns out to be will likely make many viewers cringe today, rather than cheer. There's also times when this being an early talkie comes to the fore, especially during non-musical sequences that have people just standing around talking. 

Most of the songs from the original show besides "Makin' Whoopee" were eliminated, and "Whoopee" had its lyrics largely re-written. I wish they'd at least found a way to sneak in the other big hit "Love Me or Leave Me" and its star Ruth Etting, even if neither she nor the song had much to do with the rest of the show. 

The Big Finale: The dated plot and heavy stereotypes make this mainly of interest to fans of Cantor, Berkeley, or the films of the early sound era. 

Home Media: Easy to find on DVD from the Warner Archives or streaming.

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Hans Christian Andersen

The Samuel Goldwyn Company, 1952
Starring Danny Kaye, Zizi Jeanmaire, Farley Granger, and Joseph Walsh
Directed by Charles Vidor
Music and Lyrics by Frank Loesseur

This week, we're going to explore the world of fantasy with two very different retellings of favorite fairy tales. Danny Kaye was at the height of his popularity as a beloved comedian when he appeared in this supposed version of the life of the famous Danish author of The Little Mermaid, Thumbelina, and other romantic tales. How well does Kaye do with Hans and his stories? Let's head to tiny Odense, Denmark, in the 1830's to hear a story from Hans himself and find out...

The Story: Hans the Cobbler (Kaye) loves telling stories to the children of the town. He keeps doing it during school hours, upsetting the school master (John Brown). Trying to avoid being thrown out of town, Hans' apprentice Peter (Walsh) suggests they take their wares to Copehagen and try their luck there.

Upon their arrival, Hans is arrested for dancing on a statue of the king. Peter gets him out by offering their services to the Royal Danish Ballet. Hans falls hard for its prima ballerina Doro (Zizi Jeanmaire), but despite their seemingly antagonistic relationship, she's really in love with her husband Niels (Granger), the dance master. He even writes her a story, The Little Mermaid, which they turn into a ballet. Peter tries to tell Hans that Doro isn't interested in him, but he's too smitten to listen. His love life may not be all he hoped, but his stories become better-known after they're printed in Copenhagen's newspaper, finally making him a real writer.

The Song and Dance: This is probably Kaye's best-known solo vehicle, and I can understand why. He's a wonderfully warm Andersen, sweet with Jeanmaire and adorable with the children. This was Jeanmaire's debut; she's a fabulous dancer, is very funny sparring with the grumpy Granger, and is so sensual and flirtatious, you can understand why Hans became smitten.

This is also a really beautiful movie. Goldwyn went all-out in bringing Andersen's world to life. The color is exquisite, the costumes delicate and gorgeous, especially the stunning ballet outfits. My favorites are the unique transparent tutus seen on Jeanmaire and the ladies in the "No Two People" number and the colorful peasant outfits in Odense.

Favorite Number: I saw this a lot on independent TV stations when I was little, and it was my introduction to the delights of ballet and Frank Loesser. Of the three ballets in the film, by far the best is the lovely "Little Mermaid" in the finale. This may have been my first "Little Mermaid," well before the Disney film came out, and it's touching, romantic, and gorgeously danced.

Loesser wrote what may be his finest full movie score here. Kaye scores with the short but charming "Inchworm," sung in counterpoint with the children in school, the sweet "Thumbelina" in the prison with a little girl outside, and the gorgeous ballad "Anywhere I Wander" as he dreams of his adored Doro.

Trivia: Goldwyn had been working on this since 1936, and even considered doing it with Walt Disney at one point.

It was nominated for six Oscars, including Best Song for "Thumbelina."

What I Don't Like: Um, the spiel in the opening isn't kidding about this being "a fairy tale about a spinner of fairy tales." Other than him being Danish and a cobbler, this has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with Andersen's real life. The idea of him being in love with a ballerina is sweet, but it's also pure Hollywood fantasy.

The Big Finale: If you have children of your own, or you love ballet, Loesser, Kaye, or the real Andersen's stories, you'll want to dance on over and check this one out.

Home Media: The Blu-Ray is out of print, but it can still be found fairly easily on DVD.

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Blu-Ray

Guys and Dolls

Samuel Goldywn/MGM, 1955
Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Starring Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons, Frank Sinatra, and Vivian Blaine.

The Story: Nathan Detroit (Sinatra) runs an illegal crap game on Time Square in New York. He needs money to find a place to hold the game for major player Big Jule (BS Pully) from Chicago. Sky Masterson (Brando) is the biggest gambler on Broadway. He'll make a bet on anything...including whether he can take pretty young missionary Sarah Brown (Simmons) on a date to Havana. Meanwhile, Nathan has his own doll problems. Miss Adelaide (Blaine), his fiancee of 14 years, is telling him between psychosomatic sniffles that she wants to finally tie the knot and for him to give up gambling.

Sky and Sarah do make it to Havana, and after an incident at a nightclub, they do fall for each other...until they catch Nathan and the guys using the mission for their crap game. Adelaide's even angrier that Nathan's still playing, too. Sky's willing to risk it all to prove to his mission doll that he's willing to change...and that if she can go to Havana, maybe he and Nathan can give being "respectable" a try.

The Cast: Ironically, it's the non-singers who give the best performances. Brando's only so-so as a crooner, but his Sky Masterson is both intense and likable. Simmons is even better as Sarah, the uptight religious woman who learns to let loose and maybe even love a criminal. Blaine played Adelaide on Broadway, and she's not bad, especially in her "Adelaide's Lament" on her chronic cold. Sinatra wanted to play Sky Masterson badly...and as good as Brando was, maybe he had a point. He was obviously stiff and uncomfortable as perpetual loser Detroit. Stubby Kaye and the other gangsters are much better, especially Pully as tough-guy Big Jule.

Favorite Number: Simmons has a sweet singing voice that did well by "If I Were a Bell" and "I'll Know." She and Brando didn't sound too bad on "A Woman In Love," either. Brando's "Luck Be a Lady" is a high point, beautifully capturing Sky's feelings on his need to win this bet. There's some great choreography in the crap game dance routine right before "Luck Be a Lady" and in the famous "Runyonland" opening number. Stubby Kaye has a blast with the gospel spoof "Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat."

What I Don't Like: Sinatra's bitterness over losing the role of Masterson carries over to his performance. "Sue Me" and "Adelaide" are stiff when they should be warm and funny. He sounds better in chorus numbers like the title song. I wish they'd kept some more of the songs from the stage version. I would have especially liked to have heard Brando's take on "My Time of Day."

The Big Finale: Required viewing if you're a fan of Brando and Simmons or the musicals of the 1950's.

Home Media: DVD
Blu Ray