Melody for Two

This, the third and last of of James Melton's three Warner Brotheres movies, gives some idea of why that studio did not renew the tenor's contract.

There are other things wrong with this movie, certainly. The script is lame and seems downright telegraphed at times, perhaps explaining why the movie is only 60 minutes long. (The fact that there are cast members in cast lists who do not appear in the picture suggests that significant chunks of the script were either never filmed, or, less likely, filmed but not used.) But there are lots of popular 1930s musicals with weak scripts, so that is not the real culprit here.

Some of the musical numbers are forgettable, certainly, but "A Flat in Manhattan" (sung by Patricia Ellis), "Dangerous Rhythm" and "An Excuse for Dancing" (both performed by Winifred Shaw, who sings wonderfully here), and especially "September in the Rain" (by Harry Warren and Al Dubin, sung very well by Melton) are pleasant enough. One of the problems with the movie is that, because it is so short, these better numbers don't get repeated in a way to sell them. Most just sort of come and go, especially "September in the Rain," even though it went on to be a hit anyway.

The real problem, for me, is that none of the actors creates an interesting character. Melton in particular has a problem in this department. He seems angry throughout most of the picture, and that doesn't make for an endearing romantic lead. Nor does he get any good romantic scenes with either of the two female leads. The role is wrong for him, and does not present him in an appealing light. What was the point of making a lyric tenor take the part of a stubborn band leader?

I don't know that the end of his movie career is a particular shame. After his three-picture stint in Hollywood, Melton went on for another 15 or so years on radio and records, quite successfully, and evidently eventually nightclubs, an understandably popular singer with a mellifluous John MacCormack-type lyric tenor. The fact that he did not make a success of it in Hollywood probably didn't deprive us of any important pictures, given the sorts of things other such tenors were put in in those days. (Think Allan Jones, for example.)

There's really not much to recommend in this picture. If you hear the better songs, you've probably had the best of it.