(86 min) Released 1938-04-29
Director: Raoul Walsh
Stars: George Burns, Gracie Allen, Martha Raye, Bob Hope, EE Horton, Betty Grable, John Payne.
LeRoy Prinz ... dance director
Genres: Comedy | Musical* (mine)
We're now about 2 yeats away from Betty Grable's (b. 1916) star-making role in Down Argentine Way ('40). She gets a role that amounts to an extended specialty here. Also, when she dances with a partner, it's real-life husband Jackie Coogan (the child in Chaplin's The Kid ('21)), who has a line or two in an early scene; they were married 11'37-10'40. Reminder: she's been in the chorus since 1929, and racked up 33 film credits before DAW; this is #28; she has 61 total. This film made the Tap! Appendix for the dancing of BG & JC, plus the dancing of ...
The Slate Brothers earn their only IMDb feature credit here. Henry has 48 credits ('38-'85, this is the 1st, his next is in '44, then nothing until the 50's.). Sid has 4 credits, 2 in common with the others, namely Meet Me in Las Vegas (1956), which lists them individually with "as The Slate Brothers"; Jack has 6 credits, 3 in common with Henry, the 3rd being Winged Victory ('44). They dance reasonably well, and if I were casting The Goldwyn Follies ('38), I might choose these bros as the spoofers of the Ritz Bros.
Interesting to note that the Tap! Appendix didn't require the sound of tapping to qualify as tapping. Neither BG/JC nor the Slates were shown with tap sounds, nor did their shoes look tap-equipped.
John Payne makes his debut in this quest, although I should have found one of his 4 earlier films online, since there are several copies there now. He sings nicely; even he couldn't decide whether he was a "low tenor -- or, should I say, high baritone", according to a Personal Quote on his IMDb Bio page. He didn't start in obscurity: in his 2nd film he was second billed. That was a minor film, but it's a very different career path than chorus boy over and over.
Ben Blue does a lot of physical humor, including being defeated by BG in self-defense (gym) class.
Songs/Dances:
- Ch 2: The Old School Bell, Sung by Robert Mitchell and St. Brendan's Choristers in 1738
- Ch 4: College Swing, sung by Betty Grable and Skinnay Ennis, danced by Betty Grable and Jackie Coogan
- Ch 6: What Did Romeo Say To Juliet? sung by John Payne and Florence George
- Ch 7: College Swing, used as background for the "I'm Tired" routine by The Slate Brothers
- Ch 9, enter Martha Raye: How'dja Like To Love Me, sung & gagged by MR and Bob Hope
- Ch 10: Please, sung by Jerry Colonna
- Ch 11: I Fall In Love With You Every Day, sung by Florence George and John Payne
- Ch 12, enter EE Horton; no song, just it takes this long before he's onscreen
- Ch 14: You're A Natural, sung by Gracie Allen, followed by Irish Washerwoman (traditional Irish Jig), danced by Gracie Allen in the dirt, in open-toed shoes
- Ch 16: What A Rumba Does To Romance, performed by Martha Raye with Ben Blue, continuing, danced by Betty Grable and Jackie Coogan, George Burns and Gracie Allen, The Slate Brothers, and extras (was William Roberts the dancing waiter with the tray in the air?)
- Ch 18 finale: everybody! College Swing reprise
- ?? Moments Like This, sung by Florence George (I sort of remember she had a solo, but I can't find it.)
I'm arguing with myself whether to give this a 7-. It has lots of songs, Betty Grable singing & dancing with some loving closeups, large ensembles doing choreographed more-than-social dancing, Martha Raye doing shtick that's less offensive than usual, and she's not being rejected everywhere (BH actually finds her attractive on first meet), early John Payne singing twice, comedy with everyone. And it's got some of the typical college-film elements: initiation ritual for fraternity entrance, stressful exams for Gracie, rigid college authorities. It doesn't compete with Marx Bros' Horse Feathers ('32), but that's a comedy with music. This is a musical comedy. Oh what the heck.
Paramount, dir. Walsh; 7-
