Snooty singer Monica Barrett (Louise Henry) is aghast as to the state of radio and demands changes on the show she's contracted to do. This uppity Park Avenue socialite refuses to go on until those changes are made, so her former representative (Phil Regan) simply goes out and hires a new singer (Frances Langford) who unfortunately was imprisoned for a crime she was innocent of. The nasty Monica finds out and threatens to reveal all, and sponsor Edward Brophy nearly has a nervous breakdown when he finds out that scandal could ruin the show he's financed to back his product.
A nifty plot and some great novelty numbers hold together this light- hearted musical which was standard stuff in 1937, but lead to a series of "Hit Parade" musicals at the largest of the poverty row studios, Republic. This shows how variety was a matter of taste in the 1930's, and while some of the attempts at comedy in today's world of entertainment may seem forced, obviously a lot of people were laughing at the black face routines (on radio, no less!) and ventriloquists who made more sense for the live audiences, just as one of the characters in Woody Allen's "Radio Days" commented, "You're listening to a ventriloquist...on the radio!". The wife's retort? "Who cares? Leave me alone!". Allen pretty much summed it up how the radio audience during its golden age felt.
Musically, this features two great numbers, "I'll Reach for a Star" (the title of the rather fuzzily transfered DVD print) and the lively "Love is Good For Anything That Ails You", later seen as a lavish production number in 1981's "Pennies From Heaven". That number seems to have been cut from the DVD print as a TV print I had from years ago (with the original title) had it kept in. On the DVD, only a brief reprise of that song is heard, which hurts the impact of the film.
However, numbers by "the Duke" (Ellington) and Eddie Duchin and his orchestra add a real life feel to the times which this took place. William Demerast is his usual cranky self as a parole officer out to serve papers on Ms. Langford, and the tough but lovable Pert Kelton is amusing as her wise-cracking pal, basically playing the same type of character that Helen Broderick was playing in the Fred/Ginger movies and the type of role that Eve Arden would become legendary for.
A nifty plot and some great novelty numbers hold together this light- hearted musical which was standard stuff in 1937, but lead to a series of "Hit Parade" musicals at the largest of the poverty row studios, Republic. This shows how variety was a matter of taste in the 1930's, and while some of the attempts at comedy in today's world of entertainment may seem forced, obviously a lot of people were laughing at the black face routines (on radio, no less!) and ventriloquists who made more sense for the live audiences, just as one of the characters in Woody Allen's "Radio Days" commented, "You're listening to a ventriloquist...on the radio!". The wife's retort? "Who cares? Leave me alone!". Allen pretty much summed it up how the radio audience during its golden age felt.
Musically, this features two great numbers, "I'll Reach for a Star" (the title of the rather fuzzily transfered DVD print) and the lively "Love is Good For Anything That Ails You", later seen as a lavish production number in 1981's "Pennies From Heaven". That number seems to have been cut from the DVD print as a TV print I had from years ago (with the original title) had it kept in. On the DVD, only a brief reprise of that song is heard, which hurts the impact of the film.
However, numbers by "the Duke" (Ellington) and Eddie Duchin and his orchestra add a real life feel to the times which this took place. William Demerast is his usual cranky self as a parole officer out to serve papers on Ms. Langford, and the tough but lovable Pert Kelton is amusing as her wise-cracking pal, basically playing the same type of character that Helen Broderick was playing in the Fred/Ginger movies and the type of role that Eve Arden would become legendary for.