After about 10 minutes it became abundantly clear that David O. Selznick and MGM simply wanted to outshine 42nd Street but missed by a country mile. First of all, has anybody ever noticed that Joan Crawford simply CANNOT DANCE. I don't care if she started out as a "dancer" prior to making it big -- all she ever does is flail around and look like she is doing some bad variation of the Charleston. So very painful to watch. Also, didn't anyone realize she was a bit old (almost 30 when the film was made) to be playing the young hopeful??? MGM certainly surrounded her with talent -- Gable, Astaire, Tone, Robson and the sets and costumes were grand but nothing and nobody could fix this mess. And, just when you thought it could not get any worse, Ted Healy and the Three Stooges kept popping up.
It was good to see Fred Astaire in his first film role in which he has such a small part he is simply called "Fred". It is also good to have hard evidence that Ted Healy cutting the Stooges loose was probably the best thing that ever happened to them. I find Healy insufferable. I generally love Joan, especially in her 1940s and early 1950s roles, but MGM certainly did her no favors in putting her in this.
It was good to see Fred Astaire in his first film role in which he has such a small part he is simply called "Fred". It is also good to have hard evidence that Ted Healy cutting the Stooges loose was probably the best thing that ever happened to them. I find Healy insufferable. I generally love Joan, especially in her 1940s and early 1950s roles, but MGM certainly did her no favors in putting her in this.