1h 29min | Musical | 20 September 1941 (UK)
Director: John Paddy Carstairs
Stars: Vic Oliver, Sarah Churchill, Evelyn Dall
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0033697/
watched on AmazonPrime, bad print; also in a megapack
In fact, if this hadn't been in a megapack I own, I wouldn't have watched this. I'm focused on American musicals, but strayed with the Jessie Matthews films, and most of Paul Robeson's film work was in England, so I decided to try it.
The likely reason this would be in a megapack of otherwise American films, especially one named Hollywood Legends (which does not apply to any member of this cast), could only be that Sarah Churchill, daughter of Winston, was Fred Astaire's romantic interest in Royal Wedding ('51).
Here she's the much-ignored worker in the titular "his" talent agency. And that's how this gets to be a musical: seeing all the acts this agency auditions/places. Mostly they are novelty acts, but some singing and dancing occurs. Unfortunately, when we get to an actual production number, with an ensemble dancing on stage, the camera angles and distances are horrible. If they were trying to disguise how few people were onstage by those strange distances and angles, they failed. And the wipes used between cuts: I haven't seen that many silly dissolve effects since Flying Down to Rio ('33).
The focus of the film, the love interest for SC, is not handsome, not charming, not funny, displayed no singing/dancing talent. Maybe I didn't watch well enough.
This not quite miserable enough to call it a 4. How's that for high praise?
John Corfield Productions, dir. Carstairs; 5-
