As I got into this film I began to sense that something was wrong with it. So, I consulted IMDb and quickly concluded what the problem was by simply looking at how it was classed -- as a "drama - musical - comedy". There's the problem, the film doesn't quite know what it is. A drama can have aspects that are humorous, and a comedy can have its serious moments, but when it comes right down to it, most films have to be primarily one type...and this isn't.
There's an overly-long production number early on in the film, which though important to the plot, should have been much shorter. The scenes in the fun-house were quite clever and interesting, and reminded me of fun-houses I experienced as a child back in the 1950s. William Powell plays a sort of thinmanesque character here, with his best scene perhaps being when he professes his love for the Jean Harlow character, not realizing she has fallen asleep in the hammock. Franchot Tone plays the heavy-drinking, likable playboy...a role that he was often typecast in.
So, things are going happily, funnily, and musically along (and, in my view, boringly)until almost exactly half-way through the film, when suddenly it transforms itself into a drama. Franchot Tone realizes he is still in love with his former fiancé, Jean Harlow realizes Tone is not really in love with her, and suddenly Tone commits suicide. Not to mention that Harlow is secretly pregnant. Now, don't get me wrong, but up until it turned into a drama, I wasn't enjoying the film. Once it became a drama, it got quite interesting.
Some of the supporting actors here are interesting. A pre-Andy Hardy Mickey Rooney is quite good. May Robson is superb as the grandmother. Rosiland Russel has a small, but key role, and you may not recognize her because of how young she is here. Henry Stephenson comes across as the bad father of Franchot Tone, but redeems himself as the film comes to a conclusion, and he is a welcome presence in any film. There are two "mugs" in the film -- Nat Pendleton, who is interesting, and Ted Healy (of Three Stooges fame), who is not.
So, I gave this film 5 stars out of 10, because half of the film is interesting.
There's an overly-long production number early on in the film, which though important to the plot, should have been much shorter. The scenes in the fun-house were quite clever and interesting, and reminded me of fun-houses I experienced as a child back in the 1950s. William Powell plays a sort of thinmanesque character here, with his best scene perhaps being when he professes his love for the Jean Harlow character, not realizing she has fallen asleep in the hammock. Franchot Tone plays the heavy-drinking, likable playboy...a role that he was often typecast in.
So, things are going happily, funnily, and musically along (and, in my view, boringly)until almost exactly half-way through the film, when suddenly it transforms itself into a drama. Franchot Tone realizes he is still in love with his former fiancé, Jean Harlow realizes Tone is not really in love with her, and suddenly Tone commits suicide. Not to mention that Harlow is secretly pregnant. Now, don't get me wrong, but up until it turned into a drama, I wasn't enjoying the film. Once it became a drama, it got quite interesting.
Some of the supporting actors here are interesting. A pre-Andy Hardy Mickey Rooney is quite good. May Robson is superb as the grandmother. Rosiland Russel has a small, but key role, and you may not recognize her because of how young she is here. Henry Stephenson comes across as the bad father of Franchot Tone, but redeems himself as the film comes to a conclusion, and he is a welcome presence in any film. There are two "mugs" in the film -- Nat Pendleton, who is interesting, and Ted Healy (of Three Stooges fame), who is not.
So, I gave this film 5 stars out of 10, because half of the film is interesting.