"42nd Street" had just come out, and Universal attempted its own version of a backstage musical a la Busby Berkeley with this oddly titled curiosity. It was made in New York for $100,000, which even then was ridiculously cheap, and the corner-cutting is visible in the sets, costumes, and substandard hoofing of the chorus girls, who nevertheless are advertised as "150 of Broadway's loveliest beauties," or somesuch. The screenplay's uninspired, the direction prosaic, the stars not terribly interesting (Roger Pryor, in the Dick Powell role, looks uncomfortable, and Mary Brian has a nice personality but less-than-huge musical talent; Lilian Miles, in the Bebe Daniels part, comes off best). Yet it's fascinating, and entertaining. Thank, first of all, the Jay Gorney-Yip Harburg score, with assistance from Sammy Fain and other fine tunesmiths. "Dusty Shoes," the team's attempt to rewrite their earlier "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" in a slightly more optimistic light, is a wonderful number, powerfully sung by Alexander Gray, and other songs run to such oddities as "Let's Make Love Like the Crocodiles." One could do with less of Leo Carrillo's dialect comedy (he gets top billing, though he's not really the lead), and the show-biz clichés get a little oppressive. Still, it's very worth catching.
Review of Moonlight and Pretzels
