A great deal of time was spent on the back story and not enough concentration on the music, so much so that I was reminded of the 40's radio show, "The Bickersons". It was a comedy show centering around a continuously arguing couple played by Don Ameche and Frances Langford. This picture centers around a continuously arguing couple, played by Robert Young and Ann Sothern. They marry, divorce, remarry, etc... this is not musical comedy but musical drama.
On the whole, though, I liked it. The picture has so much to recommend it that I could overlook the infighting scenes because the music was great. Not a lot of it remains from the Broadway musical, just "Fascinatin' Rhythm" and the title song. But the song that put the movie over for me was "The Last Time I Saw Paris", sung to perfection by Ann Sothern. It won a well-deserved AA for Best Song. Then there was Eleanor Powell with a couple of terrific dance numbers, The acrobatic Berry Brothers, Red Skelton and Lionel Barrymore, who increases the stature of any movie he is in.
I thought Young and Sothern played off each other well and were true troupers, doing the best they could with peculiar material. The picture was about 15-20 minutes too long, dwelling too much on marital strife, but this was an MGM musical and in black and white, no less - made me think no one did musicals like Fox.
On the whole, though, I liked it. The picture has so much to recommend it that I could overlook the infighting scenes because the music was great. Not a lot of it remains from the Broadway musical, just "Fascinatin' Rhythm" and the title song. But the song that put the movie over for me was "The Last Time I Saw Paris", sung to perfection by Ann Sothern. It won a well-deserved AA for Best Song. Then there was Eleanor Powell with a couple of terrific dance numbers, The acrobatic Berry Brothers, Red Skelton and Lionel Barrymore, who increases the stature of any movie he is in.
I thought Young and Sothern played off each other well and were true troupers, doing the best they could with peculiar material. The picture was about 15-20 minutes too long, dwelling too much on marital strife, but this was an MGM musical and in black and white, no less - made me think no one did musicals like Fox.