At not quite 71 minutes, the version of this film that I have seen is even shorter than the theatrically shortened version listed by IMDb, although it does retain the Crosby footage. Perhaps the severe editing is one reason that I found this to be the most confused (and confusing) film of its period. We are given no clue as to why characters suddenly behave in a completely different way than they have previously conducted themselves, allegiances dissolve and reform for no apparent reason, and what might have made for an interesting plot twist (the introduction of drugs into a cocktail by Horton as valet) becomes no more than an excuse for Fairbanks's financial wizard to leap around his stateroom like a monkey playing football. Still, all the actors seem to be giving it everything they've got, trying to put the script across, and being able to see the three leads and Bing at the top of their games is the only thing that makes this movie watchable.
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ready4fun0116 August 2005
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AlsExGal25 December 2009This movie was supposed to be a musical, but by 1930 audiences had tired of at least the "All Singing" part of "All Talking, All Singing, All Dancing" movies. Virtually everyone's first talking picture was a musical, and there just wasn't enough good music to go around. Theaters were even putting up signs in the cases of movies that sounded like they might be musicals with statements that read "This is not a musical" so as not to repel audiences. This situation lasted until 1933.
In this case, the movie probably would have been much better if it had gone through with the originally planned musical format. The introductory titles show that the music was written by Irving Berlin, and the cast even includes crooner Bing Crosby, who was so good in "The King of Jazz" that came out that same year. Instead, there is only one musical number two-thirds of the way into the film, and that is the only place we get to see or hear Bing Crosby. On top of that, Bebe Daniels, the lead actress, was a much better singer than she was an actress. Thus making this a romantic comedy of sorts really took away from all that she could have brought to the movie.
What you're left with is a little bit more than a shell of a movie. It seems like nobody bothered to fill in the blanks left by the depletion of the would-have-been musical numbers. I give this movie six stars instead of five mainly because of the historical value. Douglas Fairbanks would make only two more movies after this one. Someone else has already mentioned the factor his voice played in the end of his talkie career. It is worth mentioning that his voice isn't outright bad, but it just doesn't match the swashbuckling image he had developed during the silent era. It's a higher pitch than what you're expecting. It is great fun to see him doing some of his trademark acrobatic moves during the film, and it's hard to believe a man of almost 50 could still be so agile and have such a youthful and vigorous appearance. Particularly entertaining is Edward Everett Horton as the valet. He had a good career in silent films, but he would do even better as a character actor in the age of talking pictures where dialogue really allowed him to shine as a well-meaning if somewhat befuddled character in a myriad of films. Also, various sets in the film show off some fine and interesting examples of 1930 architecture, and it is interesting to see how the early stages of the depression were interpreted by people at the time. In 1930 the stock market sell-off is still portrayed as a "panic" and a temporary set-back that has merely bankrupted a few high-rolling financiers. -
SimonJack1 November 2013Douglas Fairbanks was 47 years old when he starred in "Reaching for the Moon," and in nine more years, he would be dead from a heart attack. He had only two more starring roles after this, and ended his career with only five movies since the advent of sound. While bickering with Hollywood moguls is cited as the main reason for his early retirement by age 51, his few "talkies" hint at his fading star.
No one could doubt his continued athleticism. In this movie, he showed some of the moves and agility that made him the king of the swashbucklers throughout the silent film era. But two things seemed to me to detract from his screen persona. First was his bombast and flamboyance. Surely, these were attributes in silent films when facial expressions and body movements were exaggerated to make up for the lack of sound. Fairbanks seems to be one of those early era actors who couldn't adjust to the less audacious acting. The second thing was his high-pitched voice. It wasn't effeminate, but its higher pitch did detract from the rougher masculine image of his leading role.
Bebe Daniels, on the other hand, had no difficulty transitioning from silent to sound film. She started as a child actress and had a long string of movies through the end of the silent era. She had a beautiful singing voice and had a number of good roles in musical films through the 1930s. She married actor/singer Ben Lyon in 1930, and in the late 30s they moved to England where they were a very successful husband-and- wife team on stage and on the radio.
This was also just the third appearance of Bing Crosby in the movies. Although his name had not yet appeared in any film credits – and wouldn't until the following year, he did have one song in this shortened film version. It also was the first film with Irving Berlin's music.
