Wonderful character development!

Sadly Over-hyped

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

SYNOPSIS: A small-town bandleader is mistaken for a famous person by a Long Island society matron and her attractive niece.COMMENT: Although hardly making an auspicious visual debut, (Vallee is presented as a youthful, droopy-eyed wooden-face, complete with white pancake make-up), from a sound point of view Rudy is a rousing success. In fact, our only complaint is that we don't hear enough of him. Not only are many of the numbers cut short by the Dressler story, but Rudy is often content to show of his skills as a saxophonist rather than his vocal talent. And even here, he gives himself no solos, but blends in with the band. Nevertheless, the Connecticut Yankees is one terrific band! Marshall Neilan's somewhat pedestrian direction disapoints. Admittedly, camera movement was hampered by the microphone, but the flat effect of a photographed stage play is reinforced by the shooting of every scene, bar one at a railroad, on the studio floor. Aside from one or two attractively composed shots, the photography would rate as a wash-out, if not presented as it is here, on the original attractive green-tinted stock. All Neilan presumably did was to direct his cast - and this he has done rather poorly. By way of contrast to the somewhat wooden, lacking-in-confidence acting of star, Rudy Vallee, we are treated to atrociously hammy, overburdened with self-approval, "comedy" turns contributed by Marie Dressler. From the moment she appears on screen, Miss Dressler never stops chewing the scenery with an appetite that knows absolutely no constraints whatever. Fortunately, heroine Sally Blane displays plenty of charm as well as acting ability.

Let's face it, as a movie, this is not persuasive. The principles of enunciating for the stage simply overwhelm the intimate sonics that even this incredibly early talkie were capable of producing. Almost immediately, subsequent movie directors understood the difference between stage and screen and made the corrections. Still, it's hard to believe that some of these scenes could not have been re-shot with more natural acting, once they saw the rushes. (I'm thinking they simply didn't think the delivery of lines would be that important in talkies. "Hey, they're talking! Ain't that enough?")The music is another matter. Yes, this is not jazz as the revisionist historians would have us understand it (i.e., a largely black phenomenon, with only the most perceptive whites getting it). But it's a mere 30 years from the Gay 90s (that's 1890's) song revolution, and the tug of the sentimental ditty still reached out to 1929 the way early rock still has its effect on rock in the new millennium. Don't judge it harshly. Music like this was an important bridge to the wider American public's tolerance, then acceptance, and finally love of what we now think of as a more pure form of jazz.Marie Dressler, born 5 years after the end of the Civil War, turns in a stunning performance. All the faces she makes while pushing away the maid's efforts to use smelling salts on her -- pure virtuosity, all done in the blink of an eye. But she can't save the movie entirely. All those shots of wooden Rudy and his entourage -- I've seen more life in the Petrified Forest.

The Vagabond Lover was an early all-talkie film (1929) that starred the current singing rage, Rudy Vallee. He plays the leader of a small-town band determined to make the big time. The band travels to Long Island to crash the home of noted band leader, Ted Grant. Of course, snoopy society matron (Marie Dressler) mistakes them for the all-star band and invites them to play at her musicale. In her rivalry with fellow matron (Nella Walker), Dressler will not stop at anything to "one up" her. The band plays well, and Vallee instantly falls for Dressler's niece, Sally Blane. OK plot, but the main setback is Vallee: he's a lousy actor, his singing seems thin, and he has a strong lisp. But Dressler makes up for it, stealing the film from the novice actor. By today's standards, she overacts, but she's so funny and lively, it's hard to find fault. Blane is pretty but no great actress. Malcolm Waite plays the real Ted Grant, Charles Sellon is the local cop, Edward Nugent and Danny O'Shea are band members, and Gladden James, once a silent-screen star (The Social Secretary with Norma Talmadge in 1916) plays one of the reporters.The title song is sung over the opening credits. "I'm Nobody's Sweetheart Now," "I Love You, Believe Me, I Love You," "Georgie Porgie," "If You Were the Only Girl in the World, and I Were the Only Boy," "A Little Kiss Each Morning, A Little Kiss Each Night," "Sweetheart, We Need Each Other," and "I'll Be Reminded of You" are the songs. A couple are well remembered. "Sweetheart, We Need Each Other" was also a featured song in 1929's smash hit, Rio Rita, sung by Bert Wheeler and Dorothy Lee (and in a better rendition).This is Dressler's talkie debut in a feature. The same year, she starred with Polly Moran in a talkie short, Dangerous Females and appeared in the all-star Hollywood Revue of 1929. After having been a star on early films (Tillie's Punctured Romance, etc.) Dressler was on the comeback trail in 1928 (The Patsy with Marion Davies). Talkies cemented her return to stardom, and Dressler would be a top box office star within a year. Everything she appeared in was a hit (Anna Christie, Let Us Be Gay, etc.) and she resumed top billing in star roles, winning an Oscar for Min and Bill.Blane would have a so-so career, eclipsed by her sister, Loretta Young. Vallee would re-surface in the 40s in comedies like The Palm Beach Story and The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer. Handsome Edward Nugent would linger for another decade but never made much of a splash. And Nella Walker would have a long career playing society ladies.This film is certainly worth watching but is a disappointment. Vallee does NOT use his famed megaphone (it might have helped), nor does he sing his hit version on "The Stein Song" (from the University of Maine). Vallee attended both the University of Maine and Yale.

