Review of Hello Frisco, Hello

It's ironic that both Betty Grable and Alice Faye got to remake some of their old movies with changes of settings and slightly different themes. Grable remade "Coney Island" as "Wabash Avenue" and "Moon Over Miami" (itself already a remake) as "How to Marry a Millionaire". Seven years after "King of Burlesque" (1936), Faye remade the film in color, changing the setting from the vaudeville theatres of New York to the waterfront saloons of San Francisco. While "Hello Frisco Hello" is respectable in many different ways, it takes away the edge from its original source, mainly because the character played by John Payne isn't as interesting as Warner Baxter's. Faye herself has gone from a Jean Harlow tough cookie with a heart of gold to a total lady. She is wonderful in both films, but I like her earlier image a bit more. She has a fabulous song, the Oscar Winning "You'll Never Know", and the title song is a fun way to start the film. Even that other tribute to the California ciy on the bay is there, and it doesn't involve an earthquake or Jeanette MacDonald's powerful soprano pipes. June Havoc (the real Dainty June from "Gypsy") and Jack Oakie give nice supporting performances, with Oakie repeating his role from "King of Burlesque" in the exact same manner. The other songs are standards both obscure and familiar, and Faye puts them off as only a professional could. Lynn Bari plays a broke San Francisco socialite who briefly comes between Faye and Payne and is the epitome of bitchy coolness. The Fox technicolor is glorious, making the beautiful sets and costumes stand out amazingly well. Overall, if you can see the original version (not commercially available), don't miss it, then compare to this one to see a lighter take on the same tale.