Fiesta (1941)

Hal Roach/United Artists, 1941

Starring Ann Ayers, Jorge Negrete, Armida, and George Givot

Directed by LeRoy Prinz

Music and Lyrics by various

Let's celebrate Cinco De Mayo, the day of Mexico's great victory against France in the Franco-Mexican War of 1862. While it's no longer a major holiday in most of Mexico, in the US it's still considered a day to celebrate Mexican heritage and culture. Hal Roach gathered many of the Mexican and Mexican-American actors working in Los Angeles in the early 40's for this feature length "Streamliner." How does the story of a Mexican lass whose boyfriend tries to win her love when she falls for a gold-digging radio star look now? Let's begin in town, right as Cholita (Ayres) is to return and wed her childhood sweetheart Jose (Negrete) and find out...

The Story: Cholita shocks everyone when she arrives with radio star Fernando (Givot) in tow and claims he's her fiance. Jose is crushed, but her uncle Don Hernandez (Antonio Moreno) suggests he and two friends of his pose as bandits to reveal how cowardly Fernando really is. Meanwhile. Cholita's friend wealthy friend Cuca (Armida) has her own heart set on Fernando...and he's not exactly saying no to her riches...

The Song and Dance: Colorful and charming for a low-budget comedy. Ayers was a star at the time with the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera, and she gets to show off her luminous soprano in several numbers. Armida, who had been playing fiery senoritas since the early talkie era, steals the show as the rich lady who knows what she likes and doesn't care how much of a coward Fernando is or isn't. The Technicolor sets and costumes are gorgeous for a B-musical, with brightly patterned or pastel dresses for the ladies and fancy embroidered suits, sombreros, and woven ponchos for the men.

I also like the relatively accurate casting. With the exception of Jose's two friends (played by Italian-American actors), Givot (who was Russian-born), Ayres (American), and the narrator, most of the cast are actual Mexicans and Spaniards. They add a layer of authenticity to the simple story. Several of the songs are even in untranslated Spanish.

Favorite Number: In fact, we open with one of those untranslated numbers, "El Ralajo," which Jose sings as he arrives to prepare for his wedding. Jose also gets "Ride Mi Caballeros" with his buddies when they pretend to turn bandits. His buddies Pedro (Nick Moro) and Pablo (Frank Yaconelli) claim to be "The Two Bravest Hombres In All Mexico"...when in reality, they're even bigger cowards than Fernando. 

Cholita claims "I'll Never Forget Fiesta" after she's arrived home, despite her father's disapproval of her new sweetheart. The Guadalarja Trio join Cholita and the chorus for the gentle ballad "La Golondria" as Cholita's uncle claims Jose has turned bandit. Cuca's "Never Trust a Jumping Bean" has goofy lyrics, but she's obviously enjoying it, wiggling her hips and having a great time with the catchy tune. "Quien Sabe" is is heard three times, as a number for Jose and the Trio, as a duet for Jose and Cholita, and as a chorus number for a group of lively gypsy dancers.

Trivia: Ann Ayers never made a big splash in films, but she eventually became a major soprano at the Metropolitan Opera in New York and would sing in the opera-based film Tales of Hoffman.  

What I Don't Like: The story is pretty silly, and maybe even a little on the stereotypical side. It's fine for the 45-minute run time, but this isn't the place for you if you like your musicals on the darker or meatier side. Most of the "stereotypes" are ironically perpetuated by Jose's buddies Pedro and Pablo, the ones played by Italian-Americans. They were probably harmless in the 40's, but may mildly offend some folks today. Ayers is blank and dull when she isn't singing, and despite being seven years younger than Armida, looks at least a decade older. 

The Big Finale: Cute enough way to pass an hour when you're bored online if you can get past some of the more overt stereotypes. 

Home Media: Beware - several free sites have this instead of the 1947 Fiesta with Esther Williams, even if they have the 1947 version listed. (Among those with this under the wrong title are Flex and YouTube.) Amazon Prime currently has it for free under the correct listing.

