If you're going to watch a Busby Berkeley-choreographed film, this is a very good bet. That's because it's a lot of fun aside from the weird singing and dancing at the end.
The film starts off with one of the weirdest singing numbers I've seen in an old film. At a meeting of insurance agents, Dick Powell sings the sweet ditty 'You'll Get Pie in the Sky When You DIE, DIE, DIE'! And, not surprisingly, the maudlin words are quite funny! A bit later, Powell makes a HUGE sale--insuring a rich guy (Victor Moore) for $1,000,000--an enormous sum for 1936. What Moore and the insurance company don't know is that Moore is no longer rich at all--his two very dishonest partners have plundered Moore's production company that bankrolls Broadway shows. And, once he's insured, these two lovely men HOPE that Moore soon meets an untimely end so they can cover up that they've embezzled the company's funds. Fortunately, they are stopped but Moore is ruined. Can Powell and his friends manage to STILL put on 'the big show' and save poor Moore? The film has the usual final production number that Berkeley was famous for, though you wonder just HOW such a number can be arranged considering they have no money! In today's money, this final number would cost millions to create--and it's eye-popping, that's for sure. You just have to see this giant tribute to the joys of war to believe it! It is exceptionally well done and silly--exactly like most of the famed choreographer's other musicals.
So why did I give this film an 8? Well, because aside from the weird songs, the plot itself was quite cute and worked well. Victor Moore was great and it helped that there was nice support from the likes of Joan Blondell and Glenda Farrell--two great Warner Brothers 'dames'! Overall, a lot of fun.
The film starts off with one of the weirdest singing numbers I've seen in an old film. At a meeting of insurance agents, Dick Powell sings the sweet ditty 'You'll Get Pie in the Sky When You DIE, DIE, DIE'! And, not surprisingly, the maudlin words are quite funny! A bit later, Powell makes a HUGE sale--insuring a rich guy (Victor Moore) for $1,000,000--an enormous sum for 1936. What Moore and the insurance company don't know is that Moore is no longer rich at all--his two very dishonest partners have plundered Moore's production company that bankrolls Broadway shows. And, once he's insured, these two lovely men HOPE that Moore soon meets an untimely end so they can cover up that they've embezzled the company's funds. Fortunately, they are stopped but Moore is ruined. Can Powell and his friends manage to STILL put on 'the big show' and save poor Moore? The film has the usual final production number that Berkeley was famous for, though you wonder just HOW such a number can be arranged considering they have no money! In today's money, this final number would cost millions to create--and it's eye-popping, that's for sure. You just have to see this giant tribute to the joys of war to believe it! It is exceptionally well done and silly--exactly like most of the famed choreographer's other musicals.
So why did I give this film an 8? Well, because aside from the weird songs, the plot itself was quite cute and worked well. Victor Moore was great and it helped that there was nice support from the likes of Joan Blondell and Glenda Farrell--two great Warner Brothers 'dames'! Overall, a lot of fun.