1h 12min | Comedy, Musical | 15 August 1944
Director: Christy Cabanne
Stars: Frances Langford, Guy Kibbee, Eddie Quillan, Charles Butterworth, Lyle Talbot, Louise Beavers
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036762/
Watched on AmazonPrime; also online elsewhere. Bad print, but audio was better here, video about the same.
I don't feel the synopsis is true. The medicine man (GK) doesn't really know about the gangsters' plan to fleece him of his hooch until FL & EQ overhear them late in the film. So there's no evading by GK.
I fell asleep at least twice and started over or backed up multiple times. I never watched it straight through. I can't decide if it's hard to follow because of that, or because it doesn't have a clear path. For instance, I don't know why GK thinks he's adding water to his medicine formula, but it's really booze. I've forgotten why the gangsters are using the slow, slow riverboat as their lift out of town. I'm pretty sure they discover the booze while already aboard, so that's not it.
I sure don't know why FL is attracted to EQ, given that he disrupted her song with his trumpet playing (although it's good improv playing, he just has no control of when he starts or stops), and then when she tries to romance him, he reaches for his horn instead of responding directly to her. She's clearly frustrated, and tries to make him jealous with LT, but finally gets him in the end - at least for the final frame.
CB provides his usual persona, which is a plus. Everyone that I listed in the cast is welcome. But the print is bad, and I suspect the story is too. The 6 songs in the film help, but not much. Advice to future me: avoid unless you find a decent print. I hate to give this cast a 5, but that's the rating for "avoid." Oh, I previously gave this a 6. So I'll settle on 6-.
indie, distr. PRC, dir. Cabanne; 6-
