This pre-Code low budgeted Tiffany Productions feature showcases Benny Rubin, a vaudeville performer whose hallmark is dialect, in this instance Yiddish (although he also is adept throughout his lengthy career with many other characterizations, including blackface) and whose forte, contention with the English language, is in evidence within his every scene here. The continuity is thin, primarily to do with light romantic episodes of two couples who have met in a college and an assortment of improbable difficulties that they face, but this early sound film is highlighted by some sprightly songs composed by Will Jason and Val Burton, performed by three of the leads and one of the more loopy assemblages of extras to be found. Direction by Norman Taurog, who later bestowed his lack of skill upon an assortment of deserving Elvis Presley movies, is slack, and some of the acting rivals its lumpishness, but there are notable exceptions, particularly from uncommonly animated Patsy "Babe" Kane and elegant Marceline Day, with little anywhere to compare with the hilarious specialty dancing of Rubin, a talent which he never lost. Those with interest in American social history and mores will find a great deal to favour, after quickly parrying the storyline, with particular value present for cinema specialists in the disciplines of production design, costume, and dance, and for all who enjoy the study of linguistics and vernacular speech, particularly as these apply to the 1920s.
Review of Sunny Skies
