Comin' Round the Mountain

Comin' Round the Mountain - 1940 Version. This early Paramount feature doesn't hold up to the test of time. Unfortunately, it didn't fare any better when it was first released in 1940 when critics laid into it: "not very inspiring"; "Colonna's patter not up to radio persona"; "story is only an excuse -a poor one- for the hillbilly setting!" But it was filmed in the beautiful San Bernardino Mountains and at Lake Arrowhead, so from a historical perspective - I enjoyed it. Bob 'Bazooka' Burns was a famous radio personality of the day, as were many other members of the cast - but his stilted performance can't carry the lame story about a hillbilly who made good in the big city returning to his roots. Una Merkel is about the only believable person in the bunch. Harold Peary makes his film debut as the Great Gildersleeve, a personality he created in a 1935 Fibber McGee & Molly radio play. Only highlight of the day - a hot air balloon rising over Lake Arrowhead. I wonder where it landed? This film is on 4 nitrate reels at the UCLA archives, so you won't be seeing it on TV anytime soon. One of the local residents remembers it being filmed near Twin Peaks, in the San Bernardino Mountains, and also remembers that the community was asked to participate in the crowd scenes. One and half checks out of 5 would be overly generous.