The plot of this film is OK, but the script doesn't make it very convincing. Still, it is an entertaining film with some historical value as well. It gives us a picture of the Hollywood scene during the years of transition from silent to sound films. We see some of the stars of those early years. And, one more little note of history to me was the setting of the ship voyage during the stock market crash of October 29, 1929. Not many movies were made that had the great stock market crash in them. It's understandable that Hollywood wouldn't draw people to movies about depression, with the widespread depression that followed. But the treatment of the stock crash in this film gives it a nice added historical touch about an event that is rarely found in films of the mid-20th century. -
Snow Leopard13 July 2001A dated but mostly pleasant comedy, "Reaching For the Moon" has a lightweight story that is carried by its stars, Douglas Fairbanks (in one of his few sound pictures) and Bebe Daniels. Fairbanks is Larry Day, a financial genius with very little social life. He becomes enchanted with Vivien Benton (Daniels), to the point where he abandons his business concerns - endangering his financial empire - to follow her on an ocean liner. Edward Everett Horton is entertaining as the valet who tries to help Day learn how to approach a beautiful woman. While dated in several respects, it is a good-natured story that moves at an agreeable pace, and it also features a singing appearance by a very young Bing Crosby. There is not a lot of depth to the movie, but it is a decent way to pass the time for anyone who enjoys vintage comedies.
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AAdaSC19 December 2010Larry (Douglas Fairbanks) follows Viv (Bebe Daniels) to Southampton on a cruise ship. He takes his valet Roger (Edward Everett Horton) with him and Larry tries to win Viv's heart despite the fact that she is engaged to Sir Horace (Claud Allister).......things work out in the end.
The film is a bore. It is only saved by the musical number - an upbeat jivey tune - that is sung by Bing Crosby, Bebe Daniels and June MacCloy as "Kitty" (check out her peculiar voice!) and has the cast dancing along. It is the ONLY good part of the film. That and the sets are the reason I have given the film a mark of 5. There are some great sets, eg, the office desk panels that open up into seats and pretty much every interior that you see! The script is dull and it's not particularly funny despite Douglas Fairbanks. Fairbanks provides some unintentional humour with his pointless leaping about. It's endless! And he has a terrible, shouty voice which makes him a pretty irritating man. Combine that with his endless inane grinning and you have to submit and start laughing at him. Hatred turns to mockery.
It's all quite poignant, though as his character seems not to be able to cope with being mocked. He is continually asking Bebe Daniles "are you laughing at me?" and the audience is continually yelling back "Yes!" Without the music and sets, this film is a piece of junk. -
lugonian5 April 2007REACHING FOR THE MOON (United Artists, 1930), written and directed by Edmund Goulding, would be an interesting title best suited for a 1950s science fiction movie about astronauts rocketing to the moon, but in this instance, a lightweight comedy that takes place on board ship shortly after the 1929 Stock Market Crash where its central characters are a Wall Street wizard and an aviatrix. With a cast consisting mostly of silent screen veterans, the main attractions are the leading players Douglas Fairbanks, best known for his legendary swashbucklers as Zorro and Robin Hood, and Bebe Daniels, whose career during the sound era has overshadowed her popularity of the silent screen, thanks to the frequent revivals of 42nd STREET (Warners, 1933) for which she is best known.
Following an overview (theatrical setting) of New York skyscrapers, the story opens at the Ritzbelt Hotel where two separate events are taking place: first a departure party for renowned aviatrix Vivian Benton (Bebe Daniels) in the Queen Room; and a dinner party hosted by Larry Day (Douglas Fairbanks) in the Wall Street Room. Vivian, daughter of a millionaire (Walter Walker), is secretly engaged to the stuffy British Sir Horace Partington (Claude Allister, with a catch phrase of "What a country"), while Larry, a carefree bachelor, thinks more of his job than women. Upon his departure, Larry bypasses Vivian, who shows an immediate interest in him. Jimmy Carrington (Jack Mulhall), one of Larry's employees, makes a bet that she cannot get his attention before she set sails for Europe the following day. Vivian takes that wager and gets to work. The next morning, Vi makes every effort to get past the secretary (Helen Jerome-Eddy) while posing as a Southern gal. Her influence works, leading her into Larry's office where she not only gets five minutes of his time, but an invitation to dinner at his 20th floor penthouse located on 380 Park Avenue, which so happens to be across the street from her residence. Before Vivian is set to arrive, Larry's servant, Roger (Edward Everett Horton) demonstrates his own method of making love to a woman while sitting on a patio swing, a scene that raises eyebrows from an electrician observing from afar. Wondering what has happened to her, Larry receives a telephone call from Vivian telling him how she has won the bet with Jimmy and is now sailing for England on the L'Amerique. She then asks him, "What are you going to do about it?" A victim of a practical joke, and overwrought over her laughter, Larry yanks the phone over to the floor and angrily replies, "I'll show you what I'm going to do!" And that he does once he and Roger go on board, with every effort to get his last laugh on her.