THE VAGABOND LOVER (RKO Radio, 1929), directed by Marshall Neilan, is an appropriate title to one of the most popular vocalists of the time, Rudy Vallee (1901- 1986). As with many singers making a screen debut, Vallee's performance is somewhat stiff, reciting his lines as if he were reading from cue cards, but satisfactory with his vocalizing. Unlike future crooners as Bing Crosby or Frank Sinatra, Vallee's screen career in leading roles were limited but acting overall improved through the passage of time. By the 1940s, however, Vallee started a new chapter in his career playing stuffy millionaires starting with Preston Sturges' comedic masterpiece, THE PALM BEACH STORY (Paramount, 1942) starring Claudette Colbert and Joel McCrea. As for THE VAGABOND LOVER, this is where the Rudy Vallee of motion picture screen began."Every small town has its small town band with big town ideas," is its opening title before introducing Rudy Bronson (Rudy Vallee), the lead vocalist and organizer of a college senior band who's been studying on developing his own orchestra by Ted Grant's mail order guide. Feeling Grant to be a remarkable man and speaking of him as he if were an old friend to his band members, Rudy heads over to Grant's Long Island home with his band for an audition. As Ted Grant (Malcolm Waite) prepares on leaving town for a vacation with his associates, Rudy, initially thrown out of Grant's home by the butler, intends not giving up enters Grant's home through an open window with his band members behind him. By the time Rudy gets his band organized, Grant who has already gone, ends up orchestrating his band to an empty house. Having been spotted by Ethel Whitehall (Marie Dressler), a wealthy matron, and her niece, Jean (Sally Blane), for entering through the window, the next door neighbors notify Officer George T. Tuttle (Charles Sellon) to investigate housebreaking. Confronting the "burglars," members of the band cover up by telling Tuttle, Mrs. Whitehall and Jean that Rudy IS Ted Grant and that they accidentally locked themselves out of the house. With one thing leading to another, Mrs. Whitehall soon engages "Ted Grant's Orchestra" to perform at a charity benefit for orphans. Rudy becomes successful, but feels guilty about his false pretense. At the advise of his band, Rudy remains silent, going on with his masquerade, even with the possibility of being exposed as a fraud and losing Jean, whom he's very much interested.During its brief 65 minutes, THE VAGABOND LOVER manages to squeeze in a handful of popular tunes, old and new, including "I'm Just a Vagabond Lover" (voiceover sung by Vallee during opening credits); "I'm Nobody's Sweetheart Now" (sung by band); "I Love You, Believe Me, I Love You," "Georgie Porgie" (sung by orphans); "If You Were the Only Girl in the World, and I Were the Only Boy," "A Little Kiss Each Morning, A Little Kiss Each Night," Instrumental dancing to "I'm Just a Vagabond Lover" and "Sweetheart, We Need Each Other," "I Love You, Believe Me, I Love You" (reprise by Vallee) and "I'll Be Reminded of You."Unlike some 1929 releases consisting of faded photography and distorted sound, the production values of THE VAGABOND LOVER are quite good. What may hurt the value of this movie today is the wooden acting of Rudy Vallee. Considering this to be his first screen appearance, with sound techniques still relatively new, this could be overlooked. Another bonus is the plot not focusing heavily on melodramatics with tearful solutions, but an overly familiar but an amusing mistaken identity plot that makes this antique more palatable. For anyone unfamiliar with the Rudy Vallee method, his singing singing style stir up chuckles with contemporary viewers, particularly watching his facial close- up with makeup on lips and eye-lids while singing with his eyes closed and mouth wide open. THE VAGABOND LOVER is redeemed somewhat by Marie Dressler (1869-1934) in the early stages of her sound career. Unlike the lovable characters she performed so well later on at MGM, she presents herself here more like a Margaret Dumont (of the Marx Brothers fame) type than anything else, but she's still Marie. Watching THE VAGABOND LOVER comes as a blessing as to something new, considering how the Dressler legend lies more on the frequent revival to the excellent sophisticated comedy-drama, DINNER AT EIGHT (MGM, 1933). To see more of Dressler and other films (such as her Academy Award winning performance in MIN AND BILL in 1930) is to learn more about her gifted talent of long ago. The performance of Sally Blane (sister to actress Loretta Young) has her mostly sitting back and listening with awe to Rudy's singing. ("When you sing like that, I wish you'd go on forever."). Charles Sellon, whose Officer Tuttle could have easily been played by Ned Sparks, adds a little spark as the crusty old policeman who suspects Rudy as a phony. Rounding out the cast of reliables are Nella Walker (Mrs. Todhunter); Norman Peck ("Swiftie"); Edward J. Nugent ("Sport"); and Rudy Vallee's Connecticut Yankees. This rarely shown item was first introduced to public television in its weekly film series, SPROCKETS (1982). After that series expired, THE VAGABOND LOVER was later shown on American Movie Classics, and then on Turner Classic Movies. Formerly distributed on video cassette, it's availability can be found on DVD. THE VAGABOND LOVER, an Rudy Vallee song-feast at best, is of sole interest for those interested in early talkies. According to legend, the screenplay used in THE VAGABOND LOVER is based on Rudy Vallee's own career. Did he actually climb through an open window to success? We'll never know. (**)