(86 min) Released 1938-03-04
Director: William A. Seiter
Stars: Alice Faye, Tony Martin, Fred Allen, Joan Davis, Jimmy Durante, Gregory Ratoff, Gypsy Rose Lee, Raymond Scott.
Nick Castle ... choreographer
Geneva Sawyer ... choreographer
Genres: Comedy | Music | Romance
bootleg copy with damage during 1 number at 1:06:20
Gypsy Rose Lee again doesn't sing/dance, only plays a serial gold-digger with her own money to spend by now, harsh/severe personality. Raymond Scott is not prominent; his only writing credit in the Soundtracks is Minuet in Jazz, and the opening notes are typical of his style; this is the biggest ensemble number, shown in dress rehearsal with far too much time spent on Fred Allen sugaring his coffee. There is a brief tap solo, perhaps Carol Adams...Dancer (uncredited), the only dancer credit with dozens onscreen; she had ~20 such credits before this, and more to come. Jimmy Durante is here; because he was so prominent in the last film I watched, I was surprised to see his name in the credits.
Marjorie Weaver, the titular Mary, is very pretty, has 41 film credits ('36-'52), and is all but ignored here. If she weren't the one to inherit the ship, she could have been uncredited. She's a Maureen O'Sullivan type, without the charm somehow.
This made the Tap! Appendix, but only mentions AF, JD & MW tapping, not (the speculated) Carol Adams. Their tapping is likely in the damaged segment on this disc, to Who Stole the Jam? with 3 girls (actual children). Durante does a number with 8 chorus girls who mimic his mannerisms a bit. Joan Davis also gets a solo song, as does AF, as does TM. AF & TM have a duet.
This is the last of 4 movies that AF and TM did together '36-'38. They were married 9'37-3'41.
It's just a pleasant film, with some pleasant songs, and the dancing is disrespected. (This is Nick Castle's 4th of 80 choreographer credits; looking at his filmo', I might not want to add him to the DD list until at least 2 years from now.)
Fox, dir Seiter; 6
