(106 min) Released 1936-11-27
Director: Roy Del Ruth
Stars: Eleanor Powell, James Stewart, Virginia Bruce, Una Merkel, Frances Langford, Buddy Ebsen
Dave Gould ... dance ensembles, Oscar nom'd for "Swingin' the Jinx" (Oscars 1937)
Genres: Musical | Comedy
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0027387/
Jimmy Stewart sings quite a lot, and dances too. He's a better singer than dancer, or at least he expressed more deliberate discomfort dancing next to EP than singing (she's dubbed). He makes a nice tall love interest for EP. Langford is paired with Ebsen, and Merkel gets Sid Silvers, who seems a quarter foot shorter than she. He sings and dances well, in a proletariat way. (I think I just dog-whistled.)
We get eight (8!) Cole Porter songs; all make their first film appearance here, and 2 become standards.
- Scene 2: Rolling Home. Sung by sailors on their submarine, including SS, BE and JS
- Scene 5: Rap, Tap on Wood. EP sings & dances in hotel lobby, with sailors playing ocarinas
- Scene 8: Hey, Babe, Hey, Sung & danced (with simultaneous bell kicks) by all 3 couples in the hotel lobby, sailors still ocarina-ing
- Scene 11: Entrance of Lucy James. Sung by ship's captain crew as VB boards his ship. (That is NOT a streamlined submarine. Looks more like a battleship, with a smokestack! Pause at 37 min to see.)
- Scene 12: Love Me, Love My Pekinese. Same setting, sung by VB, danced by EP, panted by pooch.
- Scene 14: Easy to Love. Sung by JS & EP in a park, danced by EP. [15+ other feature film credits for this song, without counting lyrics separately from music]
- Scene 15: continued, but now Reginald Gardiner is a cop doing a manic conductor impression to the invisible orchestra that JS was conducting before. The arrangement is far more dramatic and symphonic. Fun.
- Scene 17: I've Got You Under My Skin. Elegant and athletic professional ballroom duo performing in a nightclub.
- Scene 23: I've Got You Under My Skin. VB sings to JS. [33+ other f.film credits, again, not double counting]
- Scene 24: Easy to Love: FL sings as BE dances during rehearsal of show where VB is supposed to star.
- Scene 25: Swingin' the Jinx Away (the Oscar nom). Rehearsal with EP improvising steps only, replacing VB.
- Scene 27: Swingin' the Jinx Away. Broadway show "Great Guns": FL sings invoking Cab Calloway, 24 chorus boys and long high drapes dance.
- Scene 28: Swingin' the Jinx Away. Transition to acrobats on the deck of a battleship (with big guns.) BE dances, chorus sings, FL steers the ship and sings.
- Scene 29 of 30: Swingin' the Jinx Away. Cut to EP dancing on deck. She conducts the naval brass band with her feet. At some point we get a waist-up shot of her while she's tapping, but only for a few seconds. She shows off her ballet, tap and acrobatic skills.
EP has a very flexible back, but she uses it athletically, not to act while dancing, as Ginger Rogers did.
The songs are strong, even when they're novelties. Obviously the ratio of song/dance to plot is good (50% of scenes). EP is a great dancer and choreographs herself (gets 1 such credit in '43); she'll do even better in the future. SS contributes well in song/dance/comedy. JS is always a pleasure; conveying awkwardness is a specialty. I can see why Dave Gould didn't win this year; the camera movement in The Great Ziegfeld is breathtaking. And the camera IS one of the dancers, whether it's moving or not.
