1h 12min | Comedy, Musical | 2 August 1943
Director: Andrew L. Stone
Stars: Adolphe Menjou, Martha Scott, Pola Negri, Dennis O'Keefe, Billie Burke, June Havoc.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0035996/
There's no cat with a fiddle, nor cows jumping moons. But it feels like there are. This is madcap screwball comedy, well-paced and well-executed. It's terribly silly, and the last image is indelible. My prior rating was 7, and that's with a mediocre print, because this is on a megapack (read: in public domain).
I don't want to recount the plot, because the twists and turns are part of the fun.
This is to Musical as Guppy is to Swordfish; only slightly related. Pola Negri (and friends) sing some Wagner (badly), and June Havoc sings 2 swing tunes, one on a television(?) in a bar with herself live. PN is an opera singer just to make her more annoying, and JH works in a casino, which is essential to the plot. Billie Burke adds a lot of the screwball feeling, and Adolphe Menjou is delightfully skilled in his wholesome dishonesty. The war helps the plot, since DO has a limited time for his leave.
Watching this too often would spoil the surprises and therefore the fun. But I would definitely recommend it to neophytes of old movies, and especially to fans thereof.
And: will I ever see Dennis O'Keefe, the former chorus boy, dance? (Not here, except social dancing on a crowded floor.)
Andrew L. Stone Productions, distr. UA, dir. Stone; 7
