This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Why spend any time describing this dull plot or the mediocre acting? You should watch this only to see Fred Astaire do a couple of great numbers, one as a Russian, another while he "conducts" the Artie Shaw band (yes, he's in a tux for that one).What's fascinating for modern audiences is to see Artie Shaw, not so much for his acting either, but because he plays a couple of great numbers here and he was terrific on the licorice stick. He's young here too (30 years old). One number he was famous for (not here though) is "Stardust" and it featured a trumpet solo by Billy Butterfield). Butterfield actually plays for Burgess Meredith here (who like Astaire fakes poorly on the horn). We also see Buddy Rich in the orchestra playing drums next to Artie Shaw. What a combo! Shaw was a huge sensation in the 30's and 40's; an equal to the more famous now Benny Goodman. He sold more than a hundred million records. He brought along talent like Billie Holiday, Mel Torme, Buddy Rich, and Ray Conniff. He also played classical music with Leonard Bernstein. In this movie, he plays "Concerto for Clarinet". This film also brought him 2 Oscar nominations, one for Best Score and one for Best Song ("Love of my Life").Astaire once called this the "worst movie I ever made" and for him, that's true. But it's great to see Shaw play, and how he could play! Shaw admired Astaire but said he was a tireless worker, the opposite of the kind of debonair image he presented in top hat and tails.

I thought The Sky's the Limit was the worst musical Astaire ever made until I saw this. This is just dismal. Start with the plot: Astaire is supposed to be a student? He was 40-plus and looked it. Never a conventionally attractive leading man, he got away with it with Ginger but here he just looks his age.But you could forgive that if there had been any decent dancing which is all you really want from an Astaire movie. Instead, there are just three lack-lustre routines: a brief mock- Cossack dance, a decent tap routine at the end (but nothing he hadn't done far better in other movies) and a routine with Paulette Goddard who simply was not a dancer which shows in both the performance and the limited choreography presumably intended to keep within what she could do (dancing apart, she is probably the best thing in the film, beautiful and sparkling).In addition, what songs there are, by Artie Shaw and Johnny Mercer, are below par. Even the best one, Love of my Life, is pretty mundane. Shaw's band makes up for this with some good numbers and Shaw unexpectedly turns out to be a respectable enough actor, albeit in some undemanding scenes.But I can't help wondering if it was the presence of Shaw who wrote the score that resulted in the limited amount of Astaire routines – the big band numbers may not have left enough time for dances. Although cuts in the grating plot and unfunny dialogue could have cleared a load of space.Astaire did not make many duds but this is one of them.

Believe it or not, frisky Fred Astaire (as Danny O'Neill) and boyish Burgess Meredith (as Hank Taylor) are a pair of trumpet-playing college roommates. To explain their old age, the story suggests they've been failing in college for seven years (to get good gigs for their band). A likely story. They meet pretty secretary Paulette Goddard (as Ellen Miller), who dances and romances Mr. Astaire and Mr. Meredith (one will win her on-screen, one will win her off-screen). They also meet and compete with famous bandleader Artie Shaw (newly single, after divorcing Lana Turner). Complicating matters, Ms. Goddard goes to work for Mr. Shaw.Shaw managed to get the "Second Chorus" soundtrack highlight "Concerto for Clarinet" into the Top 10, riding the coattails of his much bigger non-soundtrack "Frenesi" - #1 for thirteen weeks, during this film's original release. Astaire couldn't catch a break at Paramount Pictures after RKO ran its course, and his record sales were more waning than waxing. He is a class act, however, occasionally shining in this obviously lackluster movie. The Astaire/Goddard highlight is easily "Dig It (I Ain't Hep to That Step)" as you'll see, and don't expect any competition (unless you want to include the version by Les Brown and Doris Day).*** Second Chorus (12/3/40) H.C. Potter ~ Fred Astaire, Paulette Goddard, Burgess Meredith, Artie Shaw

This is an OK Fred Astaire movie. A couple of good dance sequences - one with Paulette Goddard, who is not impressive on the floor, and one where he's tap-dancing while conducting Artie Shaw's orchestra. The plot is dismal, Burgess Meredith as comic relief is faintly amusing at best, though in his defense the script gave him very little to work with.Fans of swing will want to see "Second Chorus", though, for the musical sequences. In particular, a five-minute fantasia that Shaw and the band (plus a string section) play. This piece has been scored and has been recorded several times under the title of Artie Shaw's Clarinet Concerto; but no other clarinetist, popular or classical, has brought the same excitement to the piece that Shaw did. It's worth renting for that sequence alone.It's a real shame that the director couldn't work out a sequence in which Astaire dances to Shaw's clarinet - playing, say, "Begin the Beguine", or "Frenesi", or "Traffic Jam", or any other his many other hits. A real shame indeed.