DVD

Amazon Prime

Animation Celebration Saturday - The Puppetoon Movie

Expanded Entertainment, 1987

Voices of Rex Ingram, Paul Frees, Dallas McKennon, and Art Clokey

Directed by Arnold Leibovit

Music and Lyrics by various

George Pal was a pioneer of stop-motion animation who began his career in Germany during the early 30's, making shorts in his native Hungary, then Germany. He did two short ads for Dutch electronics company Phillips in the mid 30's, and five more for Horlick's Malted Milk in England before coming to the US in 1940. From 1941 to 1947, he continued the shorts for Paramount. He used wooden dolls in a wide variety of expressions and poses and meticulously detailed backgrounds to create his "Puppetoons," which were especially popular during and directly after the war years. By 1987, stop motion animation had made a comeback on television with advertising characters like the California Raisins, and the Puppetoons were a staple of cable and video showings. Are they still unique today, almost a century later? Let's begin with another favorite stop-motion character, Gumby (McKennon), making a film and find out...

The Story: Gumby is frustrated when Arnie the dinosaur (Frees) won't eat the deer in the film like he's supposed to. Arnie explains he was inspired by George Pal and his creations to not eat meat. Gumby doesn't know who Pal was or why he was important. Arnie and Pokey (Clokey) introduce Gumby to twelve of his most famous shorts (including three Oscar nominees) to explain what he did and how he pioneered techniques that continued to be used for stop-motion cartoons like Gumby's and beyond.

The Animation: You can see shades of everything from Wallace and Gromit to recent Latika releases like Kubo and the Two Strings in Pal's embryonic work. Though sometimes the characters can be a little too creepy when they're supposed to be joyful or cheerful, especially in the earlier shorts, they're generally very expressive for wooden dolls. 

The Song and Dance: The shorts and their accompanying songs are a real mixed bag. The two early Phillips ads has some nice music and nifty glow-in-the-dark effects, but not much else. "John Henry and the Inky Poo" is a largely respectful look at an African-American folk legend, complete with tragic ending and Rex Ingram's touching narration. "Hoola Boola" and "South Seas Sweethearts" are the Horlick's ads, with some really nice water effects for the time along with the obvious product placement. "Tubby the Tuba" is a very sweet adaptation of the famous orchestral song, and Peggy Lee gets to really go to town with a lively orchestra in "Jasper In a Jam."

Favorite Number: Redheaded male puppet Jim Dandy turns up twice, as the young orchestra leader with the glow-in-the-dark instruments in "The Little Broadcast" and a south-seas island beachcomber who falls for a lovely native in "Hoola Boola." Another orchestra livens up the "Phillips Broadcast of 1938" with "Did You Ever See a Dream Walking?" Those musical instruments moving by themselves may have freaked Jasper out, but they sure could put on a show! Peggy Lee performs "Old Man Mose Is Dead" as clarinets toot by themselves and totem poles grab at poor Jasper. The film finishes with "Tubby the Tuba" and his frog friend, who want to show that deep voiced animals and instruments are ready for their big solos.

Trivia: In the finale, look for advertising icons Speedy Alka-Seltzer, the Pillsbury Dough Boy, and Mr. Peanut, along with Spike from Gremlins in the last seconds. 

What I Don't Like: Some of the shorts are more than a little dated. The South Seas shorts feature native stereotypes that may offend some folks nowadays. Jasper was a controversial character even in the 40's; this is actually one of his less-offensive shorts. Pal later said he didn't mean anything bad by him, but his big-lipped design looks a little too much like blackface and may sit even less well with folks now. That "When Tulips Grow" begins and ends happily doesn't make the middle any less depressing, or make it less of an obvious allegory for what the Nazis were doing to Europe in 1942. And while it's great to learn about the pioneering Pal, we never do see a dinosaur in any of the shorts, nor learn why they inspired Arnie to stop eating other animals.

The Big Finale: Worth checking out if you love stop motion or Pal's other work, or want to teach your kids about animation history...but make sure you're around to explain the stereotypes and some of the darker moments in "John Henry" and "When Tulips Grow." 

Home Media: This and its follow-up The Puppetoon Movie Part 2 are out of print and incredibly expensive on disc, but can often be found for free on streaming. 

