For those of us who peruse the Internet for free movies here is what I thought was a real public domain delight. Yes it is ultra low-budget but it is surprisingly full of wonderful things. Grace Hayes, the mother of that fast-talking ubiquitous comedy actor Peter Lind Hayes and mother in law of Mary Healy (does anyone remember their big hit Crazy Mixed-Up Song?), actually dominates the film with a performance as a former diva who is eager for a comeback and forced to marry into a family of commoners who are up against the dark side of the Great Depression (it was filmed in 1933, a rock bottom period for America). For some unknown reason record plugger and highly influential entertainment spotter Frank Richardson hears her perform and thinks she's fabulous and brings her and her entire new family out to Manhattan where she achieves her comeback in grand style and where she can become even more of a personal horror than ever!
Others have described the plot so I won't rehash that here, but I would call attention to the fact that this film has the greatest musical score in a movie musical that you've never heard of! Each song is a real gem and deserves to be considered for the Great American Songbook of classic hits. Look Up Not down was my favorite but later in the film Grace Hayes belts out some more winners one after another in Mae West style! Her blues readings really steal the show!
Behind her in her final number one gets the chance to see chorus girls dancing with fans and giving us a taste of what Fanchon and Marco, those famous choreographers and movie prologue stagers, could put together on a low budget. Prologues were mini-vaudeville shows which toured around the country, usually in major cities, preceding the movie with a live packaged show that might be purchased by theater chains.
The score is composed by Albert Von Tilzer, I discovered, whose glory days were a bit behind him (he had composed Take Me Out to the Ball Game, among many other hits mainly in the 1910s, and was the brother of famed composer Harry Von Tilzer of the Von Tilzer sheet music publishing empire).
I particularly liked the beautiful Joan Marsh who got to sing a peppy version of Look Up Not Down early on and who showed a fine flare for ensemble comedy. In her final sequence she is almost wearing a stunning dress that seems about ready to fall to the ground, reminding us that this is from the end of the pre-code period.
When Grace Hayes ducks out on rehearsal to visit with an old friend/nemesis from the stage, the sparks really fly and the ensuing catfight between two aging battle-axes of the theater is a hoot.
Frank Albertson is fine as the young man and potential love interest for Joan Marsh. He was known for playing what were then called juveniles and he was largely unable to make the transition to leading man roles, hence his appearance in lower level films and his subsequent smaller character parts. He died of a heart attack at just 56 while the lovely Joan Marsh just faded away from minor films into marriage to a semi-successful screenwriter. She ended her long life managing a stationery shop and it's a shame she's not better remembered except as a late night goddess to those of us who love Joan Woodbury, Gale Storm, Wanda McKay, Irene Hervey and the others who worked for little money on Poverty Row films and still manage to bring us a great big helping of late-night joy.
