David Gould Movies

Melody Cruise, director Mark Sandrich's first feature film, is an unofficial extension of Sandrich's Oscar-winning RKO short subject So This is Harris (1933). Once again, the director's star is bandleader Phil Harris, then in his wavy-haired romantic lead period. Harris plays a millionaire who, while on a steamship cruise, is the object of the attentions (mercenary and otherwise) of every woman who crosses his path. Charlie Ruggles plays the flustered fellow whose job it is to steer Harris clear of breach-of-promise suits, while Helen Mack is the one girl who isn't interested in either Harris' looks or his millions-which naturally entices him to pursue her. Most of the dialogue is spoken rhythmically, a device that might have been tiresome in lesser hands. Let loose in RKO's optical effects department, Mark Sandrich offers us an endless variety of creative lap-dissolves, "wipes " split screens and flat cuts. The whole enterprise begins to run out of gas when it is necessary to tie up loose plot ends, but otherwise Melody Cruise plays with the same freshness and nuance that it did back in 1933. Watch for Betty Grable as one of the shipboard girls, and for perennial Three Stooges foil Bud Jamison as an operatic train conductor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on Dwight Taylor and Cole Porter's play of the same name, The Gay Divorcee centers on Mimi (Ginger Rogers), a woman seeking a divorce from her husband. Mimi travels to an English seaside resort, pursued by the love-stricken Guy (Fred Astaire), whom she mistakes for the hired correspondent in her divorce case. Among the many musical numbers featured are "Night and Day," the only song from the original Broadway musical included in the film, and "The Continental," which won the first ever Academy Award for Best Song. Directed by Mark Sandrich, the film features supporting performances by Alice Brady and Edward Everett Horton. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide

Hollywood Party was planned as a lavish, star-studded MGM musical titled Hollywood Revue of 1933. Under the less-than-sterling guidance of "kicked upstairs" MGM producer Harry Rapf, production dragged on interminably, using up the talents of five directors (none of whom were credited) and seven writers. The "all star" cast lineup slowly dwindled down to comparatively inexpensive contract players Jimmy Durante and Jack Pearl (radio's Baron Munchhausen) and a passel of non-MGM personalities. The final product wove a goofy story about The Great Schnarzan (Durante), a jungle-movie star whose films are suffering at the box office because his lions are anemic. Schnarzan schemes to purchase several healthy lions from Baron Munchhausen; to get the baron into a bargaining mood, Schnarzan throws a huge Hollywood party in Munchhausen's honor. Liondora (George Givot), Schnarzan's "hated rival", hopes to purchase the Baron's lions for himself, and crashes the party disguised as a Greek Baron. Also figuring into the plot are the members of the Klemp family (Charles Butterworth, Polly Moran and June Clyde), who are filthy rich and thus quite attractive to both Schnarzan and Liondora; poor-but-honest Eddie Quillan, who romances the Klemp's daughter; and Schnarzan's ex-girlfriend Lupe Velez, who shows up at the party in an astonishingly revealing gown for the express purpose of making trouble. In an amusing animated sequence courtesy of Walt Disney, Mickey Mouse introduces the Technicolor musical exploits of "The Hot Chocolate Soldiers." Shortly before the end, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy make a welcome appearance as a pair of lion-farm owners who wish to collect a debt from Baron Munchhausen. This segues into the classic egg-breaking sequence involving Stan, Ollie, and Lupe Velez. Now we've reached the 65 minute mark, with no logical ending in sight. Director Allan Dwan, brought into the project at the last minute, took a look at the existing footage and declared "It's a nightmare!" Inspired, Dwan directed a closing sequence which suggested that the whole plot had been dreamed by Jimmy Durante; Durante is wakened from his slumbers by his wife--played by Mrs. Jimmy Durante. Hollywood Party makes no sense at all, but it's a must for comedy lovers and 1930s film buffs. Don't miss that opening number, written by Rodgers and Hart and performed by Frances Williams and a chorus of barely dressed telephone operators; and keep an eye peeled for a lengthy uncredited appearance by the Three Stooges. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

