Warning: this is nothing at all like a Busby Berkeley WB musical, it's best described as mildly interesting rubbish.
It's a silly crime drama set during a performance of a vaudeville review. There is an awful lot of review which musically is absolutely awful. The singing which infests the whole film is that terrible faux-opera style which Paramount seemed to think was classy. Unless your are tone-deaf, this will result in you searching for the mute button - Oh how you'll long to hear Ruby Keeler's wonderful off-key singing!
So what possible reason could there be to keep watching this? One answer might be lots of naked ladies! The story is set against the backdrop of a vaudeville review: The Vanities. Earl Carroll's Vanities were a real thing back in the late twenties and these infamous shows had one purpose: Titillation. They featured "the most beautiful girls in the world" often naked or semi-nude in elaborate tableaux set to a musical score. For the big screen however a small nod towards modesty was made such as flower petals carefully positioned over the models' nipples etc but nevertheless this film easily has the most nudity of anything from that era. Although some of us might not want to admit it, this is very pleasant to see but because of the tasteful way it is presented, the effect is to turn these girls into one-dimensional cartoon characters. Unlike in a Busby Berkeley movie, the girls on stage appear only on stage; we don't get to know them backstage or in the main story so they never become real. Without any emotional engagement with them, as pretty as they are, they're just nice to look at but not at all sexy. One exception is Toby Wing, known as the most beautiful chorus girl in the world. She popped up in non-speaking parts in loads of films back then, most notably as the girl with the pretty smile in the 'Young and Healthy' number in 42nd Street. She was a very sexy young lady and I reckon would be pleased to get a 'shout out' all these years later!
Almost as bad as the singing is the acting. The lead actors in the story are all without exception, terrible. They are the epitome of badly written caricatures and none of them have any more personality than the cartoon girls on stage. Worst actor of the decade award must go to Carl Brisson who is obviously a cardboard cut-out - maybe the actual actor refused to appear in this?
To explain the title of this review - Girolamo Savonarola was the charismatic religious fanatic who briefly took over Florence in the 15th century to purge the city of vice, immorality and sin with bonfires all sinful objects - The Bonfire of the Vanities, 1497. (Yes, he whom Game of Thrones' High Sparrow was based.) This film would be right on top of his biggest pyre!
It's a silly crime drama set during a performance of a vaudeville review. There is an awful lot of review which musically is absolutely awful. The singing which infests the whole film is that terrible faux-opera style which Paramount seemed to think was classy. Unless your are tone-deaf, this will result in you searching for the mute button - Oh how you'll long to hear Ruby Keeler's wonderful off-key singing!
So what possible reason could there be to keep watching this? One answer might be lots of naked ladies! The story is set against the backdrop of a vaudeville review: The Vanities. Earl Carroll's Vanities were a real thing back in the late twenties and these infamous shows had one purpose: Titillation. They featured "the most beautiful girls in the world" often naked or semi-nude in elaborate tableaux set to a musical score. For the big screen however a small nod towards modesty was made such as flower petals carefully positioned over the models' nipples etc but nevertheless this film easily has the most nudity of anything from that era. Although some of us might not want to admit it, this is very pleasant to see but because of the tasteful way it is presented, the effect is to turn these girls into one-dimensional cartoon characters. Unlike in a Busby Berkeley movie, the girls on stage appear only on stage; we don't get to know them backstage or in the main story so they never become real. Without any emotional engagement with them, as pretty as they are, they're just nice to look at but not at all sexy. One exception is Toby Wing, known as the most beautiful chorus girl in the world. She popped up in non-speaking parts in loads of films back then, most notably as the girl with the pretty smile in the 'Young and Healthy' number in 42nd Street. She was a very sexy young lady and I reckon would be pleased to get a 'shout out' all these years later!
Almost as bad as the singing is the acting. The lead actors in the story are all without exception, terrible. They are the epitome of badly written caricatures and none of them have any more personality than the cartoon girls on stage. Worst actor of the decade award must go to Carl Brisson who is obviously a cardboard cut-out - maybe the actual actor refused to appear in this?
To explain the title of this review - Girolamo Savonarola was the charismatic religious fanatic who briefly took over Florence in the 15th century to purge the city of vice, immorality and sin with bonfires all sinful objects - The Bonfire of the Vanities, 1497. (Yes, he whom Game of Thrones' High Sparrow was based.) This film would be right on top of his biggest pyre!