Basically a comedy reminiscent to the Ernst Lubitch style due to its risqué dialog and offbeat humor, REACHING FOR THE MOON came at a time when such romantic themes were becoming passé, especially those including songs. Based on a story with music by Irving Berlin, one of America's greatest songwriters, its opening credits promises a musical, but all that remains is the upbeat "Low Down" number set during a gathering among shipboard passengers. It's introduced by an up-and-coming Bing Crosby, re-prised by Bebe Daniels and the deep sounding vocals of June McClory. "Low Down" is underscored much of the time along with other themes that didn't make it to the final print. Aside from wondering how REACHING FOR THE MOON might have appeared with other musical interludes intact, what's also interesting is the way Fairbanks works his acrobatics, which he used so prominently in his silent film adventures, into the story, ranging from sliding down the pole from the sun deck to one particular scene where he takes Angels Breath, a drink prepared by his servant including Pocoraca, a wonder drug. Once he takes it, he becomes hyper, running and jumping happily all over the place, going out of control climbing the walls with laughter. By the time Vivian drinks it, she storms out from Larry's state room quite hostile and carefree.
With this being Fairbanks' best known talkie, REACHING FOR THE MOON was nearly forgotten until the wake of cable television and home video during the early 1980s. Aside from the outtakes of musical numbers, shortening the proposed 91 minute musical-comedy to 74 minutes, reissue prints that have been circulating, especially those presented on public television during the late night hours, are the 62 minute prints that eliminate Vi and Larry's acquaintance in his Wall Street office. Even at its near restored length that aired on American Movie Classics (1997-2000), REACHING FOR THE MOON continues to resemble a butchered movie with flimsy plot consisting of scenes and fade-outs coming in and out of nowhere. It's never even explained how the Larry Day character got on board L'Amerique after it sailed out to sea, or why a lady aviator would travel on a cruise ship when she could take her own private airplane? In spite of some setbacks, REACHING FOR THE MOON is occasionally entertaining, "fun," "wonderful fun," however starts to wear thin towards the end with some corny dialog spoken by Fairbanks.
The movie itself may not promise the moon, but for film buffs, a chance to reach for the stars, Douglas Fairbanks, Bebe Daniels (being a blonde this time around) and a very young Bing Crosby, in his second film role, whose popularity as an actor/singer was only two years away. (***) -
I have great respect for the talents of Douglas Fairbanks, and he had several successful roles in early Hollywood; especially during the silent era. This film, however, is not one of them. This movie was released in the theros of the Great Depression. People had lost their life savings and more because of the actions of people like the character portrayed in this film, a stockbroker. If there was a more reviled occupation in the early 1930s, very few would have qualified. Poor Fairbanks is cast in this highly unsympathetic role. Bebe Daniels is fine as the romantic interest, but audiences at the time did not find this film to be enjoyable because of the occupation involved. It was like making a film about an executioner who goes on vacation. Don't waste your time.
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bkoganbing18 October 2004Reaching for the Moon will never make anyone's list of top ten films, but it is valuable piece of Hollywood History because it contains one of Douglas Fairbanks's few sound films and it is the solo debut of Bing Crosby.
Joe Schenck who was a partner of Fairbanks in United Artists got Irving Berlin to write an original score for this film and to do the screenplay. Fairbanks is a wizard of Wall Street who falls head over heels for aviatrix Bebe Daniels and chases after her on an ocean liner to England. Along for the ride is Edward Everett Horton who plays his butler/sidekick.
During production it was decided to scrap Berlin's score with only one song remaining, When the Folks High Up Do a Mean Low Down. Bing Crosby sang a chorus of it and then passed it over to Bebe Daniels and bit player June McCloy. At the time of the filming Crosby was appearing at the Cocoanut Grove at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles with his Rhythm Boy trio.
Fairbanks was 48 when this was made and the athleticism that characterized his best silent films was a bit annoying here. But that's what his public expected of him. His role is the kind of part that Cary Grant could later play in his sleep.
