Reviews

I concur! WE'RE RICH AGAIN is a delight from the first frame to the last, sadly neglected among it's peers, but definitely worth a look. I ran this film for my movie crowd here in Sacramento and they howled through it, especially the antics of Edna May Oliver and beefcake Crabbe. At the time it was released the critics lambasted Marian Nixon but I think she's a hoot as the oh so talkative cousin. The film survives in pristine condition as well, it looks as if it were filmed yesterday. Billie Burke has several wonderful scenes, one of my favorites is when she gives the butler a quarter and rattles off a huge grocery list, the perplexed servant does his best to assure Burke that he'll acquire everything on the list. Oliver and her polo buddies steal the show, be sure to catch this film!

The film may be lost but one production number, the title track, survives. It was accidentally edited into Vivian Duncan's private print of IT'S A GREAT LIFE (MGM 1929) and has made the rounds on video through various collectors. The color has held up well but the production values are rather like a big studio's B picture. It would be interesting to see what the film was like in it's entirety. I can't imagine Leo McCarey directing a bomb so I imagine it was a decent little film. At 75 minutes it was quite short by modern standards, although Mae West's SHE DONE HIM WRONG was only 66 minutes and there's no arguing over it's place in movie history.

All the actors sparkle here, even Durante (who killed more than one MGM feature in his day) is a riot. Colbert is dazzling in every scene, even while bathing a dog. Cohan is fresh and fun, too bad he didn't make any other talkies. This production wreaks of Paramount, right down to the Lubitch touches of rhyming dialogue and animals delivering a musical number laced with sexual innuendo. In one instance the camera dissolves from the back side of a jackass to the keynote speaker of the Presidential convention; some things never change and it's still fresh!

Will Hays would have had a lot to say about this production if he could have gotten his hands on it.... :)

Marion Davies shines like a 1000 watt light bulb in this delightful comedy set in Monte Carlo. Davies plays a dizzy autograph hound who falls for a visiting tennis star (Nils Asther) in a hotel. He's got an exotic girlfriend (Goudal) who's cheating on him and he wants to win her back so he hires Marion to be his "Cardboard Lover" to make her jealous. Marion takes the issue to heart, even after she's been fired from the job; she's a pest with delightful results! The film contains one of her trademark impersonations as well as a bit in drag as a bellhop. Very funny and charming throughout.

I always thought that "Her Majesty Love" was Marilyn Miller's finest film until I saw "Sunny". Most of the movie crowd crowns the high notes on "Sally" but I find it boring and oh so long. "Sunny" is in rotten shape but what survives is wonderful to watch. MM simply illuminates the screen and is full of mischief in this tale of a circus bare back rider/dancer who stows away on an ocean liner. Note that Warner's used either the Aquitania or Mauretania for the cast off scene, and another two stacked liner for the long shot.... Somehow the ship loses two funnels once it's at sea... All in all, this one is a keeper for sure. Too bad MM didn't make more movies and died so young.

It appears that some modern day critics have forgotten what a great period film is all about. This very authentic replica of the Gay Nineties (1890s) is accurate right down to the horse hair furniture, gas lamps, Brooklyn accents and costumes. It was adapted from Mae West's Broadway hit "Diamond Lil" and coupled with West's other 1933 hit (I'm No Angel), saved Paramount from bankruptcy. The film was so loved by audiences that midnight showings were needed to accommodate the crowds, and it was so lurid that seven countries banned the film altogether. It was nominated for the best picture of 1933 and was West's favorite of all her twelve films. The film introduced the famed line (although it's uttered slightly different in the movie) "Come up and see me sometime." Some of Mae's funniest work is here, and she sings three great tunes. Edith Head did all the costumes and Lowell Sherman directed. Modern times have dulled the bluntness of this film, but be assured, it was an eye-popper in 1933.

Warren William and Marian Marsh sparkle in this delicious Vitaphone production. Ms. Marsh handles the role of a dowdy but wise secretary with great aplomb, she's delightful! William (the star with two first names) is charming as the playboy baron with an amorous secretary on every phone line. Charles Butterworth adds to the fun with his usual hijinks. This one's a keeper!

"Show of Shows" is one of the worst films made in the early talkie period and the worst of all the great reviews. Warner Brothers tried to one-up all the other studios by making an all-Technicolor review (although "King of Jazz" was all color) and making it longer than any of the others. Their plans were thwarted when 15% of the movie had to be filmed in black and white due to lack of Technicolor cameras. Winnie Lightner's two numbers save the film from total oblivion, but otherwise beware. This supposed musical comedy opens with a French revolution scene. A poor soul is dragged up to the guillotine and his head is lopped off. Someone in the background then shouts, "Now on with the Show Of Shows!" It goes downhill from there.