Much of the creative team that had produced the Oscar-winning "Broadway Melody of 1936" collaborated again the following year on "Born to Dance." Though the former film somehow managed to cop an Oscar nomination for Best Picture, the latter film is better in every conceivable way.
The plot is shoestring thin, but then weren't all of the plots of these 1930s musicals. What this film has going for it is the cast, lead by Eleanor Powell and a young James Stewart, who outshines every other cast member, Powell included, with the screen presence and charm that would make him one of the most enduring actors in Hollywood history. It also has great songs by Cole Porter, which sound much more like the Broadway musicals of a decade later than other musicals from the 30s. And the songs for the most part are integrated into the plot, rather than existing as stand-alone "show-within-a-show" numbers that were in vogue at the time. Una Merkel and Sid Silvers deliver in supporting roles, while Buddy Ebsen, who also appeared in "Broadway Melody of 1936," appears in this one as well and is just as weird as in the previous film performing dance routines in his inexplicably gangly, floppy style. The "Swingin' the Jinx" number that serves as the movie's finale was nominated for the short-lived Oscar category of Best Dance Direction, but it's a number early in the film performed by all four principal cast members that proves to be most memorable. Cole Porter's song, "I've Got You Under My Skin," was also nominated for an Oscar, though personally it's my least favorite song in the score.
A bit front loaded, "Born to Dance" slows down as it goes and nothing in its last half is as good as in the first, but it's still a really fun movie.
Grade: B+
The plot is shoestring thin, but then weren't all of the plots of these 1930s musicals. What this film has going for it is the cast, lead by Eleanor Powell and a young James Stewart, who outshines every other cast member, Powell included, with the screen presence and charm that would make him one of the most enduring actors in Hollywood history. It also has great songs by Cole Porter, which sound much more like the Broadway musicals of a decade later than other musicals from the 30s. And the songs for the most part are integrated into the plot, rather than existing as stand-alone "show-within-a-show" numbers that were in vogue at the time. Una Merkel and Sid Silvers deliver in supporting roles, while Buddy Ebsen, who also appeared in "Broadway Melody of 1936," appears in this one as well and is just as weird as in the previous film performing dance routines in his inexplicably gangly, floppy style. The "Swingin' the Jinx" number that serves as the movie's finale was nominated for the short-lived Oscar category of Best Dance Direction, but it's a number early in the film performed by all four principal cast members that proves to be most memorable. Cole Porter's song, "I've Got You Under My Skin," was also nominated for an Oscar, though personally it's my least favorite song in the score.
A bit front loaded, "Born to Dance" slows down as it goes and nothing in its last half is as good as in the first, but it's still a really fun movie.
Grade: B+