Pretty Good

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Who first sang "Easter Parade" in the movies? Not Astaire and Garland(in '48), not Bing(in '42). Don Ameche sings it in this film, although it was first sung on stage in 1933. Although Berlin's best known musical extravaganzas were produced by MGM, Fox did 3, starting with this B&W one, all featuring Ethel Merman, among others. The other two("Call Me Madam" and "There's No Business Like Show Business") were made about 15 years after this. Although these later films were shot in color, and often had much more elaborate sets, by then Merman's singing voice had became more harsh and sometimes with excessive vibrato, and she had gained a few lbs. For example, compare Merman's brief rendition of "A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody" in the present film with her lavish rendition in "There's No Business..". Unfortunately, this latter Merman is the only one many people have been exposed to, thus they wonder why composers and many theater and film goers raved about her singing and acting. In the present film, we can see why. Although Alice Faye was the female star of this film, and gets most of the better singing roles, several of Merman's numbers had the most elaborate sets, probably reflecting her more stage-oriented style.Her major numbers were "Pack Up Your Sins and Go To The Devil", "Blue Skies", "My Walking Stick", "Everybody Step" and "Heat Wave". Marilyn Monroe famously did a very sensuous version of the latter in "There's No Business..." No way would the film censors of 1938 have passed that performance! Hence, we have Merman's relatively plain and simple, if spirited, version. Merman would get to do several of Faye's songs in either of her '50s Berlin films. You can compare Faye's rendition of "The International Rag" with Merman's in "Call Me Madam". Faye's "When the Midnight Choo Choo Leaves Alabam" was redone twice in "There's No Business..", as well as in "Easter Parade". In these performances, it was a man-woman duet, with a more elaborate stage set. Finally, the title song, although sung twice by Faye, actually consumed much more time in "There's No Business..", with much more elaborate multiple stagings, and in color.This film firmly established the typical Fox musical formula for the early '40s, with strong emphasis on 2 or 3 featured female singers/dancers/ comediennes. Along with the previous "King of Burlesque", this film also established the typical melodrama plot for most future Fox and many MGM musicals of the '40s and early '50s: romantic and professional ups and downs between the stars, with often a late switcheroo as to who ends up with whom, or a last minute reunion between two former lovers, who had separated for professsional or wartime reasons. For example, compare the plot of this film with that of the MGM "For Me and My Gal" of a few years later.The 3 major stars, Power, Ameche, and Faye were reunited after their popular union the previous year in "In Old Chicago". Unfortunately, the handsome and popular Power had zero musical talent, thus is relegated to faking violin playing or endlessly waving a baton in front of an orchestra, as Alexander. Like quite a few films of the '30s and early '40s, the story begins in a barbary coast dive in San Francisco, with a singer or show girl and the dive owner as the main characters. For example, compare the present story with MGM's "San Francisco" of the previous year, or the later Faye-starring "Hello, Frisco, Hello". Besides Merman, Jack Haley, Wally Vernon, Dixie Dunbar, and Chick Chandler were featured in a couple of songs and/or dances. Haley would play "'The Tin Man' in "The Wizard of Oz" the following year, but he otherwise failed to become a big star. Faye would continue as the female lead in a number of Fox musicals in the early '40s, with more musically inclined John Payne replacing Power, or with Ameche again. Carmin Miranda was enticed from Brazil to often play Merman's role as the alternative brassy female singer/dancer/comedienne. It was only after Fox's primary and secondary female musical stars had been released or retired that Merman was brought back, this time as the lead female. For a brief discussion of the careers of many of the other secondary players, check out the very good commentary on the current DVD release.To get a better appreciation of the strictness of the film moral codes at this time, it was very unusual for the subject of divorce to be allowed. Thus, the divorce between Faye's and Ameche's characters, while amiable, barely squeaked by the censors.This film lacks any top dancing specialist or lavish dancing choruses or sets of the Busby Berkely style. It also has limited comedic content, and many of the better songs were later filmed more lavishly and in color. Nonetheless, it's rather a fun time, with good chemistry between the actors. Only, it's too bad Faye's character spends so much time being sad or belligerent, while Merman is always smiling and upbeat.

