We're Not Dressing (1934)

We're Not Dressing is a bouncy musical-comedy variation of J. M. Barrie's The Admirable Crichton -- complete with a happier ending, as befitting its jaunty star Bing Crosby. Der Bingle is cast as Stephen Jones, a lowly crew member on yacht owned by wealthy Doris Worthington (Carole Lombard). During one memorable voyage, Doris' inebriated Uncle Dudley (Leon Errol) mans the controls of the yacht, and the result is a shipwreck on a tropical isle. Doris and her marooned society friends are then obliged to take orders from Stephen, the only one among them who knows how to fend for himself. He even manages to win over the icy Doris, though it's quite a struggle right up to the fade-out. Ethel Merman is on hand for a song or two (including a rollicking duet with Leon Errol), while George Burns and Gracie Allen show up on the not-so-deserted island as anthropologists with a full quota of rib-tickling verbal gags. Everyone involved in the making of We're Not Dressing harbored happy memories of the film, though Ray Milland (cast as Doris' snooty society fiancé) had less pleasant memories of the trained bear which figures prominently in the opening scenes. Bing Crosby's musical numbers include two of his best, "May I" and "Love Thy Neighbor." ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi