Pot o' Gold

This light-hearted film sees James Stewart playing Jimmy Haskell, the owner of a failing music store in a small town. His music-hating uncle C.J. Haskell wants him to give it up and join the family business. Shortly afterwards he is forced to sell so heads to the city. Here he finds himself in an argument between a group of musicians, living at Ma McCorkle's boarding house and representatives of a local business man who is disturbed by their playing. Jimmy throws a tomato and hits the businessman... his uncle! He gets away without being recognised and is seen as a hero by the musicians; and Ma's daughter Molly. He is now in a predicament; his uncle is determined to identify and prosecute the man who threw the tomato and the McCorkle's might not take kindly to having a Haskell in their midst. Will he be able to reconcile the families or is he just going to upset everybody when the truth comes out?

This film won't provide too many surprises but that doesn't matter. It is charming, witty and features plenty of musical turns, but not too many. James Stewart is a delight as Jimmy and the rest of the cast are solid. The comedy is gentle; mostly based on the facts that Jimmy's uncle doesn't know he threw the tomato, the McCorkle's not knowing he is a Haskell and his attempts to keep it that way. Highlights amongst the musical numbers are a performance in a jail cell and the pre-dinner performance featuring 'musical glasses. Comedy highlights included making Uncle C.J. think he was hearing and seeing things that nobody else could and the finale where Molly comes up with a plan which could unfortunately land Jimmy in jail if he can't think of a way to implement it legally. Inevitably there is also some romance between Jimmy and Molly. Overall a fun little film with no offensive material and plenty of gentle laughs; well worth a watch.

A really fun movie. The music was performed live in front of a camera, no overdubing. I was amazed at how well arranged, choregraphed and performed the pieces were. I only wish that the DVD master had cleaned up the sound more and brought out better frequency response.

Jimmy Stewart was his usual charming self. Its hard to hate a movie with Jimmy in it. Even better, Jimmy actually sang and did quite well with the song. The first half of the movie had me laughing out loud!

I admit that I selected this not because of the amazing Jimmy Stewart at his bumbling best. Nor for Paulette, presumably Hollywood's greatest charm of the period.

No, I was drawn by Horace Heidt, the real life bandleader who stars under his own name here and carries his band with him. For some reason unfathomable to me, his bands always seemed to come out on the second tier of music history while lesser groups are remembered fondly. Ah well, I guess that's the music business, and he did well enough before he left it to be a professional investor.

I met the man in 1964, a time closer to this movie than to now. He said a few things to me about music that I have never heard as intelligently since. From anyone. About any art.

The story here is a well built one: a food magnate with a cannon in his plant (to puff rice) has a feud going with the boarding house next door which houses Horace's band. The businessman's nephew comes to town and falls in love with the innkeeper's daughter.

The device of the show is a radio show that Steward takes over and which hosts the band.

Its a musical and true to the form at the time, has no consistency to how the music finds an excuse to appear. Sometimes it is a show within the show. (Even then, there's some strangeness. A big number is for a radio audience, but morphs into an elaborately costumed dance stage routine.)

Sometimes it is somewhat real, with the band-members just breaking into song and that developing into a number. And sometimes its strangely internal, where the thing stops being real and itself becomes a show. I think this was not deliberate but a simple affirmation of what they thought the audience would accept. Much of the music (except the big stage number) is more musically exciting than what you normally find in movie musicals. I'd recommend it on that basis.

And there are some nifty cinematic jokes, too, a few quite clever mixed in with the corny ones.

The radio show in the movie was based on a real radio show of the same name and gimmick featuring Horace Heidt, so there's yet another fold for the show within the show.

If you don't care about the movie and its story (and few folks seem to with musicals) and you think of musical numbers more in terms of musical than big dance numbers, you will like this. You will.

Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.

As a concert organist/pianist always interested in musicals I just discovered this movie five days ago (5-1-05).

I was stunned by the musicality of the performers. These guys and gals could really sing and play...what a joy to hear fantastic intonation and real "in tune" singing.

The boarding house number is easily one of the most beautifully done and also the most complicated. The guys really played the water glasses and I can tell you that trying to get crystal to play as a "glass harmonica" (invented by Ben Franklin) is no easy job.

From start to finish a truly heartwarming film. From a more innocent era and one without guile. I laughed my self silly during the "drive uncle Charlie crazy" sequence.

How anyone could not like this as pure clean fun is beyond me. Perhaps you are hearing "Bugles on the phone"...hahaha,

I have a Super 8 Sound print of this gem, and it has been an audience favorite for years at my "Movie Nights"-- no figuring out an involved, complicated plot-- Jimmy is a nice guy, Paulette is gorgeous, and the movie mesmerizes the audience with the corny comedy, predictable outcomes and more than memorable music (who can forget "With a Knife, A Fork, and A Spoon"?) This is Hollywood escapism to the Nth degree-- songs that work, sets that satisfy and a story line as simple as a Hallmark card, all of it embellished with two young and energetic stars surrounded by the musical genius of Horace Heidt and his crew. I haven't screened this one in years, but I plan to show it soon enough--a perfect example of why movies always beat reality.