The Boswell Sisters at the time were one of the top singing groups on the radio. They were used as "box office bait" which meant that their names were featured below the film's title, luring fans into the movie but given only two songs (but what songs!!) - the jazzy "Rock and Roll" and the now classic "If I Had a Million Dollars". Nancy Carroll tried her best but if I recall she didn't even sing in her featured number "It Was Sweet of You", which was the setting for an elaborate acrobatic ballet with some overhead camera work that would make Busby Berkeley jealous.
Nancy was at a low ebb as 1934 dawned - her marriage to Bolton Mallory was over, the play she hoped would give her success on Broadway, "Undesirable Lady" lasted 24 performances and to rub salt into the wound, her ex-husband, Jack Kirkland's dramatization of "Tobacco Road" opened on Broadway to become one of the longest running plays in theatrical history (3,182 performances). But musicals were back in fashion and producer Edward Small had faith that Nancy could re-create her earlier singing and dancing success. It's just a pity that he didn't give her any singing (or much dancing) to do.
The showboat atmosphere of the S.S. Progress, with radio broadcasts by Chad Denby (Jack Benny) and his Atlantic Follies starring Sally Marsh (Carroll) always makes sure there are hundreds of passengers. Within a few minutes shots are fired, there is presumably a murder and the plot involves the 48 hours leading up to that point.
Made by the ultra small company Reliance (although released by United Artists) this movie had a bit of everything - murder, comedy, romance and music. It tried for the same excitement as "Wonder Bar" and with a "Grand Hotel" on the South Seas plot. In fact the funniest scene in the movie has some of the cast doing a spoof of "Grand Hotel" for a radio broadcast and Carroll's imitation of Greta Garbo is spot on!!!
Sally is instantly charmed by debonair jewel thief Jimmy Brett (Gene Raymond) as they board the boat. She has been given a job on the boat by the smitten Denby to get her away from the slimy clutches of Lothar (Sidney Blackmer) a Broadway card sharp, who, unbeknownst to them, is on the boat. Among the other passengers are Anya (Shirley Grey) who is madly in love with Lothar, her husband Herbert (Ralph Morgan) who although farewelling her at the dock, has secretly booked a passage to follow her and the notorious criminal Joe Saunders (William "Stage" Boyd) who has escaped from jail and has stowed away in a life boat. It wouldn't be complete without a vacationing policeman (Robert Elliott).
The film falls a bit flat because two of the most interesting cast members don't make their re-appearance until the film is almost over (Boyd at 69 minutes, Morgan at 72 minutes) but the plot is tied up most satisfactorily. What a difference three years make in the life of a child star!! A few days before I had watched "Dude Ranch" and Mitzi Green stole the show as the youngest member of a travelling troupe of ham actors. That was in 1931, in 1934 she was quite grown up but still being asked to do impressions of George Arliss!! She also had a terrific singing voice but wasn't asked to do much in this movie. No wonder she went to Broadway where she introduced "Where or When". "My Funny Valentine" and "The Lady is a Tramp" in Rogers and Hart's "Babes in Arms" - she didn't need the movies anymore.
Nancy was at a low ebb as 1934 dawned - her marriage to Bolton Mallory was over, the play she hoped would give her success on Broadway, "Undesirable Lady" lasted 24 performances and to rub salt into the wound, her ex-husband, Jack Kirkland's dramatization of "Tobacco Road" opened on Broadway to become one of the longest running plays in theatrical history (3,182 performances). But musicals were back in fashion and producer Edward Small had faith that Nancy could re-create her earlier singing and dancing success. It's just a pity that he didn't give her any singing (or much dancing) to do.
The showboat atmosphere of the S.S. Progress, with radio broadcasts by Chad Denby (Jack Benny) and his Atlantic Follies starring Sally Marsh (Carroll) always makes sure there are hundreds of passengers. Within a few minutes shots are fired, there is presumably a murder and the plot involves the 48 hours leading up to that point.
Made by the ultra small company Reliance (although released by United Artists) this movie had a bit of everything - murder, comedy, romance and music. It tried for the same excitement as "Wonder Bar" and with a "Grand Hotel" on the South Seas plot. In fact the funniest scene in the movie has some of the cast doing a spoof of "Grand Hotel" for a radio broadcast and Carroll's imitation of Greta Garbo is spot on!!!
Sally is instantly charmed by debonair jewel thief Jimmy Brett (Gene Raymond) as they board the boat. She has been given a job on the boat by the smitten Denby to get her away from the slimy clutches of Lothar (Sidney Blackmer) a Broadway card sharp, who, unbeknownst to them, is on the boat. Among the other passengers are Anya (Shirley Grey) who is madly in love with Lothar, her husband Herbert (Ralph Morgan) who although farewelling her at the dock, has secretly booked a passage to follow her and the notorious criminal Joe Saunders (William "Stage" Boyd) who has escaped from jail and has stowed away in a life boat. It wouldn't be complete without a vacationing policeman (Robert Elliott).
The film falls a bit flat because two of the most interesting cast members don't make their re-appearance until the film is almost over (Boyd at 69 minutes, Morgan at 72 minutes) but the plot is tied up most satisfactorily. What a difference three years make in the life of a child star!! A few days before I had watched "Dude Ranch" and Mitzi Green stole the show as the youngest member of a travelling troupe of ham actors. That was in 1931, in 1934 she was quite grown up but still being asked to do impressions of George Arliss!! She also had a terrific singing voice but wasn't asked to do much in this movie. No wonder she went to Broadway where she introduced "Where or When". "My Funny Valentine" and "The Lady is a Tramp" in Rogers and Hart's "Babes in Arms" - she didn't need the movies anymore.