With notable exceptions of Diplomaniacs and Cockeyed Cavaliers, Hips Hips Hooray must rank as the best of RKO-Radio's Bert Wheeler & Robert Woolsey vehicles. Bert and Bob are cast Andy Williams (sic) and Doc Dudley, sidewalk peddlers specializing in flavored lipstick. Falling in love with fashion model Daisy Maxell (Dorothy Lee), Andy offers to teach his and Doc's surefire sales techniques to Daisy's boss Amelia Frisby (Thelma Todd), owner of Maiden America Cosmetics. This requires our two heroes to pose as Big Businessmen, which they do by "borrowing" the office of investment executive Mr. Clark (Spencer Charters). When Clark returns from a wild-goose chase concocted by Doc Dudley, Andy and Doc beat a hasty retreat, inadvertently grabbing a bagful of Clark's money and leaving their sample case behind. Accused of thievery, the boys escape to Kansas but redeem themselves when they accidentally enter a cross-country auto race and drive Maiden America's car to victory. Hips Hips Hooray is a delightfully risque and boundlessly inventive effort, highlighted by two of the finest songs ever to come out of a Wheeler-Woolsey epic: Kalmar and Ruby's "Keep Romance Alive" (sung by Ruth Etting) and "Keep on Doin' What You're Doin' (originally written for Zeppo Marx in 1933's Duck Soup!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Broadway Melody of 1936 was designed as the first of many annual follow-ups to "MGM"'s early-talkie triumph Broadway Melody (1929). Jack Benny is atypically cast as a Walter Winchell type who carries on a feud with Broadway producer Robert Taylor. Into this fray comes Taylor's childhood sweetheart Eleanor Powell, who wants to play a role in Taylor's upcoming production. Already under fire from Benny for exhibiting favoritism, Taylor says no. Powell gets into the show anyway, disguising herself as a celebrated Parisian stage star. The film's song highlights (one of them sung by Robert Taylor!) include "I've Got a Feeling You're Fooling", "Broadway Rhythm", and a holdover from the original Broadway Melody, "You Are My Lucky Star." Spotlighted in several numbers is the song 'n' dance team of Buddy and Vilma Ebsen. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This third entry in MGM's "Broadway Melody" series may not have been the biggest or best, but thanks to a masterpiece of casting it is one of the most memorable of the batch. Signed by MGM in 1935, 15-year-old Judy Garland made her first feature-film appearance under the aegis of Leo the Lion, immediately capturing the hearts of moviegoers everywhere by singing "You Made Me Love You" to a photograph of Clark Gable (a sequence that has since been excerpted countless times in TV and movie documentaries). She later shares a song-and-dance number with gangly Buddy Ebsen, making an impressive entrance in a white midget car (Ebsen would later be cast as the Tin Man in Judy's The Wizard of Oz, only to be replaced by Jack Haley when he fell ill during shooting). The presence of Garland, coupled with several superlative dance solos by Eleanor Powell and a spectacular musical finale, tends to make one forget about the plot, which has something to do with a racehorse owned by heroine Sally Lee (Powell). The horse wins the Grand Steeplechase, the prize money is poured into the stage production previously bankrolled by Steve Raleigh (Robert Taylor), and the Show Goes On. Movies fans of the 1930s with long memories were gratified to see such old vaudeville favorites as Sophie Tucker and Willie Howard in the cast, even if their material wasn't quite up to standard. Interestingly, one of the best comic turns is performed by "professional sneezer" Robert Wildhack -- leaving another famed movie sneezer, Billy Gilbert, with virtually nothing to do! On the other hand, Robert Benchley is his usual droll self, managing to score a comic bullseye despite all the lavish and noisy competition around him. Broadway Melody of 1938 was followed by a 1940 sequel, distinguished by the "challenge dance" between returnee Eleanor Powell and Fred Astaire. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Boy soprano Bobby Breen dons a pair of skates in the oddball musical Breaking the Ice. Escaping his super-strict Mennonite relatives, our hero gets a job singing at a Philadelphia ice-skating rink. Here he tries to earn enough money to help his beloved widowed mother (Dolores Costello) wrest herself free of those selfsame relatives. The plot requires canary-voiced Breen to share the spotlight with six-year-old skating sensation Irene Dare. Within a year, Breaking the Ice producer Sol Lesser attempted to launch another series of family musicals built around the talents of little Ms. Dare, but the first entry in this project--Everything's on Ice--was also the last. