(113 min) Released 1936-05-14
Director: James Whale
Stars: Irene Dunne, Allan Jones, Charles Winninger, Paul Robeson, Helen Morgan
LeRoy Prinz ... dance numbers staged by
Comedy | Drama | Musical | Romance
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0028249/
One of the stage shows that Ziegfeld produced in 1927; other films made in 1929 and 1951. Because this dvd was not released until 2014, I know Show Boat from the '51 film. This one has songs written especially for this film, and not used in '51. (MGM bought the rights AND the 2 prior films from Universal when planning theirs.) Irene Dunne (b. 20 Dec 1898) is excellent for Nola; I didn't realize how old she was until I read it somewhere. Allan Jones is excellent for Ravenol (and he's 8 years younger than ID). Both of them suit the vocals, are excellent to look at, and convey a warmth together.
Four members of the Broadway cast are here: Winninger, Robeson, Helen Morgan and Sammy White all played in the '32 revival together, and all but Robeson were in the '27 original. Not surprising that they're all perfect for their parts. Robeson gets star treatment on the Ol' Man River filming, illustrating every lyric. An extra song for him and Hattie McDaniel (playing spouses), Ah Still Suits Me, is excellent too. He also acts in several scenes, and wears some rags, but wears some very fancy clothes for his job as theatre usher, and at Nola's wedding.
Helen Morgan (b. 1900) kills us with her songs Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man, and especially with Bill. She looks great (but she was aged by makeup in Applause ('29)). But this is the last of her 12 films, and she dies in '41 of a "liver ailment", read alcoholism.
Sammy White (b. 1894) does some athletic dancing during Nola's audition at the Trocadera, a combination of trying to help his friend, and enthusiasm when she's on the brink of getting hired. When you jump that high that often, doesn't it hurt your bones?
Winninger (b. 1884) also does some very physical comedy that looks painful, throwing himself around the stage to act a 2-person scene alone.
James Whale did a terrific job directing. It's his only musical. He's famous for Hell's Angels (1930, one of 3 dir's), Waterloo Bridge ('31), Frankenstein ('31), The Invisible Man ('33), Bride of Frankenstein ('35). Of his 21 feature films released 1930-41, only 5 have an IMDb rating of less than 6.5; the 2 Frankenstein films are the highest at 7.9. After quitting films he went back to theatre.
In which of his shows did Hammerstein NOT highlight prejudice in some form?
The sum of the excellent cast, the classic songs and the new ones, the direction, the look of the film, the plot, the themes (Julie sacrifices herself TWICE?), I gotta go with 9-. NB: this is the first Universal film on my musicals list.
Universal, dir. Whale; 9-
