La calle 44

This is part musical and part gangster film.Unfortunately neither really meshes with the other.Just when we are enjoying a musical interlude the rather routine gangster film comes crashing back in.It seems to me that they really could not make up their minds what sort of film they wanted this to be.The cast is quite interesting.Ann Shirley and Richard Barthelmess both make their swan songs.Also featured are the marvelous Mary Wickes and Millard Mitchell.In fact the exchanges between those two are the best part of the film.There is one rather strange scene when George Murphy asks the young gang leader to come and live with him instead of Ann Shirley.In the next scene Murphy and the boy are seen all hot and sweaty in his gym!I wonder if they were trying to tell us something?