(91 min) Released 1936-09-12
Director: Busby Berkeley
Stars: Dick Powell, Joan Blondell, Warren William, Frank McHugh, Spring Byington
Genres: Comedy | Musical
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0028305/
Watched online:
https://ok.ru/video/305930504846
Five songs by Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg; none predict Over the Rainbow (written for The Wizard of Oz (1939)).
Jane Wyman (b. 1917), who's been a chorus girl since '32, with 15 credits before this, plays Bessie Funfnick (still uncredited), her first named character, and has actual lines here. You can clearly see her face for about 30 seconds, starts 48 mins in. She has 6 more uncredited roles, but starts getting names consistently after 4 films.
This film was released Sept 12. DP and JB married on Sept 19. Divorced July '44. DP has a pencil-thin mustache and got fired at least once, but got rehired somehow. JB plays a demanding diva, and they're very unfriendly to each other.
[I wasn't paying such good attention. Was reading about IMDb taking down the Ratings features and the Character pages. I'm sympathetic to their maintenance burdens, but the ability to refine a list on the list page is really useful.]
Anyway, there is no credit for dance director. Because there was no dancing. So we have BB as the film's director, and NO rhythmic movement? Did he have to swear off his psychedelic drugs to become the top dog? His gain is our loss. WB, no need to release this to DVD.
Warner, dir. Berkeley; 5+
