This college musical actually gets a bit of a serious theme here as it deals in one of its plots with alcholism through a football player (Richard Arlen) who is fighting his drinking problem and resents being threatened with expulsion. In today's world of binge drinking games at colleges, this 80 year old film is surprisingly timely even if it is only a subplot of another "Good News" type film where music is the most important class (and Bing Crosby is the instructor!) and a Friday night is only complete if you take your best gal "down the old ox road".
Crosby in 1933 was at his cinematic height with three films, and while he is top billed, the real star of the film is Jack Oakie as another football hero who must, like Ruby Keeler in "42nd Street", step up to take over when the big star can't go on. He seems a bit long in the tooth for being a football hero, and even if there was a G.I. bill, he's not quite right on the mark for being a gridiron star. But where there's Oakie, there's always comedy, and it starts right from the beginning where he is trying to get the young dumb collegiate on that old ox road, which is the major production number here. The movie lacks in dance, but it does feature Crosby singing "Learn to Croon" (later sung by Alfalfa in the "Our Gang" series) and Burns and Allen doing their routine about Gracie's wacky family.
George and Gracie only have a small part here, as caterers at the big college dance where Gracie gets some delicious pre-code dialog in their routine, especially when talking about family members who just got married where only the wife got to go on the honeymoon. They pop up out of nowhere at the end where Gracie gets to throw in a few more delightful malapropisms before the game comes to its raucuous conclusion. Overall, this is an entertaining but familiar mix of what Broadway and Hollywood had been letting us know about college life, and the inclusion of some potent drama adds to the surprise power you might not find too often in other similar themed musicals.
Crosby in 1933 was at his cinematic height with three films, and while he is top billed, the real star of the film is Jack Oakie as another football hero who must, like Ruby Keeler in "42nd Street", step up to take over when the big star can't go on. He seems a bit long in the tooth for being a football hero, and even if there was a G.I. bill, he's not quite right on the mark for being a gridiron star. But where there's Oakie, there's always comedy, and it starts right from the beginning where he is trying to get the young dumb collegiate on that old ox road, which is the major production number here. The movie lacks in dance, but it does feature Crosby singing "Learn to Croon" (later sung by Alfalfa in the "Our Gang" series) and Burns and Allen doing their routine about Gracie's wacky family.
George and Gracie only have a small part here, as caterers at the big college dance where Gracie gets some delicious pre-code dialog in their routine, especially when talking about family members who just got married where only the wife got to go on the honeymoon. They pop up out of nowhere at the end where Gracie gets to throw in a few more delightful malapropisms before the game comes to its raucuous conclusion. Overall, this is an entertaining but familiar mix of what Broadway and Hollywood had been letting us know about college life, and the inclusion of some potent drama adds to the surprise power you might not find too often in other similar themed musicals.