Banjo on My Knee

Banjo On My Knee could be considered a transitional film for the newly created 20th Century Fox. Before 20th Century Pictures merged with Fox Film Corporation in 1936, Fox films stock in trade were these rustic type movies that starred either Will Rogers or Janet Gaynor or both even.

When Darryl Zanuck took over the new studio he changed the look entirely and 20th Century Fox became known for some splashy musicals. Banjo On My Knee is a hybrid of both the old and new studio.

Barbara Stanwyck and Walter Brennan take on parts that would have been reserved for Janet Gaynor and Will Rogers previously. Stanwyck is a land girl and she marries Brennan's son Joel McCrea. Brennan and the whole clan live on a houseboat that is moored to a sandbar island in the middle of the Mississippi. These folks don't work, they just drop a line into the Mississippi for food a few times a day.

But the wedding night is eventful because before Joel and Barbara can get to the consummation business, Victor Klllian gets fresh with Stanwyck and McCrea knocks him into the river. Thinking he's killed Killian, McCrea skedaddles to New Orleans and joins the crew of an outbound freighter.

That sets in motion a series of events that keep Joel and Barbara from doing the deed. Not like there isn't other people interested in them. Barbara attracts the attention of Tony Martin in one of his early films and Joel already had a slinky and jealous Katharine DeMille, another river girl who'd like very much to move in where Stanwyck left off.

As for Brennan he wants these two to start kanoodling because he wants real bad to be a grandfather. They all wind up in New Orleans and then back up the Mississippi on their sandbar houseboat home.

I'm betting that Henry Fonda wasn't available so Joel McCrea was signed for this film. This is just the kind of part Fonda was specializing in doing in his early career. Others in the cast include Helen Westley as a pipe smoking grandma and Walter Catlett as a smarmy photographer who gets his clock cleaned several times for trying to move in on Stanwyck.

There were original songs written for this film by Jimmy McHugh and Harold Adamson, Tony Martin gets to sing a duet with Barbara Stanwyck who admittedly did not have much of a singing voice. Martin carries the brunt of that duet. Buddy Ebsen's presence is almost mandatory in a film about rural rustics and he contributes some dance numbers. Another player who specialized in rustic types is Spencer Charters and he was in Banjo On My Knee as well. I really did love the 'annulment' that he was ready to grant McCrea in order to marry Katharine DeMille.

I'm willing to make a small wager that Banjo On My Knee was a project that Fox films might have intended for Will Rogers with his role built up more than it is here. Right around the time that the studios were merging Rogers was killed in that plane crash in Alaska. Banjo On My Knee is not a bad film, but I'm betting that Will Rogers would have made it something special.

This film is a rarity seldom seen on cable. It came as a total surprise, but the casting looked intriguing. John Cromwell directed this 1936 film with sure hand. He takes us to meet the river people that populate the banks of the Mississippi, eking a living out of their fishing. The cinematography of Ernest Palmer does wonders to give us a realistic view of the majestic river and New Orleans.

Barbara Stanwyck proves to be the biggest surprise of all, singing and dancing with great verve in a few of her scenes. She plays Pearl, the city girl that comes to marry Ernie Holley, an uneducated man, but who clearly loves her. Joel McCrea is the stubborn man who doesn't realize he has a gem in Pearl.

The best thing though is Walter Brennan, who is Ernie's father and a man that looks forward to a grandchild to dote on. He is a river musician who plays a strange contraption. Mr. Brennan gave a great performance as Newt, who warms our hearts with his simple melodies.

Buddy Ebsen is Buddy, a river boy who loves to dance to the tunes that Newt produces. Tony Martin is perfect as the star of the cafe in New Orleans where he is heard singing some beautiful songs. Katherine DeMille is Leota, the girl in love with Ernie who will do everything to get Pearl to leave her man.

The movie will warm the viewer's heart because its simplicity and the great direction Mr. Cromwell got from this cast.

Rather ill-conceived and condescending Fox musical study of "river folk," meaning mindless Southerners who overreact to perceived slights and say "dad-blamed" a lot. River lad Joel McCrea, always appealing but playing a really unlikable leading man, marries "land girl" Barbara Stanwyck, none too bright herself, then high-tails it to Europe on his wedding night when he mistakenly thinks he's killed Victor Kilian, who got fresh with his bride. Walter Brennan's his superannuated dad; if you like Brennan's style of corn pone and shtick you'll like him here, but I don't. Stanwyck, surprisingly believing the lies of citified Walter Catlett, follows him to New Orleans, then has second thoughts, and ends up washing dishes in Minna Gombell's cafe, where she also harmonizes with Tony Martin and soft-shoes a bit with Buddy Ebsen. I love Stanwyck, but singing and dancing really aren't her fortes, and one is constantly aware that she's more intelligent than the woman she's playing. More interesting is a scowling, Joan-Crawford-looking Katherine de Mille, as her nasty rival. There are some nice musical interludes, notably an elaborate "St. Louis Blues" with the Hall Johnson Choir, but the plot meanderings are arbitrary and the ending's never in doubt. Nicely photographed, with an impressive river storm near the end.

... one of the most bizarre movie musicals ever made. As someone else mentioned, this film makes more sense if you think about when it was made - 1936 - and what it represents - the marriage of Darryl F. Zanuck's 20th Century Pictures that was aiming to make a name for itself in musicals and with well-known stars, and failing Fox Films, which had specialized in films for and about rural folk from its inception until its bankruptcy in 1935. This film was made the year after their merger and so the aims of both companies show through. What results is a rustic semi-musical about rural Southern folk starring two stars (Stanwyck and McCrea) who do their best but really don't belong here. Buddy Ebsen and Walter Brennan seem much more at home here with charming performances you'll expect given their roles in other films.

What's a shame is that Barbara Stanwyck really isn't given more to do here. What's also a shame is that Joel McCrea, an actor who is a favorite of mine, is relegated to the part of the mindless muscle. He thinks with his fists, takes actions that make no sense when those fists have consequences, is kind and even obliging to people that are obviously trying to use him, and thoughtless to those who love him.

I really liked the musical performances and I thought the tunes were quite catchy and memorable. It's just a shame more effort wasn't put into making a story that played to Stanwyck and McCrea's strengths.

What Banjo on My Knee lacks in original story or compelling themes, it makes up for with warm, funny characters brought to life by delightful actors. Barbara Stanwyck shines as the uneducated "land girl", who marries Joel McCrea's "river boy" despite significant differences in their background and world view. Walter Brennan assays one of his best roles as McCrea's good-natured, contraption-playing father. ("When I'm low, it's music I need " he says, before launching into a song with his one-man band.) Buddy Ebsen, singing and dancing to the title tune, Walter Catlett, as a would-be lothario in hapless pursuit of Stanwyck, and Katherine DeMille, as a voluptuous harpy after McCrea, all turn in fine performances. One of the best elements in the film, however, is the music. We not only have Brennan 's rousing renditions of "Dixie" and "St. Louis Blues", but the latter tune rendered to perfection by the marvelous Hall Johnson Choir. The film doesn 't maintain the same level of charm found in its opening scenes throughout its length, but there is enough comedy and music to make Banjo on My Knee a film worth seeing.