Tanned Legs

The further back you go, the earlier in the evolutionary chain of cinema.

Even if the movie is uninteresting in a conventional sense, it has interest. Each of these early movies — and there weren't that many — was a firework shot into a sky, defining it.

This one is a rather crude imposition of a show onto several slightly related stories of romantic situations, and some sexual intrigue.

The show has the legs of the title rather overtly displayed in an obvious attempt to add spice to the stiff staging of the romantic episodes. Some of these involve the participants bursting into song, so its a strange amalgam of a musical on the story and one in the story. The stories are trite, as one would expect, but the women in the stories, even the vamps, are amazingly prim, especially when compared to the show girls.

These show girls, by the way, were selected for a different body type than usual for the period and more in line with modern trends: low body fat, muscle tone. As much is made of the Florida locale, that must have applied.

Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.

I almost screamed with delight for 66 minutes through this perfect 1920s flapper musical set in a seaside resort with lots of gorgeous girls and guys in their cossies waving their tanned legs about to music. What a delight! Made at RKO in may 1929 TANNED LEGS is simply beautiful to see, with a snazzy modern cast singing and dancing in the most fantastic modern 1929 clothes... and in sets that make any person in love with the era swoon with glee. Several very funny songs include "Jump In - The Water's Fine", "You're Responsible" (with terrific tap dancing reprise) and "Tanned Legs" itself with howling risqué exposure of many tanned legs and what is at the top of them. Arthur Lake in particular is a standout, he was about 24 at the time and is like a lovesick tousled tom cat, especially in his striped dressing gown on the porch. Very modern in tone and style and an utter delight TANNED LEGS is THE BOYFRIEND for real. The film veers off into some melodrama later and ends abruptly which might explain why there is an original running time 5 minutes more than this print of 66 minutes. It seems to have the end missing, which given the way the film starts, should also end with a musical number. However, for the 66 minutes I lapped up it was flapper and swimming cossie heaven. Sally Blaine, who was Loretta Young's sister is astonishingly as beautiful. The film is so early in the talkie era that it is clear the camera is trapped in a glass booth and you can hear the camera whirring. TANNED LEGS is simply gorgeous for every artistic musical and technical reason imaginable. I can't stop watching it. The film is similar to FOLLOW THRU made at Paramount and in color in 1930... and TANNED LEGS clearly needed Jack Haley as well.. there is even one comedian who is similar and only serves to remind us of him. The sound is excellent - photo-phone on film - and serves to explain why it instantly became the industry standard. TANNED LEGS is a complete delight even if the print is incomplete.

It is a watchable first-generation film musical. There are some obvious flaws caused by a mostly immobile camera and choreography better suited for the Broadway stage than the Hollywood sound stage, but there are some great strengths to it. Among them are its cast, including Arthur Lake, Sally Blane (Loretta Young's sister) and Lloyd Hamilton, a good if unmemorable set of songs and the opening-out of the action to a beach location -- if you can accept cliffs in seaside Florida, of course.

Leo Tover, whose black-and-white cinematography would be Oscar-nominated in the 1950s, is obviously operating under a considerable handicap. Except for the dance numbers and a couple of MOS sequence, almost everything is done in medium shots, usually extended two-shots. Still, director Marshall Neilan manages to keep things humming, there are a couple of funny scenes (including a six-handed bridge game) and we get to see a lot of tanned legs.

This is a very old fashioned musical, though I certainly expected this and cut the film some slack. After all, 1929 was still very early for talking pictures and the musicals of the era are a tad stilted and the production numbers a bit...well...much. And, compared to most of the musicals of the time, this one isn't bad at all.

The plot involves a family that is on vacation. However, Peggy (June Clyde) isn't about to pitch woo with Bill (Arthur Lake) because she's too worried about her family. After all, her daddy is out chasing a younger woman and mom isn't any better. As for her sister, there are some incriminating letters...and Peggy is determined to get them.

The film has a few cute songs, though the singing varies tremendously. A few of the actors (such as Lake) should NOT be singing! Interestingly enough, one of the co-writers of the songs was the very clever raconteur, Oscar Levant. Overall, it's harmless fluff. Folks that love older talking pictures will enjoy it...others might find it a bit tough to finish. The film also has one of the most abrupt and unsatisfying endings...it makes we wonder if the whole ending might actually be missing.

The title of this film implies a naïve titillation representative of the pre-Code films.

As movies made the transition from silent screen to talkies, there was a lot of experimentation. In this film, they use the occasional title card to explain or advance the story. It is interesting to see the state of the art in 1929, but in many instances it is amateurish compared to later standards.

Cameras are mostly stationary. The featured music and background music have a long way to go to achieve the potential realized in the sophisticated tunes of the great writer-composers that followed in the thirties. The dancing/choreography is unpolished and synchronization is mostly ignored. The script is disjointed and, sometimes, ridiculous. The ending of the film is laughable.

It would not take long for producers and directors to understand the potential for talkies and to harness the advantages of new film technologies and methods. Only ten years after this film, Hollywood would release a host of films displaying the fully-formed artistic visions of "Gone With the Wind", "The Wizard of Oz", "Ninotchka" and many other classics.