Amazon Prime

Tubi

Bernadine

20th Century Fox, 1957

Starring Dick Sargent, Pat Boone, Terry Moore, and Janet Gaynor

Directed by Henry Levin

Music and Lyrics by various

Boone made his film debut in this movie from earlier in 1957. This is based after a hit non-musical play from 1953, and apparently was originally intended for Robert Wagner. Boone tested for Sargent's role, but he ended up playing his buddy. This movie about four teen boys who meddle in the love life of one was a huge hit in its time, as was Boone's rendition of "Love Letters In the Sand"...but does it still work today? Let's begin with those boys in the locker room of Wingate High School and find out...

The Story: Sanford Wilson (Sargent), Arthur "Beau" Beaumont (Boone), and Griner (Ronnie Burns) are members of the speed boat team who chase girls and hang out together at the Shamrock Club, a local dive. Sanford's not as good with the ladies or his grades as the others, until they try to call the phone number of their ideal "dream girl" Bernadine and get Jean (Moore), a pretty young operator. Sanford is smitten and asks her to a local club to see bongos player Jack Costanzo (himself). He thinks he's found his perfect "Bernadine," but then learns he may not graduate if he can't pass his finals. He's also not crazy about his widowed mother (Gaynor) remarrying a local man (Dean Jagger). Beau and Griner try to help, but their tutoring in love and academics ends up causing more trouble than it solves.

The Song and Dance: I can see why Boone went on to be a star, even just for a few years. He has far more charisma than most of the cast, or really for the part he's playing. Gaynor's sweet and darling as his kindly mother who is rediscovering love for the first time in years. The Technicolor is gorgeous, especially when they're outside during the big speed boat race scene. 

Favorite Number: Our first song has the boys singing an ode to their non-existent "Bernadine" - or at least, a cardboard cutout of her - at the Shamrock Club. Beau teaches Sanford the "Technique" of winning a girl over and keeping her interested. John Constanzo gets a big instrumental "Blue Moon" to himself at the club where he pounds away at those bongos. He's really good - no wonder Sanford wanted to see him so badly.

Of course, the big one here is "Love Letters In the Sand." Boone sings it while hanging around with the others at the club. He's just laying around, his feet on the table. It sounds appropriately dreamy and relaxed...even if it's not really the appropriate song for that character at that moment.

Trivia: Janet Gaynor came out of retirement to play the mother; this would be her last film.

What I Don't Like: Some people think Boone should have had Sargent's lead role, like had been originally planned. I'm not sure it would have made anything better. These boys are some of the most obnoxious little creeps I've ever seen in a teen romance. They pick on a nerdy boy at school (Val Benedict) and spend their time obsessing over a girl who doesn't even exist.  Sargent is a whiny idiot, and Moore is nothing more than eye candy. Even Gaynor doesn't have that much to do, disappointing for her last movie.

The songs don't work, either.  "Love Letters" is a ballad for a character with no love interest and very little to play. "Technique" is not only a bit sexist, but its calypso Harry Belefonte-style beat is all wrong for Boone and sounds ridiculous. I'm a bit surprised they didn't use more of the genuinely exciting speed boat races, too. We see them race once, and it barely figures into the plot. 

The Big Finale: A major disappointment after the charming April Love, and not the best way for Gaynor to go out. I wouldn't come within a hundred miles of here unless you're a huge fan of Boone or Gaynor. Everyone else is better off looking up Boone's commercial recording of "Love Letters In the Sand."

Home Media: Maybe it's just as well that the only place you can find this at the moment is YouTube.

YouTube

April Love

20th Century Fox, 1957

Starring Pat Boone, Shirley Jones, Arthur O'Connell, and Jeanette Nolan

Directed by Henry Levin

Music by Paul Francis Webster; Lyrics by Sammy Fain

Pat Boone was one of the most popular singers of the 1950's and early 60's. In fact, only Elvis Presley got close to him in record sales...but in all other ways, he was as different from Elvis as bubble gum pop is from the blues. He was a nice boy from Tennessee who finished college, went to church, was married to the same girl from 1953 until her death in 2019, and was the type girls brought home to meet their mothers with no hesitation. Ironically, his second movie had him playing a "bad" boy from the city who gets sent to the country to be reformed. How does this work with Boone's squeaky-clean image? Let's begin with the arrival of Nick Conover (Boone) in rural Kentucky and find out...