Bebe Daniels is pretty much forgotten today. But she was a beautiful woman and had a great singing voice. If people remember her at all it was as Dorothy Brock who breaks her ankle in 42 Street and allows Ruby Keeler to walk on stage a youngster and come back a star. Soon after 42nd Street, Daniels left the U.S. with her husband Ben Lyon for Great Britain where as expatriates they became very big stars there.
Nothing fabulous about Reaching for the Moon, but it's a curiosity and a bit of history rolled in one. -
rupie22 May 2000I usually find frothy comedies this old to be a bore, but was somehow captivated by this one, probably initially because of the really startling beauty of Bebe Daniels (no I never had heard of her either). After she hooked me into the film, the wonderful chemistry between her, Horton and Fairbanks kept me on board. Really an entertaining hour and a half, and the period flavor is enthralling. Worth a see.
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This glorious Art Deco cocktail talkie from 1930 is possibly one of the top three masterpieces of set design of the early talkie era. An student of film set and costume design for this period - and any snazzy modernist look will alternately swoon, scream, almost faint and want to large-print every scene and set of what I celebrate as a sensational art deco dazzler. Produced in 1930and reflecting the wealthy marble chrome and velvet of the zenith of 1929 jazz design REACHING FOR THE MOON is a sumptuous feast for the eyes. Even in the gasp worthy shortened version I goggled at, it rates an 8 for the visuals alone. It would rate a perfect 10 out of 10 only if it were the full version with the obviously deleted scenes and songs. On the big screen of a twinkling deco palace and in a 35mm print this film must have had depression audiences feasting... and for the rest of us 76 years later we can only slump in deco-exhaustion at the deliciousness of every frame. Then there is a lovely story, well realised and well scripted of a big rich boisterous dude realising the depth of emotional wealth of a modern woman and the love possible. Gorgeous Bebe Daniels and robust virile Fairbanks share some genuinely moving and very believable on deck scenes as the ocean liner reaches port and post Wall St crash of 29 reality. But the costumes! the scope of the travel and life presented, the deco friezes, the hallways! their apartments! God Almighty! This is art deco heaven and I only wish that some day we can see a perfect print of this treasure box delight in it's original production length with all the songs and scenes. Show this to someone studying set design and they will never forget it. It also contains some hilarious risqué pre code sexual frankness this era is famous for.... especially Edward Everett Horton testing some love clinches on Fairbanks in the balcony hammock when the electrician arrives and is mortified to see the tuxedo junction happening between the giggling fellers.
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"Reaching for the Moon" is a love story about a rather obnoxious millionaire (sort of like Tony Stark of the 1930s) and a woman's attempts to hook him. Despite his playboy reputation, it seems the guy is pretty indifferent to women up until Bebe Daniels sets her sights on him. A far cry from real life, as Fairbanks was quite the playboy.
This is a very rough film, as the plot seemed a bit flat (similar stuff was done much better a few years later--such as the films of Astaire and Rogers) and Douglas Fairbanks' voice was a bit thin. Plus, his advancing years made him a little less believable as the male stud-muffin that he played here. He was frankly a very far cry from his handsome leading man days of the silent era. It also didn't help that the copy on Netflix's on-demand feature was terrible. The print looked very degraded and I am surprised they featured a film in this condition. Frankly it's not a bad movie but in this condition it's really not worth the trouble except for silent film fans wanting to see one of Fairbanks' few sound films. -
MissSimonetta7 May 2017While it is a shame Douglas Fairbanks' career fizzled out with the advent of sound, when you watch something like Reaching for the Moon (1930) it isn't hard to see why that was the case. It has nothing to do with Fairbanks' voice or line delivery or any lack of charm on his part-- it's the material that frankly bites. Reaching for the Moon began life as a musical, but the waning popularity of the musical at the ox office made the suits panic and scrap all but one of the numbers before release. The meddling shows in the choppy rhythm of the picture. This single number retained, "When the Folks High Up Do the Big Low-Down," is the highlight of the movie, the one scene with great energy and fun. Everything else lacks pacing, the characters are one-note and boring. Fairbanks and Bebe Daniels are good performers, but they have no chemistry and have to deal with a dog of a script. It's a real shame.
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TheLittleSongbird25 November 2016'Reaching for the Moon' is interesting for being one of the few talkies/sound pictures that silent star Douglas Fairbanks, and for seeing singing/crooning legend Bing Crosby in a very early role.