I thought this movie started out with a bang, with rousing ragtime numbers, but then drifted into dull ballads and slower music. I kept on wondering what happened to the peppy ragtime! And surely the songs played after the boys returned from WWI were not from the 1920s? Didn't sound like it.The story got a bit dull after the promising beginning, but the stars Powers, Faye, Ameche, and Haley were all entertaining in their ways and great to look at.Also, I was distracted by the inappropriate costumes, which again started out correct for the turn of the century, but for some mysterious reason became 1930s fashion after WWI. The skirts were too short, the jackets had shoulder pads and nipped in waists, and the women's hairstyles and hats were totally wrong for the 1920s. I kept wondering how many years had passed! All in all, a good movie, but could have been better in some ways.

I wouldn't want to put money on it, but I'm willing to say there must be at least 25 Irving Berlin songs in Alexander's Ragtime Band. This was the first of those Irving Berlin extravaganzas where a history of an era was told with his music, the others being Blue Skies and There's No Business Like Show Business. After what happened to his score in Reaching for the Moon, Berlin demanded and got complete control in every film that he wrote or supplied the music for. And you will not hear one note of any other composer's music. Just listen to the background music and you'll see what I'm talking about.The song Alexander's Ragtime Band is considered Berlin's first big popular hit and so a story was constructed around a group of itinerant musicians who when they hire girl singer Alice Faye make a huge hit with the selfsame Alexander's Ragtime Band. So the film is about the lives and loves of Faye, Tyrone Power, Don Ameche, Ethel Merman, Jack Haley, etc. for an over quarter of a century. Except for Power, all these other folks are real talented musically and they contribute vocally with a lot of Irving Berlin old favorites. And Alice Faye and Don Ameche both sang a new tune Berlin wrote for this film, Now It Can Be Told. Faye's version is especially grand, one of her best movie songs.Tyrone Power one of the finest of leading men in old Hollywood was unfortunately not blessed with a singing voice. Just hear him on a few bars of another Irving Berlin song in Second Fiddle and you'll see what I mean. He leads the band and it looks a bit ridiculous for him to be doing that and watching the others perform.This film is the reason I've been long convinced that Darryl F. Zanuck hired John Payne, an actor who looked somewhat like Power and could contribute musically in films with Faye, Betty Grable and the rest of Fox female musical ladies.Of course anyone who really loves Irving Berlin's music will watch this film and won't quibble about Tyrone Power not singing.

Roger Grant, a classically trained violinist, is leading a small band in turn of the century San Francisco with little success. One fateful night, Stella Kirby, brings sheet music of Irving Berlin's new song, Alexander's Ragtime Band. Stella sings while Roger plays the song, and all three are a hit, despite the friction between Roger (who now is the Alexander from the song) and Stella. Obviously there is hints of romance between the two, but fellow band member Charlie Dwyer completes the love triangle, and is the one who captures Stella's hand in marriage. Roger/Alexander and his band tour the country and entertain the troops overseas in World War I, and returns to the US a sensation, while the marriage between Stella and Charlie falls apart because the two realize they are not the ones meant for each other. Stella tries to rekindle the romance with Roger, but singer Jerry Allen has fallen for the band leader, despite being somewhat indifferent towards her. Roger, Charlie, and the rest of the band perform a concert reuniting everyone, while Stella feels on the outside thinking she has no part in Roger's life. The film's story line is predictable, full of holes, and mushy and the performances are enjoyable at best, but the film carries such an energy thanks to Berlin's music, as well as the singing from both Faye and Merman (who does stand out in this early role). The musical numbers are quite different from the ones preceding it, which does keep the movie fresh. Rating, 7.