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Having made a mint with his Bobby Breen films, producer Sol Lesser decide to groom another talented youngster for stardom. Everything's on Ice was specifically designed to suit the talents of six-year-old skating sensation Irene Dare, who'd previously played as supporting role in Breen's Everything on Ice. Little Ms. Dare plays an ice-skating whiz who is passed off as an heiress by her wheeler-dealer uncle (Roscoe Karns). Starring in an oversized ice show at a Florida resort, the pint-sized heroine also stage-manages a romance between her 19-year old sister (Lynne Roberts) and a handsome young sprout (Eric Linden), while uncle tries to land a wealthy husband for Sis, never realizing that her sweetheart is himself a millionaire. Billed last in Everything's on Ice is Paul Winchell, a young ventriloquist who'd rise to fame and fortune on television in the 1950s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Considering that it was adapted from a Broadway musical by Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart and George Abbott, The Boys From Syracuse must rank as a disappointment, though it manages to remain entertaining throughout its surprisingly brief 74-minute running time. Like its theatrical predecessor, the film was inspired by Shakespeare's A Comedy of Errors ("After a play by William Shakespeare long, long after" reads the opening title). In ancient Ephesus, young tyrant Antipholus (Allan Jones) sentences elderly merchant Aegeon (Samuel S. Hinds) to death unless the latter can come up with a handsome ransom. What Antipholus doesn't know is that Aegeon is his own father; he also doesn't know that he has a twin brother, also named Antipholus (and also played by Allan Jones) who has just arrived from Syracuse in search of dear old daddy. Further complicating matters is that Antiopholus of Ephesus and Antipholus of Syracuse both have slaves named Dromio (Joe Penner)-likewise identical twins! The mistaken-identity angle is played to the hilt, with A. of E.'s wife Adriana (Irene Hervey), A. of S.'s girlfirend Phyllis (Rosemary Lane), and Dromio of Ephesus' main squeeze Luce (Martha Raye) ending up just as confused as everyone else. Only four of the original Rodgers & Hart songs were retained-"This Can't Be Love", "Falling in Love with Love", "Sing for Your Supper", and "Oh, Diogenes"-while two new ones were written for the film. Most of the best jokes are based on anachronisms, with Dromio the slave organizing a labor union (complete with placards), a cheering section at an execution shouting "Give him the ax", and a parchment newspaper bearing such headlines as "Ephesus Blitzkriegs Syracuse". Originally purchased by Universal as a vehicle for the Ritz Brothers, The Boys from Syracuse isn't any great shakes, but it would certainly be well worth seeing again (last telecast in the 1970s, it seems to have fallen off the face of the earth in recent years!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Country-western star Roy Acuff is top-billed in the Republic musical comedy O, My Darling Clementine. The story concerns a band of ragtag musicians, headed by Acuff, who blow into a hoity-toity town where the "right people" look down on pickin' and grinnin'. The town's social arbiter is Mrs. Uppington, a character that orignated on radio's Fibber McGee and Molly and is here portrayed by the original "Uppy", Isabel Randolph. Manager Frank Albertson struggles manfully to get Acuff's band booked into a classy hotel, and along the way romances the title character, played by Lorna Gray. Also on hand is a decidedly pre-Beverly Hillbillies Irene Ryan, who passes herself off as a middle-eastern princess. As thin as gossamer, O, My Darling Clementine will appeal most to C&W buffs. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

There's practically no western action in Hands Across the Border, but there's music aplenty. Roy Rogers stars as a wandering cavalier (named "Roy Rogers", naturally), who comes to the aid of entertainer Kim Adams (Ruth Terry). The daughter of a rancher, Kim does her patriotic bit by raising prize horses for the Army. But villainous Brock Danvers (Onslow Stevens) does his best to keep Kim's stock from reaching the Army, and that's when Rogers comes to the rescue. The final two reels of Hands Across the Border is a virtual nonstop parade of musical numbers by the likes of Hoagy Carmichael and Ned Washington, and featuring Rogers, Ruth Terry, Janet Martin and that zany European comedy trio The Wiere Brothers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this effervescent musical comedy, a stuffy college professor secretly works as a burlesque comedian during the summer. He, a professor of Shakespeare, manages to keep his secret, until a stripper shows up and threatens to blow his cover unless he gives her a starring role in his latest production of The Taming of the Shrew. He does, but the rest of the cast is so appalled they walk-off. In desperation, the professor begins hiring the stripper's colleagues and this creates all sorts of tuneful fun. Songs include: "Who Took Me Home Last Night?" "Mess Me Up," "Casanova Joe", "Five-A-Day Fatima," "Willie the Shake," and "Taming of the Shrew." ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A druggist's pretty assistance ignores the call of the bright lights and audience that runs in the veins of her show biz family. Eventually though, the family succeeds in getting the talented lass to perform the music of a struggling young composer. His music is great and she enthusiastically helps him to launch his new show. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide