I have not seen this film since it was shown on television somewhere in the early 1960s. And the reason I recall it at all was not the singing of Alice Faye, nor the antics of Joan Davis (a sadly forgotten comedian). It was the appearance of Jimmy Durante alone, or with Fred Allen.
Durante's film career has not gotten studied as much as other great film clowns, but it lasted far longer than most - from the 1930s (when he was Buster Keaton's "partner" in a series of comedies) to the 1960s (when he was the criminal whose "kicking the bucket" sets off IT'S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD). He did have lead roles in some of them, like THE GREAT RUPERT, but Jimmy usually was in support - though strong support (like in IT HAPPENED IN BROOKLYN).
Allen's best film work would be in IT'S IN THE BAG, and LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR - and later in WE'RE NOT MARRIED and O'HENRY'S FULL HOUSE. But he is amusing here - his "Gabby" is not a great agent, though he tries hard. To me, the scene that best showed Allen's humor in this film was a brief scene where he was eating a peach, and shaves it with a razor to remove the peach fuzz. There is also a moment I fondly recall of Allen and Durante speaking to each other with office jargon using intercoms, and at the end, Durante getting up, walking across the room, and talking directly to Allen who was there all the time!
One final thing about this film - the steamboat turned into a nightclub by the girls is named the "General Fremont" and it breaks lose at the conclusion of the film. The same ship and conclusion was used some five years later by Laurel & Hardy in the conclusion of the best of their last films, JITTERBUGS.
Durante's film career has not gotten studied as much as other great film clowns, but it lasted far longer than most - from the 1930s (when he was Buster Keaton's "partner" in a series of comedies) to the 1960s (when he was the criminal whose "kicking the bucket" sets off IT'S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD). He did have lead roles in some of them, like THE GREAT RUPERT, but Jimmy usually was in support - though strong support (like in IT HAPPENED IN BROOKLYN).
Allen's best film work would be in IT'S IN THE BAG, and LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR - and later in WE'RE NOT MARRIED and O'HENRY'S FULL HOUSE. But he is amusing here - his "Gabby" is not a great agent, though he tries hard. To me, the scene that best showed Allen's humor in this film was a brief scene where he was eating a peach, and shaves it with a razor to remove the peach fuzz. There is also a moment I fondly recall of Allen and Durante speaking to each other with office jargon using intercoms, and at the end, Durante getting up, walking across the room, and talking directly to Allen who was there all the time!
One final thing about this film - the steamboat turned into a nightclub by the girls is named the "General Fremont" and it breaks lose at the conclusion of the film. The same ship and conclusion was used some five years later by Laurel & Hardy in the conclusion of the best of their last films, JITTERBUGS.