(86 min) Released 1936-12-19
Director: Frank Tuttle
Stars: Jack Benny, George Burns, Gracie Allen
LeRoy Prinz ... choreographer
Dave Gould ... ensembles (uncredited)
Genres: Comedy | Musical
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0027456/
Watched online; pretty good quality.
Watched out of sequence; falls between Stowaway and Three Smart Girls.
I found this more enjoyable than some of the Burns & Allen films I have on disc. For instance, B&A dance, which I like. (They contribute greatly to my enjoyment of the Astaire film A Damsel in Distress ('37).) Plus we get a lot of other dancing, as predicted by credits to 2 dance directors, but not enough that I'll add this film to my "with worthwhile dancing" list.
Too much time is spent by players in blackface performing the "College Minstrelsy" number. They do a camera trick where they change the stage lights and Martha Raye alters from blackface to regular makeup, and later back again; did I miss the film cut for that transition?
We have some nice supporting couples: a young Leif Erikson paired with young (and pretty) Marsha Hunt, and Johnny Downs tapping with Eleanore Whitney. (The dancing pair are not on the radar of this Watching Musicals quest. Neither was this movie, btw.) Both pairs are welcome additions.
Yes, the eugenics storyline is offensive now, but currently we talk about altering genes to remove hereditary diseases from individuals. That idea is on the same continuum as eugenics. And this film doesn't take the idea very seriously. Toward the end of the movie, the woman providing financial backing for the project is swayed to discard eugenics just because she's found something new.
Paramount, dir. Tuttle; 6+
