7/10
I wish I'd met you 4 wives ago
15 July 2014
George Murphy (Eddie) gets his song and dance act into a New York Broadway show. He also wangles an audition for his fiancé Joan Blondell (Molly) and her kid sister Lana Turner (Pat). However, on seeing the audition, the show's director Richard Lane (Bartell) throws them a curve ball by accepting Lana as a partner for Murphy and relegating fiancé Joan to the role of cigarette girl, which she does quite well "Cigars and cigarettes!" Joan and Murphy had expected to resume as a dance team, but sister Lana has now been pushed to the forefront. Throw in some love complications and watch the film unravel itself in a rather extraordinary way.

Wow, the plot of this story is insane. You have to feel sorry for Joan Blondell. Not only does she seem to be a better dancer than Lana, but she also has the security of a loving fiancé. She doesn't get much by the end of the film. There are funny moments, eg, Lana's relief that she has been sleeping in her clothes so that she doesn't have to bother getting dressed – an old student trick. However, there is also some seriously warped logic going on. Joan Blondell's sisterly attitude towards relationships just doesn't ring true, I'm afraid.

The film is enjoyable, not for the stupid storyline, but for watching Lana Turner dancing her numbers. The studio was definitely looking for a copycat Astaire-Rogers partnership, and Lana definitely cuts it. How funny that Joan spends the film trying to fend her sister away from producer playboy Kent Taylor (Chat). Little did they all know that Lana (in real life) could seriously outplay him! The film has an ambiguous ending – I really hope that reporter Wallace Ford (Jed) made a visit to Nebraska as he said he would.
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