Reviews

I just love this movie! Red Skelton has always been one of my favorites, and Miss Powell's dancing is fabulous. My family's favorite part of this movie, however, is VIRGINIA O'BRIEN! Known for her deadpan facial expressions, she outdoes herself while singing the song Poor You. (Pay attention to the lyrics - so funny!) We have to rewind this part of the movie several times just because she is so ADORABLE! And the reactions by Bert Lahr are priceless. The music is good, the plot okay, but who cares? Miss Powell is gorgeous and the love story is cute. And it's a treat to see a young Frank Sinatra. One of my favorites.

I caught about 3/4 of this movie last night on Turner Classics and I wish I had seen it from the beginning. I was so taken with Warner Baxter's performance - he is so cute when he performs on stage the first time, scratching and looking uncomfortable. Later when he reluctantly stars with Miss Barnes in an opera, dressed in this Renaissance type outfit complete with fake beard, he is just a delight to watch. I actually laughed out loud. The dialog is crisp and funny, Loretta Young is very appealing and the supporting actors are real characters. I would buy this movie and skip the music, except for the last song they do on the train.

I purchased this movie in a pack of musical DVDs and I'm tickled to have it because the star, Grace Bradley, is the wife of the cowboy star, Hopalong Cassidy (William Boyd, who died in the early 1970s). I've been looking for years for any movie that she was in. She is still alive and a very beautiful lady to be in her 90s. This movie was made around the time she and Bill Boyd married. She was interviewed in a documentary on Hopalong Cassidy and she is such a delight to watch. I've always wanted to see what she looked like when she was young, and she does not disappoint. I can see why Hoppy fell in love with her! Watch this movie just to see what "might have been" if she hadn't quit her career to marry Hoppy!

I am a fan of Jerry Lewis' early movies so when I shared this movie with my 11 and 5 year old grandsons, I was tickled to death when they laughed themselves silly watching it! They loved it from the first scenes with the runaway fire hose to the ending where Jerry makes those wild and crazy faces! I wish there were movies like this today (other than animated ones) that you could go see as a family. We owe it to our children and grandchildren to share as many movies like this with them as we can, because otherwise they won't get the chance to see genuine hilarity. Comedians and writers of today think dirty language and bathroom humor are funny. Who needs that? This is one of my favorite Lewis movies.

This is a Phil Silvers Special that was aired on TV in 1960. It is available on DVD or VHS (check Google). This is one of the funniest shows I've ever seen, and I usually don't like Phil Silvers. It has great writing and characters, and is a true spoof of westerns, not forced comedy. There are lots of character actor guest stars, including Marion Ross (Happy Days) as Phil's girlfriend, and Jack Benny in a typically funny role as a cowardly cheapskate. Nat Hiken, who wrote the script, also wrote Silvers' Bilko show from the 50s, and Car 54 Where Are You, an underrated TV show from the 60s with Fred Gwynn. If you want some good laughs and also have in your video collection a delightful nostalgic reminder of "good TV" with no dirty humor or four letter words, do yourself a favor and buy this show.