The Story:  Nick was sent to live with his Aunt Henrietta (Nolan) and Uncle Jed Bruce's (O'Connell) horse farm after he and some friends stole a car for a joyride in the city and was caught. He lost his license and was sent to spend the remainder of his parole in the country. Uncle Jed not only isn't happy to have him, he's not happy, period. He's let his horse farm go since his son, Jed Jr, died in the Korean War. There's only one horse left on the farm, the onery Tugfire, whom he kept because he was his son's favorite. 

Liz Templeton (Jones) meets Nick when she rides her horse over to invite Jed to see her father's (Matt Crowley) horses. Nick doesn't do well with them. He can't get on Liz's horse, Tugfire scares him, and he doesn't know what a sulky - a small racing carriage - is. Liz thinks he's cute, but it's her sophisticated older sister Fran (Dolores Michaels) he's interested in at first. 

He manages to fix his uncle's car and drive it around the fields, but it scares Tugfire. After he rescues the horse from brambles, Jed's convinced he can get Nick to race Tugfire in the county fair sulky race. Nick's more interested in a barbecue with the Templeton girls. He thinks no one will know if he races Fran's beau Al (Bradford Jackson) in their cars...until it gets him into trouble with the sheriff right before the big race.

The Song and Dance: This is far better than I thought it would be. I assumed we'd get a little country romance with a few Boone ballads shoehorned in. To my surprise, it's a full-on musical, with seven songs and two reprises. Boone isn't the only one doing the singing, either. Jones gets numbers to herself, and there's several big chorus routines, including at the fair and a local dance. Boone's so charming, you can understand why Liz falls for him. Nolan and O'Connell do well as the kindly aunt who worries about her nephew's well-being and the taciturn farmer who thought he lost his son, until he saw Nick help Tugfire out. There some gorgeous widescreen cinematography, much of it actually filmed in rural Kentucky. You can almost feel the soft breeze and smell that clover Nick croons about in the opening number.

Favorite Number: Nick gets the first number as he walks to his aunt and uncle's farm from the main road, singing about the "Clover In the Meadow" and that sweet country air. He claims "Give Me a Gentle Girl" after he meets Fran and she and Liz invite him to the local dance. Liz sings her version as she prepares for her shower...for she knows that for all her tomboy ways, she's a far gentler girl than her sophisticated sister. He sings the smash hit title song to earn 15 dollars at the dance. She joins him while driving him home, but is disappointed when he just says she's a "good sport."

The group numbers are even more fun. "Do It Yourself" has Al, Nick, and the girls putting together an old-fashioned barbecue, with a hand-cranked ice cream maker and home-made sauce. "First Meeting" is the chorus routine at the dance. The kids' swinging moves prove to Nick that they're definitely not "square dancers!" Everyone sings about "The Bentonville Fair" as they enjoy the rides and cotton candy on the midway. The entire cast reprises the title song in the finale as they all drive happily home from the fair.

Trivia: Remake of the 1944 Fox film Home In Indiana with Jeanne Crain in Jones' role, which was a more faithful version of the best-selling book The Phantom Filly. 

What I Don't Like: This story is older than the hills of Kentucky. No one would believe for a minute that clean-cut Boone would do anything worse than politely ask to borrow a car; he certainly doesn't look like the type who would go out joyriding. While he does have chemistry with Jones and they work well enough together, their relationship is so chaste, Boone wouldn't even kiss her because of his wife and his religion. It doesn't make their getting together in the end terribly believable. Not to mention, the melodrama with Nick and the race comes on too suddenly and is cleared up much too easily. 

Despite the wide-screen pedigree, this is also pretty small-scale for a mid-century musical, with only two major chorus numbers and a small cast. It's not for people looking for one of the splashier Broadway adaptations of the time. Most of the other songs in the score pale besides the Oscar-nominated title number (though "Do It Yourself" is pretty cute). 

The Big Finale: Far better than I expected, this bucolic charmer is recommended for fans of Boone, Jones, or those looking for a lower-key musical to enjoy on a warm April afternoon.

Home Media: Expensive on disc and not on streaming. You may want to look for this one used.

