(90 min) Released 1936-09-26
Director: Lloyd Bacon
Stars: Marion Davies, Clark Gable, Allen Jenkins
Bobby Connolly ... production numbers staged by, Oscar nom'd for "1000 Love Songs" (starts about 48 min in, lasts about 9 min); Oscars 1937
Genres: Comedy | Musical | Romance
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0027413/
Watched here:
https://ok.ru/video/295600654990
Lots of fun trivia; my favorites are that MD kept the full-size merry-go-round built for the Coney Island number (starts about 30 min in) for her Santa Monica home, and that Hearst paid for the permanent expansion (roof-raised 35 feet) of the sound stage for the A Thousand Love Songs number. Suspicious trivia: that Hearst would not allow Dick Powell on the film because MD was attracted to him, but CG was borrowed from MGM to kiss and hug MD. (Then again, it looks like he's kissing her chin, not her lips.)
Some rehearsal scenes, primarily MD learning a routine (tapping atop GC's head in a hotel room, yes, the same meet-cute as in The Gay Divorcee, except MD must continue tapping), and 2 major production numbers: Coney Island and I'll Sing You a Thousand Love Songs. This was released about 6 months after The Great Ziegfeld ('36); was WB trying to compete with the Thousand Love Songs number? Or just with prior BB numbers? They use Shadow Waltz as one of the 1000 songs. Bobby Connolly deserved the Oscar nom for this, and he used well the extra height of the enhanced sound stage.
Some fans have really skewed the ratings of MD movies. This one sits at 7.7. Of course, I'm not a fan of Clark Gable: I like him in some things, but have not collected his movies at all. While I'm at it - I don't like MD's wardrobe here, onstage or off. Orry-Kelly gets "gowns" credit, and his other films don't jump out at me as having inferior wardrobe, so maybe it's MD and/or Hearst?
Really only sought this out because of the Oscar nom. That number is worth revisiting. Otherwise, no. And don't get distracted by whether MD has a dance double; none listed in the Soundtracks, but the agility of some moves, the camera distance then, and the cuts to face-visibility suggest a double. Just enjoy it.
Warner, dir. Bacon; 5+
My post on Oscar, Best Dance Direction, 1936-38
