Riverboat Rhythm

This movie got me about ten seconds in when Frankie Carle began playing a nice version of "Twelfth Street Rag", one of my favorite rags. Then we get old comedy pros Leon Errol and Walter Catlett playing off each other in a pre-Tennessee Williams Riverboat story that would have made a good vehicle for W.C. Fields -- their spin on the matter is also very funny. Throw in a couple of feuds, mistaken identity and a couple of solid comics like Jonathan Hale and Mantan Moreland, and it's a very entertaining comedy. Director Leslie Goodwins, who got his start in the RKO shorts department, knows how to direct farce, and the timing never lets up, save for the excellent musical interludes.

A modern viewer might find some of the stereotypes offensive, but I don't.