1h 33min | Musical | 11 January 1946
Director: Sam White
Stars: Jack Haley, Helen Walker, Rudy Vallee, Ozzie Nelson.
Jack Crosby ... choreographer
Supposedly Frances Langford sings I'm in the Mood for Love in this film. I didn't hear or see her. This copy may be a re-release that needed to cut her song. She and the song are definitely listed in the opening credits, but they would have needed to film a new title sequence (2 cards) to excise those references.
In 6'2014 I rated this a 4. I'm not feeling so strident today, but it's a definite waste of time to watch this. I never find pranks funny, and the show, hosted by Jack Haley at the local (origination) level, and Art Linkletter at the national audition, is just a bunch of real people who agree to get on stage have bad things done to them. As with other films about radio shows, too much of the humor is visual to make sense for radio.
The plot surrounding the radio show performances involves a duplicitous trio of 2 rival producers and the (woman) writer who manipulates them. The producers steal physical objects from each other at her behest, and it's quite clear that she is only interested in her own success, even if measured only by what she can get them to do. She also manipulates JH, and supposedly feels remorse, but then she calls for theft to rectify the situation.
So all the way around, these are people I don't want to watch. No one gets maimed or sent to prison, but they are not worthy of my time, not even as a retired person. Hmm. Maybe the 4 should stand.
Pine-Thomas Productions, distr. Paramount, dir. White; 4