It is a decent, at its best great, film in its own right. But in serious need of a restoration other than the shoddy DVD it's presently got, with its crackling and sometimes muffled sound quality and haphazard and lacking in sharpness picture quality, that does cheapen an otherwise good-looking film. It does stick out like a sore thumb when the production values of the actual film look great and like real care went into them, but the DVD looks like it was made in haste and with limited technology.
There is not an awful lot wrong with the film itself. The storytelling is a little jumpy and incomplete at points early on, which does suggest heavy editing and cuts. Fairbanks is a mixed bag, he is fun and charming with envious athleticism but he also does try too hard in some of his line delivery and a few facial expressions and his voice doesn't fit his persona, one would expect one more muscular rather than the anaemic one here, an example of a transition from silent to talkie being less than smooth.
Despite the DVD quality, 'Reaching for the Moon' does look as though it was made with love and care. The costumes are lavish and the photography skillful and often luminous but the biggest star is the incredible art-deco sets, a masterpiece of art-deco design. The music is melodious, romantic and beautifully orchestrated, while Irving Berlin's "When the Folks High Up Do the Mean Low-Down" is the highlight of the film, so much so that one does really wish that there were more songs as apparently intended. The script is witty and romantically heartfelt, while a vast majority of the story goes at a snappy pace and entertains and moves.
Very nicely directed too, and apart from reservations about Fairbanks the cast are uniformly good. Edward Everett Horton's very funny performance is particularly great, while Claud Allistair also has fun. Bebe Daniels is a beguiling screen presence and sings a dream. Even so early on in his career, Crosby's voice still makes one want to listen to him for hours and still can't get enough of, just wish that he had more than one song.
Overall, interesting early talkie and a nice film, but desperately needs restoration. 7/10 Bethany Cox -
GManfred15 February 2018This was written by Edmund Goulding, prolific writer and director, and songwriter Irving Berlin. Most of Berlins' songs were omitted from the final production and what remains is a tribute to the fertile mind of Goulding. The story is clever and interesting, and is nearly forgotten nowadays. It deserves a better fate.
It stars two who were popular in the 20's and 30's and it is particularly interesting to witness the acting skills of Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. Here, he has a comic/dramatic role as a business tycoon who has no time for women - until he meets Bebe Daniels, a society celeb who decides to 'infatuate' the invulnerable Fairbanks. The stars play well off each other and you may be surprised by the depth of Fairbanks' acting range.
There are, alternately, scenes of comedy and romance, and all play very well with audiences of any era. The big surprise, as noted, is Fairbanks. This picture is not as bad as the website rating and may be the fact that it is dated and some aspects haven't aged well. Give it a try if it comes on old, reliable TCM again. -
JoeytheBrit16 April 2020A stockbroker in 1920s America who has no time for women finds himself falling for a wealthy, high-spirited young woman. A slight but engaging enough vehicle for Douglas Fairbanks and Bebe Daniels, two huge stars of the silent screens whose careers would largely come to an end in the 1930s. Even in a modern-dress piece of fluff set largely on a cruise liner, Fairbanks finds plenty of opportunities to show off his athletic prowess. It's the kind of movie that is forgotten almost as soon as the end credits are over, and notable only for a brief early appearance from Bing Crosby.
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While this film was apparently issued as a musical, there is really only a single musical performance in the entire 66-minute version that I saw, lasting only about 4 or 5 minutes. The original issue apparently had more in it, and considering that it was Irving Berlin material, it's a great pity that more of it didn't remain.
