(95 min) Released 1930-01-31
Directors: Jack Conway, Sam Wood
Stars: Joe Schenck, Gus Van, Bessie Love, Nina Mae McKinney
Genres: Musical | Drama
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0021464/
This is the antecedent to Take Me Out to the Ball Game (1949). But only in the sense that it's about 2 ballplayers who sing&dance in vaudeville in the off-season. This is a drama, and since it's made in the first year+ of the sound era, it feels very stiff.
Stiff until Nina Mae McKinney comes along at 53:45-57:35. Literally, I was doing other stuff, sort of listening to the movie, and my attention was drawn to the screen. Someone lively was singing. And I looked, and looked, and it was Nina Mae. I hadn't pre-scanned the full cast, and I don't really recognize her voice, but the vigor she projected, and the lively nature of the number she was performing, contrasted sharply with the rest of the movie. She has maybe 20 chorus girls in similar skimpy costumes and 2 male tappers in tuxedos. A couple of child specialty dancers perform separately. No credits for anyone but Nina Mae. She sings and dances well. Listen for Cliff Edwards singing the song Harlem Madness toward the end while everyone is dancing.
I can eliminate Van and Schenck as a reason to watch a movie, but won't use them as a reason to avoid one.
MGM, dir. Conway & Wood; 5+
