Ginger Rogers was busy in New York when "Top Speed" - the show that gave her career such a huge boost - started filming in Hollywood. Laura Lee, however, who played Ginger's part of Babs Green, was very bubbly and energetic. She was teamed with Joe E. Brown and the film was a showcase for the fast rising quirky comedian.
Elmer Peters (Joe E. Brown) and his office buddy Jerry Brooks (Jack Whiting) are away on a weekend vacation. A run-in with the local sheriff (for catching under-sized fish) has them running to the posh Lackawanna Lodge, where due to Elmer's fibs, everyone believes they are financial hot shots.
There is a car smash outside the hotel and the boys rescue two lovely ladies - Virginia (Bernice Claire) and Babs (Laura Lee). Virginia gets better acquainted with Jerry and sings the beautiful "Looking For the Love Light in the Dark". Frank McHugh makes an early appearance as a crazy inventor of an inflatable life jacket. Elmer and Babs cement their friendship with the song "If You Were a Traveling Salesman and I Was a Chambermaid", followed by a funny, eccentric dance. Elmer's fibs get Jerry into hot water - he has boasted that Jerry is a champion boat racer and Virginia's father fires his driver and quickly hires Jerry to race in the championship boat race. An associate of Jerry's (Cyril Ring) and also a rival for Virginia's affection,is also at the Lodge and gives the game away by telling Virginia that Jerry is just a lowly clerk. That doesn't make any difference to Virginia, but Jerry has other problems - his boss is also there and offers Jerry $30,000 to throw the race.
Even though there was only one production number - the splashy and toe tapping "Knock Knees", performed by Elmer, Babs and the girls and boys of the Lodge, the film seemed to be a classy production. The boat race was thrillingly and excitingly filmed. Unfortunately the film looks considerably trimmed down - at one point during a scene where Claire tells Whiting that they need each other, Claire opens her mouth to sing "As Long As I Have You and You Have Me" there is an abrupt cut to another scene. Musical interludes were cut to make room for Brown's comedy unfortunately. Even though beautiful Bernice Claire was the female lead, she didn't have much to do. She had been bought to films under the banner "the screens youngest soprano". With her beautiful voice and youthfulness, if the time had been right, it could have been Claire that occupied the lofty position that Jeanette MacDonald held in the mid thirties. But, unfortunately, it wasn't to be and even before her career got going people were starting to be fed up with musicals.
Recommended.
Elmer Peters (Joe E. Brown) and his office buddy Jerry Brooks (Jack Whiting) are away on a weekend vacation. A run-in with the local sheriff (for catching under-sized fish) has them running to the posh Lackawanna Lodge, where due to Elmer's fibs, everyone believes they are financial hot shots.
There is a car smash outside the hotel and the boys rescue two lovely ladies - Virginia (Bernice Claire) and Babs (Laura Lee). Virginia gets better acquainted with Jerry and sings the beautiful "Looking For the Love Light in the Dark". Frank McHugh makes an early appearance as a crazy inventor of an inflatable life jacket. Elmer and Babs cement their friendship with the song "If You Were a Traveling Salesman and I Was a Chambermaid", followed by a funny, eccentric dance. Elmer's fibs get Jerry into hot water - he has boasted that Jerry is a champion boat racer and Virginia's father fires his driver and quickly hires Jerry to race in the championship boat race. An associate of Jerry's (Cyril Ring) and also a rival for Virginia's affection,is also at the Lodge and gives the game away by telling Virginia that Jerry is just a lowly clerk. That doesn't make any difference to Virginia, but Jerry has other problems - his boss is also there and offers Jerry $30,000 to throw the race.
Even though there was only one production number - the splashy and toe tapping "Knock Knees", performed by Elmer, Babs and the girls and boys of the Lodge, the film seemed to be a classy production. The boat race was thrillingly and excitingly filmed. Unfortunately the film looks considerably trimmed down - at one point during a scene where Claire tells Whiting that they need each other, Claire opens her mouth to sing "As Long As I Have You and You Have Me" there is an abrupt cut to another scene. Musical interludes were cut to make room for Brown's comedy unfortunately. Even though beautiful Bernice Claire was the female lead, she didn't have much to do. She had been bought to films under the banner "the screens youngest soprano". With her beautiful voice and youthfulness, if the time had been right, it could have been Claire that occupied the lofty position that Jeanette MacDonald held in the mid thirties. But, unfortunately, it wasn't to be and even before her career got going people were starting to be fed up with musicals.
Recommended.