(96 mins.) Released 1932-11-17
Director: Leo McCarey
Stars: Eddie Cantor, Lyda Roberti, Robert Young, Ruth Hall
comedy, musical, romance
originally posted 7 Oct 2017 13:59
Impressive credits here:
Kalmar and Ruby wrote the songs and get screenplay credit (with McQuire); this is their 14th soundtrack credit already, beginning in 1930 with a Wheeler and Woolsey flick for which they wrote the book of the play, then Animal Crackers (1930, above) and Horse Feathers (1932, above). Six of those credits are for a single song, Three Little Words, which was the title of their 1950 biopic starring Fred Astaire and Red Skelton. Another of their famous songs is I Wanna Be Loved By You, from a 1928 musical, but not appearing on film until their biopic. Also: Who's Sorry Now (pub. 1923).
Busby Berkeley also gets screen credit, impressively sharing the writers' card.
Director Leo McCarey, who also helms the Marx Bros best Paramount film, Duck Soup (1933), and revealed Cary Grant as the rom-com star we love in The Awful Truth (1937 with Irene Dunne), for which he won his first directing Oscar (other: Going My Way (1944)). He also directed Love Affair (1939 with Boyer and Dunne) and its remake An Affair To Remember (1957 with Grant and Kerr). He directed Grant in 4 films, also My Favorite Wife (1940 with Dunne) and Once Upon a Honeymoon (1942 with Ginger Rogers). He is credited with pairing Laurel and Hardy as a team in the silent days.
Musical direction by Alfred Newman, head of the composing dynasty of 8, including nephew Randy Newman. He has 300+ credits, 220 for composing.
Photography by Gregg Toland, who executed young Orson Welles' visions in Citizen Kane (1941), bringing us those amazing deep focus images. He also filmed Whoopee! and Palmy Days, both above.
Opening shot: Betty Grable introduces us to "the dormitory, where all the pretty coeds sleep." Cue the Goldwyn Girls (supposedly including Paulette Goddard, Toby Wing and Jane Wyman, and MANY more) in satin sheeted beds arranged in a circle, with opulent surroundings. Gotta love BB routines, here 30 girls swimming briefly. Spotted Toby multiple times; finally saw Paulette at 37min on the left side of Cantor In the Moonlight.
Other than the brief opening number, we have a brief specialty dancer, and a couple of uncredited tappers, and one more BB signature at 1:21. Cantor sings in blackface just before that. This is not making my "worthwhile dancing" list.
It's an ok comedy. Cantor literally corks up while hiding under a table so he can escape. Lyda Roberti is delightful (unfortunately she was dead in a few years). J. Carroll Naish already looks middle-aged, and he's only 36. Noah Beery has a voice very similar to brother Wallace, and the face of his son NB, Jr. (Rockford's dad).
So we have all these great people, but this is not magic. Perhaps indicative of the beauty of the studio system that these people worked enough to learn their craft and eventually create magic?
(Commentary track on Duck Soup says that Groucho, or the MBs, liked this movie so much that they wanted to work with McCarey. Did I miss something?)
Goldwyn, dir. McCarey [+BB], 6-
