Transatlantic Merry-Go-Round

I's a Grand-Hotel-on-Water movie in which crook Gene Raymond falls in love with entertainer Nancy Carroll, and has to save her from the coils of gangster Sidney Blackmer, while dodging card sharks and a detective. Jack Benny is also on hand to front the liner's acts and try to get his troupe out of scrapes.

It's a pleasant enough movie, but at 90 minutes, it seems to go on a bit long, what with occasional breaks for singing and sketches by Benny's troupe. It's an early, ambitious movie for producer Edward Small for United Artists, and seems to have done well with its combination of up-and-coming talent and paycheck-on-the-way down veterans. The music by Richard Whiting is not particularly distinguished, but it does hold the record for introducing the phrase "Rock and Roll" to the movies, as the title of a song performed by the Boswell Sisters.

"Transatlantic Merry-Go-Round" is a Gene Raymond film with Jack Benny on hand for comic relief. Sadly, however, despite Benny as well as Patsy Kelly in the film, it's not humorous at all. In fact, it's a rather dull film filled with weird production numbers and a difficult to like leading man.

The story is set aboard an ocean liner. One of the passengers, Jimmy Brett (Gene Raymond) is a crook....and he spends much of the film trying to get the better of a gang of crooks. During the course of the film, there is also a lot of entertainment emceed by Benny....and most of it is downright silly. After all, no ship would have had such elaborate and over-the-top musical numbers...complete with camera tricks to make things appear...which makes no sense for a live show. Eventually something happens...a man is murdered and late in the movie it becomes a murder mystery...an overly wrought and silly one at that.

None of this is particularly entertaining nor interesting...and apparently Raymond's character is supposed to be a hero, but being a crook is hardly heroic. Overall, a film which looked like a comedy but ended up being a very dull movie. Not much to recommend this one.

TRANSATLANTIC MERRY-GO-ROUND (Reliance, released by United Artists, 1934), directed by Benjamin Stoloff, produced by Edward Small, is pure thirties entertainment featuring numerous radio and screen personalities of the past whose names are almost forgotten today.

The story, told in flashback, is set on an ocean liner involving numerous passengers, including a Jimmy Brett, a jewel thief (Gene Raymond), Sally Marsh, actress (Nancy Carroll), some loan-sharks (Sidney Blackmer, Sam Hardy and William "Stage" Boyd), and a jealous husband (Ralph Morgan) out to spy on his unfaithful wife (Shirley Grey) by becoming a stowaway in a lifeboat. A murder later occurs which causes Inspector McKinney (Robert Elliott) to take time off from his vacation to gather up all the suspects.

In between the scenario, radio comedian Jack Benny as Chad Denby, with Nancy Carroll perform a spoof of MGM's GRAND HOTEL (1932); Mitzi Green singing "Oleo, It's Love" while impersonating actor George Arliss; the three Boswell Sisters singing "Rock and Roll" two decades before that term became standard to 1950s music, as well as "If I Had a Million Dollars"; along with a production number or two, save one biggie, "It Was Sweet of You," done in Busby Berkeley type-fashion, but choreographed by Larry Ceballos and Sammy Lee, including dancing girls, overhead camera shots with the chorus doing geometric figures. On the lighter side of "comedy relief," there's Patsy Kelly as a wisecracking passenger who participates in a shipboard skit; Sid Silvers as Raymond's sidekick posing as a cabin boy who hides the stolen jewels; and Sydney Howard as the passenger drunk who never sobers up for an instant during the duration of the entire story. And if any curious viewer wants to see a Nancy Carroll movie, this is possibly the only one of hers made available. What a shame that she isn't better known today especially since she was one of those top named Paramount stars of the 1930s (who at times resembles Paramount's own Sylvia Sidney). Carroll's career sadly faded after leaving Paramount, appearing in some forgettable programmers before accepting minor assignments in two 1938 releases.

TRANSATLANTIC MERRY-GO-ROUND was distributed on video cassette in 1987, became part of the "Nik-at-Nite Movie" which played after the midnight hours on Nickelodeon prior to 1988, and later returned to cable television for a while on American Movie Classics from February 2, to November 13, 2000, before disappearing from view.

It spite of its shortcomings, TRANSATLANTIC MERRY-GO-ROUND is enjoyable sort of movie quite common during the Depression era. (**1/2)

... then it would be an even better film than it is. It is all about how the lives of several passengers intertwine on a transatlantic journey. Sally Marsh (Nancy Carroll) has gotten her old friend Chad Denby (Jack Benny) to hire her on to his entertainment troupe for the voyage so that she can get her brother Ned out of town in a hurry. Underworld kingpin Lee Lother (Sidney Blackmer) , his henchmen, and his girl are on the ship, and Lother has past ties to both Sally and Ned. Actually, Lother's best girl is actually married and thinks she has pulled a fast one on her husband with this cruise, when in fact he knows what is going on and is on the same ship with murderous intentions.

So the protagonist who weaves all of these people together? Grifter Jimmy Brett, played by top billed Gene Raymond. The problem is, Jimmy is a louse, and yet the film seems to be saying we should be rooting for him. But how could I? He makes his partner in crime (Sid Sliver) work his way across the Atlantic so Jimmy can stay in first class, he is willing to steal from anybody anywhere anytime, and just because he is getting romantic with Sally, a genuinely nice gal, I'm supposed to cut him a break? Well, I'll let you see how this all works out.

Don't expect cheapskate Jack Benny of 1940 and later. At this point he is still working on his radio persona after only two years of transitioning from film to radio and doing the occasional film. Also Patsy Kelly, part of Benny's entertainment troupe, is practically background noise she is so restrained compared to her usually noisy assertive character.

Keep an eye out for the Busby Berkeley type dance number in the film, because like Berkeley's filmed dance numbers over at Warner's, the audience couldn't possibly appreciate it unless they were hanging from the ceiling, and this is not the Poseidon Adventure.

This little gem of a movie is getting harder and harder to find. It is almost 70 years old. All of the stars in this film may have been well known then but they, except for Jack Benny, are almost all unknown to viewers today.

The story is centered around a well known actress and a thief that fall in love on the cruise. She has connections to a crime boss and is trying to protect her criminal brother from the same crime boss he owes money to. The thief begins by stealing on board the boat and swindles and steals from just about everybody he sees along with his partner who works on ship as a steward. A police detective on vacation begins to figure what the thief is up to and later on attempts to solve the murder of the crime boss. In the end all the loose ends are tied up and the thief and the actress resolve their differences and move forward with their relationship.

The story is good and the support case is great. Jack Benny plays a well know radio personality that is providing the ship board entertainment along with the rest of his cast and staff. He is the quick witted, street smart good guy that has everyone pegged and helps to direct the other passengers in the right direction.

This film has several good musical numbers, typical of the day, and the comedy holds up well by todays standards. If you are able to locate this film or see that it is being aired give it a try. My guess is that you will be glad that you did.