Description
Songwriters Calhoun and Harrigan get Katie and Lily Blane to introduce a new one. Lily goes to England, and Katy joins her after the boys give a new song to Nora Bayes. All are reunited when the boys, now in the army, show up in England.
Walter Lang
Tin Pan Alley
- Drama
- Romance
- Music
THE MUSICAL of OUR EXCITING TIMES! The unbelievable street where songs are born, now tells its stirring story!
RELEASE
1940-11-29
BUGET
N/A
LENGTH
94 min
View Full Cast
Reviews
Songwriters "Calhoun" (Jack Oakie) and his pal "Harrigan" (John Payne) meet up on the theatre circuit with the "Blane" sisters - "Katie" (Alice Faye) and "Lily" (Betty Grable) and they embark on some escapades as the lyricists try to find success. That happens, believe it or not, but as ever there is collateral damage and that comes in the form of the relationship between "Harrigan" and his devoted "Katie" - the former too obsessed with success to appreciate what is right in front of his eyes! Will the romance sort itself out? Well, oddly enough the plot doesn't really matter. It's really just a vehicle for Alice Faye (and her lovely voice) to shine. For Oakie to throw some one-liners around and see where they stick and for charming ditties "You Say the Sweetest Things" and "America, I Love You" from the pens of Mack Gordon and Harry Warren that show a distinct chemistry between Payne and Faye (and Oakie on the former song, too). It's quite fun for the most part, it jogs along well marrying comedy and romance with a little wartime spirit and it does give us an enjoyable insight into just how variety theatre worked. I could have done with a bit more from an underused Grable, and maybe a few more numbers and a bit less chatter, but it's held up well and is still quite entertaining.