The Merry Monahans

A black-and-white musical from Universal does not sound promising. It sounds bland, uneventful and tuneless. Boy, will you be surprised. I think the first surprise will be that you can't find this picture available in any format, so you'll have to get lucky and wait until some station runs it or buy a copy from a DVD pirate.

But the big surprise is what a good movie it is, how quickly it moves and how effervescent the performers are. The story has been done many times before but it really works here. And the musical numbers are not new songs but they are exhilarating and full of energy, led by old pro Jack Oakie, and Donald O'Connor and Peggy Ryan, two very young pros.

This picture is solid in all respects, and, except for the lack of color, could stand next to many MGM or Fox musicals.