So much average

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Sam Hardy came from New York to London so he could run night clubs without gangsters muscling in on his business. The gangsters followed to muscle in. Then along came Sally in the person of Cicely Courtneidge to audition, for Hardy, only to be promptly tossed out.Promptly getting a job as Hardy's parlor maid, she reinvents herself as a French cabaret star and fascinates Mr. Hardy, who decides to star her.... until the gangsters decide to sabotage everything by kidnapping the chanteuse.The songs in this musical number have not aged well, but they are pretty good for the era, and Miss Courtneidge's mugging and serio-comic Apache dance will please people with a bent for such matters. I was particularly taken by the big production number, "You Ought to See Sally on Sunday." The huge variety of camera angles, including the overheading crane shots, suggest Busby Berkley, but it never loses itself in fantasy, despite the dizzying perspectives. It all clearly takes place within the generous confines of the night club space, even when optical printing offers multiple images. It's a nice variation never pursued in Hollywood.

A combination of some lively musical numbers with a berkleyesque flair and great art deco sets give this film a high level of entertainment which is usually missing from any film starring Cicely Cpurtneidge.The American director,Tim Whelan,manages to keep her mugging to a minimum.Although using just a night club set he manages to utilise a lot of very imaginative camera angles in staging the numbers.All of the numbers are very tuneful.

Okay, it was 1933, what do you want, slick, sophistication or sloppy slapstick. Well, you may want the first but you'll have to settle for the second. In its favor the film boasts four half-decent songs from the pen of Harry Woods and if you like Cicely Courtenidge you'll be in Hawg Heaven. This time around she was working without a net which is another way of saying she was without her usual partner (and also husband) Jack Hulbert, who could always be relied on to provide a shot of urbanity to offset her slapstick. The plot is about as believable as any musical plot in thirties Britain, in other words don't expose it to a strong light lest it disintegrate in front of your eyes. Given the time - the Great Depression - it was probably as good a slice of escapism as anything else.

As a female comedian, Cicely Courtneidge's performing style was somewhere between those of Lucille Ball and Carol Burnett. Like both of them, Courtneidge tried to get laughs out of elaborate costumes, in her case involving ludicrous over-sized hats. As with Joan Davis (who was much funnier and far sexier), Courtneidge's comedy routines often involved dancing and slapstick. Her stage and film comedies always involved extremely contrived plot lines. Her career peaked at roughly the same time as Bea Lillie's, and these two performers were frequently compared. But in fact Bea Lillie's most famous routine -- the 'double dozen double damask dinner napkins' -- was originated by Cicely Courtneidge (which explains why Lillie never performed this routine in Britain). Courtneidge's usual sidekick in her antics was her husband Jack Hulbert, who complemented her in roughly the same way that Desi Arnaz backed Lucille Ball. Hulbert was dark, handsome, urbane, and made some attempt -- never successful -- to keep his wife's antics earthed in reality.Very late in her life, Cicely Courtneidge gave a deeply touching dramatic performance in 'The L-Shaped Room', as a wistful old lesbian from the variety halls. Regrettably, this one good performance was preceded by several decades of daft slapstick. It's not surprising that the Monty Python gang used Cicely Courtneidge's name to get a cheap laugh in one of their comedy routines.'Along Came Sally' lacks Jack Hulbert but is otherwise absolutely typical of Courtneidge's work. She plays Sally Bird, an Englishwoman who combines the worst traits of the characters played by Gracie Allen (she's brainless) and Lucille Ball (she's got the showbiz bug but is utterly untalented). Sally applies for a job in a London nightclub, only to discover that some American gangsters (with guns!) are trying to take over the joint. Of course, she decides to stop them. Somehow, this involves her pretending to be a French performer from the Folies Bergere, cried Mademoiselle Zaza. That name is funnier than anything else in this movie.The most interesting thing about 'Along Came Sally' is this film's depiction of American gangsters, with all the English stereotypical perceptions of such characters. The gangsters are played tolerably well by American actors, including Sam Hardy as the gang's leader. One of the henchgoons is well-played by Ben Welden, a semi-Edward Brophy character actor from America who got his start in British films before showing up at Warner Brothers. Less well-cast here is Hartley Power, an American character actor long resident in Britain, who usually played ineffectual roles. It doesn't much help that the American gangsters' dialogue is filled with Anglicisms. As 'Zaza', Courtneidge's attempts at a French accent are laughably bad without actually being funny. This entire movie bears an odd resemblance to the Groucho Marx/Carmen Miranda movie 'Copacabana', made a few years later.I'll rate 'Along Came Sally' 3 points out of 10, mostly because I'm a fan of 1930s comedy in general. This film is firmly in that mode, but not nearly up to the high comedic standards of that decade. For some reason, 'Along Came Sally' is listed on IMDb as 'Aunt Sally'. In Britain, an 'Aunt Sally' is any empty personality that exists for the sole purpose of being knocked down or ridiculed. Well, that description fits this movie.