Sunny

Released at the end of 1930 just as the Great Depression began to really hit hard, audiences were no longer in the mood for light happy musicals such as Ms. Miller's first film, "Sally", which had opened just the year before.

That film had large helpings of music and really was a fine showcase for Marilyn Miller's dancing. What a difference a year made. People lost their taste for Cinderella stories and for musicals, so First National was forced to remove from "Sunny" what made Marilyn Miller so special - her ability to express herself through dance. What remains is a pretty decent comedy with some cute farcical situations, and Marilyn Miller holds her own. She actually comes across somewhat like a young Irene Dunne in the comedy parts, but if First National had been going for comedy, I doubt Miller would have been the centerpiece in the first place.

I'd say you'll really enjoy it if you watch it expecting a romantic comedy of errors punctuated by occasional music and just a little bit of dancing by Miller, but you'll be very disappointed if you loved Sally and are expecting more of the same. Also don't expect to see anybody that you'll remotely recognize other than perhaps Lawrence Gray, who plays the romantic lead opposite Marilyn Miller.

The plot is actually rather cute. Sunny is a bareback rider in an English circus who loves Tom Warren (Lawrence Gray), a wealthy American who is planning to return to the states to marry someone from his own station - basically an arranged marriage. He loves Sunny, but realizes it will never work and, furthermore, Sunny gives him no encouragement due to her pride. Meanwhile, her father wants her to marry the owner of the circus - someone Sunny describes as "a fish". Sunny sneaks on board the ship carrying Tom home to America - just to say goodbye - but winds up locked in a stateroom and can't get away before the ship sails. The stateroom is that of the unlucky Jim Denning, who has made a promise to his jealous girl to be true to her until he makes his fortune and can return for her. Sunny is discovered in the stateroom and now has double trouble - a scandal for being discovered in Jim's room, and the fact that she is a stowaway who must return to England as soon as the ship docks in America. Only marriage to an American citizen can fix both problems - but who will be the lucky groom? And that's only the first 45 minutes or so.

I'd recommend this one if you like the early talkies and know that this film only qualifies as a musical in the barest of terms.

Interesting note about the cast - Joe Donahue, who plays Jim Denning here, got the job primarily because of Marilyn Miller's campaigning for him after Joe's older and famous brother Jack, who was slated for the role of Jim Denning, died. Joe never really went over with audiences and had a very short movie career, but he has had a very long life. Born in 1903, at the time I am writing this, he is still alive at the age of 107.

Sunny was the second of three films Marilyn Miller did with First National films and the second of her Broadway hits that made it to the big screen. For that reason it should be treasured.

Unlike the good copy I saw of Sally, the print of Sunny was really bad and you could tell portions of it were chopped out. As was the Kern- Harbach-Hammerstein score which fortunately the hit song from the show, Who, was featured. No, that's not the guy who played first base.

The plot's an ancient one. Marilyn's a circus bareback rider who falls for a Long Island society playboy. The circus is touring the United Kingdom and while saying some goodbyes to some friends sailing from Southampton for America, she gets stranded on board. At first she does a Sylvia Scarlett number, but fools no one. In order to preserve proprieties and mores of the time, she marries Joe Donahue with the understanding that they'll divorce and she'll be able to marry her beloved Lawrence Gray.

That sounds real silly today, but that's what people did and thought at the time. And this was even before the Code. If you care to see who she winds up with than hope you see a better copy than I got.

If you do you will see a marvelous dancer and a decent singer. Marilyn Miller was legendary in that she wanted her audience to get the total package that included dance which was her strength. For that reason she refused to make phonograph records and even radio appearances. So her three films are our only inkling of her talent.

Sunny came out in the midst of the Depression and flopped badly. Even though she was having one major affair with Jack Warner, after her next picture, Warner gave her the studio gate. I might have given this a better review had I seen a decent copy. A star like Marilyn Miller deserves so much better.

That about sums it up. We can gain no further insight as to what made her such a legendary performer from "Sunny", a creaky old movie billed as a musical but with precious little music. As noted by other reviewers, only "Who" remains from the original work, and most of the omitted songs were written by Oscar Hammerstein and Jerome Kern.

So here is Marilyn, smiling and of cheerful demeanor, caught in a poorly written screenplay which has been further vandalized by subsequent generations of distributors and made slightly incoherent, as pieces of scenes have evidently been cut out of the original. As is, the story is far-fetched with stale, poorly-delivered jokes and with very stagey acting.

That leaves us to judge Marilyn's talent, but that, too, is a chore. In contrast to her first film, "Sally", here she sings better than she dances, horsing about the stage and appearing dumpy and out of shape. She does better in a duet dance with Tom Donahue, who nearly carries the whole picture appearing in almost every scene.

Too bad she couldn't have been given a picture that really did her justice. The sound accompanying this movie was awful, and it could be that it was just too early in the sound era, as well as for musicals themselves. There is still one more Marilyn Miller film left that I haven't seen, and I'll hope for the best.

Sunny (1930)

** (out of 4)

The second of three pictures that Broadway star Marilyn Miller would make at First National. This one here has her playing Sunny, a girl working at a circus who sneaks on a boat heading for America so that she can find a better life. Along the way she ends up marrying Tom (Lawrence Gray) but their hopes for a good future are challenged. SUNNY isn't nearly as good as Miller's previous film (SALLY) but fans of the actress will probably still want to watch it and especially when you considering how few movies she made due to her early death. The biggest problem with this film is actually the sound quality. I'm really not sure what happened during the making of this movie but the sound quality is downright awful from start to finish. It doesn't seem to be an issue with the discs today because if it was the case of a movie just having a poor soundtrack then it would be uneven from reel to reel. This film sounds the same from start to finish so this leads me to believe it was something done during production. Every time someone talks it's as if they're standing in a cave to where we get an echo as well as some hiss. This is annoying at first but overtime you just get used to it. Miller is without question the real reason to watch this film as she has a certain charm and energy that was made for the big screen. Gray, on the other hand, comes across pretty bland and boring as does the majority of the supporting cast, although BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN fans will get a look at O.P. Heggie in a role here. SUNNY also features some rather mediocre music and songs, which certainly doesn't help matters.

I always thought that "Her Majesty Love" was Marilyn Miller's finest film until I saw "Sunny". Most of the movie crowd crowns the high notes on "Sally" but I find it boring and oh so long. "Sunny" is in rotten shape but what survives is wonderful to watch. MM simply illuminates the screen and is full of mischief in this tale of a circus bare back rider/dancer who stows away on an ocean liner. Note that Warner's used either the Aquitania or Mauretania for the cast off scene, and another two stacked liner for the long shot.... Somehow the ship loses two funnels once it's at sea... All in all, this one is a keeper for sure. Too bad MM didn't make more movies and died so young.