On the Riviera

There is probably more remakes left in The Red Cat, the play on which Folies Bergere, That Night In Rio, and now On The Riviera is based. Danny Kaye in this film steps into the shoes of first Maurice Chevalier and Don Ameche and they fit well.

Like his predecessors Kaye plays dual roles, an American entertainer who includes impressions in his act and a French industrialist who was an air ace a World War ago. The entertainer has Corinne Calvet in his act as an assistant and the industrialist is married to Gene Tierney.

When the industrialist makes a secret trip to Great Britain for some financing his associates are left holding the bag with another French industrialist. They hire Kaye the entertainer to impersonate the industrialist and the results, especially with the interaction between the women are hilarious.

I'm surprised that Danny Kaye never thought to play the Dromios in a film version of A Comedy Of Errors. With his friend Laurence Olivier as Antipholus it would have been a classic.

On The Riviera got two Oscar nominations for Art&Set Direction and for musical scoring by Alfred Newman. Sylvia Fine also known as Mrs. Kaye wrote most of the score and Popo The Puppet got Kaye a lot of success with his children fans. But the hit was the oldtime ragtime song Ballin' The Jack revived for On The Riviera.

This film holds up well and one of these days Robin Williams will see this as a property for him. As it is three fine films have been made already.

"The Red Cat" was a Broadway play. It was back Darryl Zanuck and brought to the screen almost immediately as "Folies Bergère de Paris" and then, within a short time, remade it as "A Night in Rio" and now here in "On the Riviera"! And, if that isn't enough, the basic story idea of this script is very familiar--using one of Hollywood's oldest clichés--the 'identical stranger'. Like "The Prisoner of Zenda" and "The Prince and the Pauper", this movie hinges on the audience accepting that this is possible. In other words, if you can't accept this, the film will be rough sailing.

In this version, the lead is played by the talented Danny Kaye--who sings and dances up a storm. Now if you like singing and dancing, you're in luck. If you don't, then once again it will be rough sailing. My problems is that I am not a huge musical fan. There are, of course, exceptions. Kaye plays dual roles--a singer/dancer as well as a famous French aviator. The humor begins, such as it is, when the aviator is in London and he's needed in Paris--so, reluctantly, the actor/dancer is paid to pretend to be the aviator. The acting is quite good but the story is just too old and too familiar to make the story anything other than a time-passer.

By the way, while I wasn't all that impressed by this film, I must say that the special features on the DVD for the film are terrific--and actually make watching it worth while. I especially liked "The Rivera Story", as it showed side-by-side comparisons of the three films--and they were often word-for-word the same picture.

Not all Danny Kaye films have lasted well. In my opinion the two that have are "The Court Jester" and "On The Riviera".

"On the Riviera" is a superbly mounted comedy, with gorgeous Riviera scenery, lavish sets, and some ravishingly beautiful women. The mistaken identity plot is an old one but there great scenes of confusion and some good and sometimes surprisingly suggestive dialogue, unusual for the time especially in a Danny Kaye movie.

Dance routines are imaginative and energetic with some statuesque and eager looking chorus girls. Gwen Verdon does a specialty number.

Thoroughly enjoyable, it stands up to repeat viewing.

Most actors and performers excel in one field, with maybe a second very good talent. Bing Crosby could croon, and add a little tap or soft shoe. Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly could hoof up a storm, and often add a tune or melody. Frank Sinatra and others could sing, or play dramatic roles in films. Bob Hope and many other comics could toss in a little shuffle and/or tune with their comedy.

But, once in a while, a multi-talent comes along - like Danny Kaye. He could sing and dance, cavort and crack tongue-twisters, play it straight, and just put life and zest into a film. Movie goers since the mid-20th century have seen Kaye perform some or many of his talents in various movies. He displays them all here, in "On the Riviera." The plot in this film wasn't new or intriguing for then or now, but it was just the right venue to allow Kaye to show us his many talents.

Kaye's performance in a double role (impersonation) is far and away above that by actors in any other film (see Maurice Chevalier in "Folies Bergere de Paris," Yves Montand in "Let's Make Love," and Don Ameche in "That Night in Rio"). His comedic exchanges in this film are crisp as ever, and he shines in all his song and dance numbers, four of which were written and composed by his wife, Sylvia Fine, for this show. One particularly creative routine, "Popo the Puppet," lets Kaye show his exceptional physical versatility and talent as a dancer.

This isn't the best of Kaye's outright solo lead comedies. That honor belongs to "Knock on Wood" of 1954. In that, he had three major scenarios of tongue-twisters, long stretches of running funny dialog, and a number of superb disguises and impersonations that are hilarious. But "On the Riviera" is guaranteed to please anyone who has a funny bone to tickle.

One of the great attributes of the talented Danny Kaye was his ability to bring out the best in his co-stars and fellow performers. That shows as well in the performances of all the fine cast in this film. What a great performer and entertainer this man was - and global humanitarian as well. What great fun and enjoyment for those of us who love all these aspects of entertainment.

I didn't always recognize the greatness of Kaye's talent. In my younger years, I liked the more manly figures or accomplished voices in films. But as I watch films not seen for decades, and as I look for the best of the music and musicals for my family film library, I see Kaye as the much bigger all around talent - and top entertainer - that he was.

If you like great entertainment with song, dance, comedy and romance, you'll love "On the Riviera."

I can't imagine why anyone would dislike this marvelous film. Danny Kaye does a superb job playing a double role, showing a subtlety of acting ability that some might not have thought he had. He is not, for once, cast like a complete fool. Don't get me wrong; he plays those parts well, and is often hysterically funny, as in The Inspector General and The Court Jester. In that picture he does get to play a part that is not a fool, as he is hypnotized into thinking himself a swashbuckling hero, but it is a role that calls for him to lampoon the part he is playing. In On The Riviera, however, he plays a genuine masterful leading male role: a millionaire French airplane manufacturer with a gorgeous wife who is worth the price of admission. His other role is a traditional Kaye role: an American comedian. The gimmick is that he is an almost perfect double for the suave French romantic lead. He really plays three roles, and the subtlety with which he distinguishes them is superb. He is the American comic, he is the French millionaire looking a little like Yves Montand, and he is the American comic successfully passing himself off as the millionaire, fooling the wife and the valet as well as the general public. The role reminds me of Yves Montand in Let's Make Love with Marilyn Monroe: he plays the millionaire and he plays a poor guy trying to break into show business by passing for the millionaire. All in all, a triumph for Danny Kaye, well decorated with gorgeous females.