Bright Lights

Brown was a big comedy star of the 1930s, not as well remembered today as he should be. His career slowed down after WW II and he's best remembered now for his co-starring role in Some Like It Hot. But in the 30s he was big. Too bad he made all those sports comedies like Alibi Ike and Polo Joe. They all blur together because of their sameness.

Bright Lights (1935) is perhaps Brown's most physical comedy. The former circus player uses his great acrobatic skills (even at age 43) in this movie about the heartbreaks of show business. He plays a small-time burlesque player teamed with his wife (Ann Dvorak) who gets discovered because of a runaway heiress (Patricia Ellis). They get into a big Broadway show but at the last minuted Dvorak is out and Ellis (big headlines) is in. Familiar plot.

But what is so special about Bright Lights is that Brown is just plain excellent. The burlesque routine is hilarious and extremely well acted and directed (Busby Berkley), even to the point that the audiences are good. Their reactions are great. Brown's likable persona is used well in this film. The acrobat sequence with the Maxellos is so spontaneous and funny you'd never think it was ever rehearsed! Along with Brown, Dvorak and Ellis also turn is nice performances. Ellis was a minor leading lady who never got anything to do in Hollywood. Here she is bright and funny and a good singer (she also looks great); Dvorak is remembered as a B drama queen, but she started in the chorus (Free and Easy with Buster Keaton) and gets to sing and dance here. Dvorak should have been a bigger star. The chemistry between Dvorak and Brown is great.

Good supporting cast includes William Gargan as the press agent, Henry O'Neill as the verbose director, Joseph Cawthorne as the burlesque director, Clarence Wilson as the ticket seller, Grace Hayle as the plane passenger, Arthur Treacher as the valet, Gordon Westcott as the pill, and William Demarest in a real bit part as the detective.

Lots of fun, good performances, plus the song "The Acrobat's Daughter."

Dazzled by the BRIGHT LIGHTS of Broadway success, a burlesque actor is blinded as to what's really most important in life.

The film career of Joe E. Brown, Warner's rubber-faced comedian, essentially reached its zenith in this very enjoyable little comedy/drama obviously tailored for Joe's considerable skills. All too soon a change of studios would sidetrack Brown into cheaply made movies which would inevitably dim his celebrity. But here, in this backstage show biz story, his talents may still be enjoyed at full throttle.

Although the movie was directed by Busby Berkeley, it includes none of his celebrated dance extravaganzas, focusing instead on personality rather than pulchritude. The film is fortunate in that Brown, presented as a Broadway star, is genuinely funny when engaging in his slapstick humor. Whether dangerously balancing on a balcony rail as part of his stage act, using his tremendous mouth to great advantage while telling a party story about a 'little mousie,' or engaging in impressive nightclub acrobatic stunts with The Maxellos, Joe is never less than hilarious.

Although the focus is firmly on Brown, he is given able support from the rest of the cast: Ann Dvorak as his patient, long-suffering wife; Joseph Cawthorn as a fatherly theatrical troupe manager; William Gargan as an energetic press agent; and lovely Patricia Ellis as a stage bound heiress. William Demarest appears for a few seconds as a determined detective. Best of all is Arthur Treacher, wonderful as Brown's impeccable new valet.

Movie mavens will recognize sour faced Clarence Wilson as a train station clerk.

If seen as a comedy, this one doesn't have enough laughs, but as a showbiz boy-gets-famous-and-cheats-on-wife tale, it works. Brown is fantastic as a brash, egotistical jokester who rises to the top. The photography is great with director Berkely in top form when he's shooting vaudeville routines from directly overhead. Some of the antics look like they were made up on the spot, and the final scene where Brown returns to see his wife's performance is like something done by Fellini.

This film is only funny in a couple of spots, it features mostly static camera, routine burlesque performances, and dated humour. But Joe E Brown is incredibly confident and energetic, generating charisma by the barrelful. Patricia Ellis is quite fetching as the Bad Girl who tries to pry him from Ann Dvorak. Busby Berkeley stages some incredible shots from the ceiling of the theater where the characters are performing, and much of it is so spontaneous it seems like they're making it up on the spot. A lousy comedy, but a very interesting film. The ending scene where Brown returns to his wife's stage performance is as moving as an ending from early Fellini.

Joe E. Brown is usually just annoying, but in "Bright Lights" he is often annoying but he is also frequently amazingly impressive, both as an actor and especially as an acrobat.

He has a lot of fairly moronic dialogue, as the star of burlesque and later Broadway, and, worse, as the character who is a performer. Sorry, but most of his allegedly comic routine is more silly than funny.

Ann Dvorak, on the other hand, is not only more beautiful than usual -- and that's saying a lot! -- but she displays dancing ability I've never seen before, and with really attractive legs, and that gorgeous face expresses more emotions than most other actresses I've seen in a while.

She has impressed me for years but, in this performance, she just steals my heart, captures my imagination, and assures my eternal admiration.

In many ways, this is a routine programmer, but Ann Dvorak makes it memorable, and one to watch again.