Broadway Review of 1929 – 1928 / 1929
This is going to be a difficult picture to review, mainly because it wasn’t a movie. It was exactly what the title says it is. It is a review. It was a combination of Vaudeville acts, the Ziegfeld Follies, and the Jack Benny Show. It was a show of individual acts that ranged from tap-dancing to acrobatics, from comedy routines to Shakespeare, and from love ballads to ukuleles. There was no story, no plot, no cinematography, few set decorations, and what little artfulness there was came in the form of special effects like turning the image of the dancers to a negative image, or making it appear that a woman was climbing out of a man’s coat pocket.
However, to give fair credit, there were a wide range of costumes and directing choices that added interest. And there was at least one song that I recognized. Who knew that the song Singing in the Rain was a hit before the Gene Kelly movie? And there were also a lot of famous names that are still widely recognized today such as Joan Crawford, Charles King, Anita Page, Buster Keaton, Laurel and Hardy, and Jack Benny. So I suppose this review will have to be a critique of the various acts that stood out to me, and the directing.
The review started out with a song and dance number by the dancing chorus. The sound recording quality was so antiquated that I couldn’t understand what they were singing about. Their choreography was simplistic and poorly executed. It was as if they hadn’t had much time to rehearse and precision was not their top priority. When the troupe of 30 or so dancers extended their arms, they were all at different angles. Every now and then, I could see a dancer who appeared unconfident about his moves. It just started the entire show off with an air of shabbiness.
Next, Jack Benny came on stage, acting as the emcee and spouting inane banter that was supposed to be funny. Unfortunately, the jokes were obvious and clearly scripted. I’m sorry, but a joke generally isn’t funny if you can see the punchline coming. Case in point: The Laurel and Hardy sketch. Their physical humor and sight gags were mildly amusing, but when a gigantic cake is brought out, what do you think is going to happen? Of course Oliver Hardy falls over and does a face plant into the cake. It only would have been funny if I hadn’t seen it coming.
Anyway, a very young Joan Crawford had a song and dance that wasn’t too bad, though it was a far cry from Mildred Pierce or allegations of Mommy Dearest. Also, Charles King’s singing was very polished in the song Your Mother and Mine. Comedian Cliff Edwards had a few mildly amusing bits and actually got the song Singing In the Rain.
There was an enactment of Romeo and Juliet’s Balcony scene that was filmed in Technicolor with Norma Shearer and John Gilbert. First it was played out straight, but then, played out a second time, using contemporary slang instead of Shakespearean language. For example, Juliet would say “Now listen boyfriend. You have a nice line of chatter, but how do I know you care for me in a big way?” to which Romeo would reply, “Julie, baby, I’m gaga about you. No kiddin’ Honey.”
Girl tossing was a favorite game during the acrobatic numbers which showed lines of men tossing young women back and forth like rag dolls. And more than one act featured men in drag. Then, in a memorable scene, a bunch of young women were lying in beds as if sleeping, when a host of dancers in truly terrifying masks hypnotized them, forced them to dance, and then supposedly dragged them off to a fiery abyss. Creepy. Beyond strange, and creepy.
But though most of the acts are pretty unmemorable for modern audiences, I know why this film was nominated for Best Picture, despite the fact that it had no plot. There were two reasons. First, it was one of Hollywood’s earliest examples of a feature length film that used sound. And second, the performers were some of Tinsel Town’s biggest headliners in 1929. The film had a budget of $426,000, and made a profit of $1.1 million, which, in those days, was a seriously hefty bundle of dough. So, good for them. But I won’t be watching it a second time.