In 1937, the fabricated radio feud between New York newspaper columnist Walter Winchell and bandleader Ben Bernie (good friends in real life, just like Fred Allen and Jack Benny) resulted in a pair of long forgotten features from Darryl Zanuck's Fox company, "Wake Up and Live" and "Love and Hisses." Their verbal sparring was buttressed by various turns from equally forgotten specialty performers, with Alice Faye leading lady in the first, Hollywood newcomer Simone Simon in the second, Joan Davis stealing scenes in both. "Love and Hisses" brought their screen career to a premature end, innocuous but not uninteresting, as Simone impersonates an up and coming singer championed by Winchell, unaware that she is a protégé of Bernie, his partner Bert Lahr the unlikely but amusing love interest for Joan Davis. Entering into this mix is aspiring songwriter Dick Baldwin, who mistakenly believes that Ben Bernie has stolen one of his songs, immediately falls for the irresistible Simone, and regales her with other tunes from his repertoire. It's love at first plight, with Douglas Fowley again typecast in mobster mode, enabling Winchell to top his rival in the less than tense finale, dragged out with ten minutes of song and dance. Walter Winchell would continue his career as one of the world's best known gossip mongers (multiple film and TV appearances), but poor Ben Bernie never made another film, his premature death in 1943 denying him the opportunity to hear his greatest musical triumph, a fast paced rendition of "Sweet Georgia Brown," become the longtime theme for the Harlem Globetrotters. Among the familiar faces in the unbilled cast list, Lon Chaney Jr. can be spotted at the five minute mark in a blink-and-you'll-miss-him bit as the attendant for one of Winchell's radio broadcasts, watching an irate Ben Bernie kick a drum on the way out; sadly, this silent role was typical of his two year tenure at Fox, most of his other parts distinguished by at least a single line, not so here.
3 Reviews
Hisses and Love.
morrison-dylan-fan24 March 2016
Warning: Spoilers
Taking a look at a DVD sellers page I started looking for titles to view over the Easter holiday with my dad.Despite having heard about her for years,I've never got round to seeing Simone Simon in anything,which led to me being happy when I spotted that the seller had tracked down a rare Simone title,that would give me the chance to hear her love and hisses.
The plot:
Crossing swords for years,band leader Walter Winchell and newspaper columnist Ben Bernie take every opportunity to knock the other one down. Discovering that French singer Yvett Guerin has recently arrived in the US.Deciding to take Guerin under his wing,Winchell soon starts to get Bernie to send love and hisses her way.
View on the film:
Based on a "radio feud" (!) taking place at the time,the screenplay by Art Arthur & Curtis Kenyon hisses light musical numbers,smirking wise guys and gentle Screwball Comedy.Keeping things soft,the writers disappointingly make the comedy rather dry,with the feud between Ben Bernie and Walter Winchell failing to heat up,and the screwballs only bouncing for the final turns.
For the easy-going Musical numbers,director Sidney Lanfield & cinematographer Robert H. Planck give the scenes a cheeky shot of reality,as overlapping photos reveal the "real" image of the dancers.Joined by the real Walter Winchell and Ben Bernie, Simone Simon (whose singing is dubbed) gives a very good performance as Yvett Guerin,thanks to Simon giving Guerin a playfulness in her search for a good music deal,as Guerin sends love and hisses to Winchell and Bernie.
The plot:
Crossing swords for years,band leader Walter Winchell and newspaper columnist Ben Bernie take every opportunity to knock the other one down. Discovering that French singer Yvett Guerin has recently arrived in the US.Deciding to take Guerin under his wing,Winchell soon starts to get Bernie to send love and hisses her way.
View on the film:
Based on a "radio feud" (!) taking place at the time,the screenplay by Art Arthur & Curtis Kenyon hisses light musical numbers,smirking wise guys and gentle Screwball Comedy.Keeping things soft,the writers disappointingly make the comedy rather dry,with the feud between Ben Bernie and Walter Winchell failing to heat up,and the screwballs only bouncing for the final turns.
For the easy-going Musical numbers,director Sidney Lanfield & cinematographer Robert H. Planck give the scenes a cheeky shot of reality,as overlapping photos reveal the "real" image of the dancers.Joined by the real Walter Winchell and Ben Bernie, Simone Simon (whose singing is dubbed) gives a very good performance as Yvett Guerin,thanks to Simon giving Guerin a playfulness in her search for a good music deal,as Guerin sends love and hisses to Winchell and Bernie.
mediocre musical based on radio feud
malcolmgsw29 July 2015
This film is based on the radio feud between orchestra leader Ben Bernie and newspaper columnist WalterWinchell.Mitchell was a good friend of Fox production head Darryl Zanuck which might explain the existence of this film.It is difficult to decide which is worse,the acting of Bernie and Winchell,the presumably dubbed singing of Simon or the screenplay.If that was not enough of an impediment the musical numbers are undistinguished and staged without any flair.There are some decent talents such as Bert Lahr and Joan Davis buried in this mess.The fact that mine is the first review indicates how long forgotten are the leads and this film.
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