DVD

Blu-Ray

Musicals On Streaming - Disenchanted

Disney, 2022

Starring Amy Adams, Maya Rudolph, Patrick Dempsey, and Gabriella Baladacchio

Directed by Adam Shankman

Music by Alan Menken; Lyrics by Stephen Schwartz

Talk of a sequel to Enchanted began early as 2010...but it got kicked around to various authors until 2020, when the script was finally ready after over a decade. In the interim, Disney and the movie industry had gone through enormous changes. Disney was back on top, thanks to a series of hits that questioned their older fairy tale tropes (Frozen, Tangled) or ignored them all together (Wreck It Ralph, Zootopia)...but the 2020 pandemic hit them hard. With family movies frequently faltering at the box office, Disney released Disnenchanted to its streaming service Disney Plus. Does the mixture of fantasy, reality, music, and animation still work after over a decade, or should it be shoved back into Andalusia? Let's begin with Pip (Griffin Neuman) the chipmunk explaining how Giselle (Adams) ended up moving her family to the suburbs and find out...

The Story: Giselle is thrilled to move her family to the seemingly bucolic suburb Monroeville, but her husband Robert (Dempsey) and stepdaughter Morgan (Baldacchio) aren't as thrilled. Their Victorian home is falling apart, Robert has to commute long hours to work, and Morgan doesn't get along in her new school. Giselle tries to promote Morgan as the queen of the town's upcoming fairy tale ball. In her enthusiasm, she ends up embarrassing Morgan and causing trouble with Malvina Monroe (Maya Randolph), the head of the town council. She wants her son Tyson (Kolton Stewart) to be prince of the ball.

King Edward (James Marsden) and Queen Nancy (Idina Mentzel) brought a wish-making magic wand from Andalusia as a housewarming gift. Giselle uses it to wish she had a perfect fairy tale life, with no missing husbands or pouting teens. It works...too well. Giselle didn't expect the fairy tale she'd end up in would be Cinderella. Now she's turning into a genuine wicked stepmother who mistreats her daughter, Robert is a knight who is too busy slaying dragons to have time for her, and Malvina is the even nastier queen. Giselle has to remember who she is and why she loves her family before the clock chimes midnight...and Andelusia disappears permanently.

The Animation: Not used as much this time around, and maybe it's just as well. I suspect that, while it still looks 2D, it may have been done by a computer. It's not as lush, with less details in the background and on the characters. It looks less like a Disney movie of the 50's and more like one of their recent TV shows.

The Song and Dance: Adams is really the only reason to see this one. She's having a grand time, swirling around with the chorus and trying to make the best of the situation, even when her family has to live in the master bedroom because their new home is still being worked on. She plays off well against the more dour Balacchio. Randolph does almost as well as the stuck-up head of the town council who isn't used to newcomers challenging her and the spoiled queen who wants to hang on to her power in any way possible. The costumes and sets remain gorgeous; the latter were filmed in a real Irish small town made to look like upstate New York. 

Favorite Number: We open with Pip singing about how things are going in "Andelusia," and giving us the origins of Giselle before and after she came to New York. Giselle sings about how Monroeville will be "Even More Enchanted," but with construction workers moving all around her, her stepdaughter doesn't buy it. Edward and Nancy tell them about "The Magic of Andelusia" and how the wishing wand works. Giselle wants desperately to return to "Fairy Tale Life"...and thinks she has when she wakes up and the appliances and chorus of peasants join in. 

Morgan claims everything is "Perfect" as she shops for flowers in town...then wishes that maybe it wasn't quite so much. Marvina and Giselle contrast and compare their evil powers, as they desire to be "Badder"...and better than the other. Nancy finally gets a number, "Love Power," as she reveals to Morgan how she can restore her stepmother to normal.

What I Don't Like: Nothing else works. Most of the other actors, including Dempsey and Stewart, don't have enough to do. We don't really see enough of Morgan or Tyson to understand why she has a crush on him or why she's acting the way she is, other than the move. There's a kernel of a good idea here, but it's lost under a morass of silly references that aren't worked nearly as well into the script and half-baked characterizations. Not to mention, fairy tale satire is really overworked now, especially with Disney having embraced other types of fantasy and other tropes. 

The Big Finale: Truth be told, the reason I put off reviewing this for so long is I suspected the moment they announced a sequel that it wouldn't work. They tried too hard to make the movie magical, only for it to end up being mundane. Only worth checking out for major fans of Adams, the cast, or the first film. 

Home Media: It's a Disney Plus exclusive at the moment. 

Disney Plus

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

Tubi