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"It's a Great Life" is a relic from another era when sound was in its infancy. A very early MGM musical, the film stars the Duncan Sisters, Rosetta and Vivian, who were a famous vaudeville act achieving Broadway stardom with "Topsy and Eva" (so politically incorrect to never see the light of day again) in 1923. "It's a Great Life" was their shot at movie stardom and its failure dashed those hopes. You can see why.

Even taking into consideration that comedy and entertainment in general were different a century ago, it is a mystery why the Duncan Sisters became popular and famous. They are not good singers or dancers nor funny. Rosetta is particularly grating. Bear in mind we are still laughing at their contemporaries such as W. C. Fields and the Marx Bros.

Movie plot is threadbare serving as showcase for the sisters to perform their routines. Rosetta was the "comic" pulling funny faces and Vivian the dim blonde. Whatever they had live on stage did not translate to the screen. No charm as they overwork selling themselves. The film falls flat and 1929 audiences did not buy the Duncan Sisters who turned to nightclub act the remainder of their career.

The best aspect of "It's a Great LIfe" are the restored technicolor sequences concluding with the "Hoosier Hop" production number finale. The film is worth running just for the curio affect and developing sound musicals.

An offbeat entry for this series by containing a degree of humor usually lacking. It is not a criminal matching Ironside but his formidable Aunt Victoria as his browbeating fails to work on her. Rarely is the chief exasperated by a force equaling his own. She demands Ironside look into the disappearance of her friend and much to his consternation, Aunt Victoria and her bridge playing cronies launch their own investigation. A gang of Miss Marples run amuck in some amusing scenes and funny one liners. The plot itself is rather bizarre and non-sensible involving Dr. Crippin but does not matter in the end. It is all good fun to see the chief get rattled (well, a little anyway) and pleasant departure from typical Ironside runs roughshod over his team.

A routine episode made notable by the presence of a then 25-year-old Margot Kidder. Although her breakthrough "Sisters" had been released several months prior to this episode, Margot was still a relative unknown and five years from international stardom as Lois Lane in "Superman." When a teen, I saw "Sisters" upon original release and became enamored of her. It's bittersweet watching this episode seeing Margot in her youth knowing her later years were difficult for her resulting in suicide at age 69.