: I had no great hopes for this one, especially after reading extremely negative reviews in NYT and IMDb. But I loved it! The plot was so corny that it became wholly amusing, and Benny Rubin is such an unabashed ham, his "comedy" at worst is bearable, and at best, it almost comes across. As for "Babe" Kane, she could make anyone except the NYT's Mordaunt Hall, laugh.
I liked Marceline Day too. Director Norman Taurog wisely gives her many beautiful close-ups. She is reputed to have a "peculiar" voice. But I found her voice quite charming. Perhaps she was dubbed here, but I can't picture Tiffany going to that amount of trouble and expense.
Nevertheless, Marceline aside, for me, the real joys of the movie lie its musical numbers. Five of its six songs are really lively. Rex Lease turns out to possess a surprisingly adept singing voice. And the band is simply great! Presumably, Tiffany just hired the musicians for a day – and there were a real lot of really talented musicians out of work in the early months of 1930. The first thing a cinema owner did after converting to sound was to sack his orchestra! But here we listen joyfully to a few of these unemployed artists, all in fine tune under the lively baton of Al Short.
I liked Marceline Day too. Director Norman Taurog wisely gives her many beautiful close-ups. She is reputed to have a "peculiar" voice. But I found her voice quite charming. Perhaps she was dubbed here, but I can't picture Tiffany going to that amount of trouble and expense.
Nevertheless, Marceline aside, for me, the real joys of the movie lie its musical numbers. Five of its six songs are really lively. Rex Lease turns out to possess a surprisingly adept singing voice. And the band is simply great! Presumably, Tiffany just hired the musicians for a day – and there were a real lot of really talented musicians out of work in the early months of 1930. The first thing a cinema owner did after converting to sound was to sack his orchestra! But here we listen joyfully to a few of these unemployed artists, all in fine tune under the lively baton of Al Short.