That being said, however, the single production number that does come along, 45 minutes into the film, is easily worth the price of admission. Not only is it the earliest extant film version of a Bing Crosby performance (and I swear he was wearing a toupee, even then!), but his solo piece was wonderfully supported by a second from Bebe Daniels, and yet a third, from a sultry-voiced woman who is no longer recalled, and all of it given life by a jazzy dance troupe not as performers, but as actual dancers. It projects the storied Jazz Age with marvelous resonance, and is a joy to watch. -
ddcamera29 January 2023This lavish 1930 talkie was produced by United Artists, the studio cofounded by star Fairbanks, with additional financing from Joe Schenck, on his way to creating Twentieth Century Fox with Zanuck. The film brought together some of the best talents of the 1920s: among them, Wm. Cameron Menzies who did the great Art Deco sets, Irving Berlin who provided the story and wrote the songs (all but one deleted), Ray June photography, Harold Kern editing, Alfred Newman scoring, the screenplay and direction by that old reliable craftsman Edmund Goulding. Somewhere during production, however, someone, star/producer Fairbanks or Schenck perhaps decided that musicals were box office poison, and the songs should be cut. A disastrous decision. This film is Wall Street crash panicky without the much-needed breathing places that songs would have provided. Their absence make the flimsy plot ever flimsier. The result is a messy and out of balance movie. It's like what might have happened if someone decided to cut out the Marilyn Monroe scenes from SOME LIKE IT HOT or the Marx Brothers from DUCK SOUP. Fairbanks and Bebe Daniels, handsome as they are, push their theatrical charm button a bit too much; their star turns makes the artificiality of their acting cloying. They are so over-the-top that Edward Everett Horton, perfect as always as the valet, seems a Method actor. No one has yet to put together the missing pieces and restore what might make a first rate entertainment The BBC is said to have shown.some of the cut out material.
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ilprofessore-114 May 2022This 1930 film is at best a document worth watching if only because it is an vivid record of what is was like when Hollywood was learning how to make the transition from silent to sound. Directed and written by the Englishman Edmund Goulding, it is paced like a 1920s Broadway or West End high-comedy with almost all the actors projecting their voices and playing broadly to the last row. Only Edward Everett Norton, of all people! Seems to understand he is playing for the camera. Fairbanks, one of the great stars of the previous decade, overacts terribly, as does Bebe Daniels. Most of the time. A silly story attributed to Irving Berlin with only one song..
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David-24011 September 1999Looking at this film it is impossible to understand why Douglas Fairbanks never made it as a talkie actor. He really is splendid as a high-flying businessman who gives it all up for love. Energy to burn and still striking to look at (at 48 years old - he even has a shirtless scene) his star presence is undiminished by words. But the words are actually pretty good - the film is based on an Irving Berlin musical, but only one song remains (and that is sung for no apparent reason in the middle of the film, by a baby-faced Bing Crosby.)
Also good is Bebe Daniels as an aviatrix and especially fine is Edward Everett Horton as Fairbanks' valet. Their rapport and obvious affection for one another is very touching and provides for some great comic moments.
And the art deco sets are to die for! -
DrezenMedia11 July 2005I've seen two of Doug's five talkies, this and "The Private Life of Don Juan" (1934). This one was the better of the two, at least in my opinion. I bought it in one of those 50-musicals pack by Mill Creek Entertainment which transfered it from a very high quality VHS master (thinking of it as a 16 mm transfer would be going a little too low because the quality of the picture was great but the sound was very brushy but audible) from a 66 minute cut (the most common version) and while I was watching it, I listened closely in on Doug's rather high-pitched voice, which sounded much better in this picture than in "PLODJ" and at times his performance was gut-bustingly hilarious. I'm referring to a scene where he gets drunk, and starts leaping around the room, climbing up walls, and tackling other hotel guests when they break in to see what all the commotion's about. Had Doug stuck around a little while longer, made more pictures like this one, and not have been so resilient to the constraint of sound (which was slightly improving) he would have been a much better known celebrity even today. I mean, yeah, he was better known for his athletics in the Zorro films, "The Black Pirate", and "Robin Hood" (among others), but even after the days of silent pictures were over, I still think he gave it his best effort when he moved to talkies, as little as he did.
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I didn't know they made movies about scoring back in the 30s. The Jeckel/Hyde effects of Edward Everett Horton's "spanish fly" brew are a hoot. I found this gem on a miss marked double feature Bing Crosy DVD at the dollar store. The DVD titled "Road to Hollywood"/"Sound of Laughter" did not contain the film "Sound of Laughter" but instead "Reaching for the Moon" This copy contained no opening or closing titles or credits, indeed the menu screen was just a still frame from the middle of the picture with the sole option of "Play". With "zip" for information, It took me some time just to Identify the title. There is a token appearance of Bing Crosby in the film to sing one song. Fairbanks, Horton and Bebe Daniels all sparkle in this Society film about a beautiful flirt and the wall-street tycoon she taunts.
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tri-430 September 2000This is a classic 1920's era Irving Berlin movie with some of the best costumes and most excellently produced 1920's dance scenes. Although the movie is only 62 minutes, there is so much fun, that you'll not want it to end! It seems that this movie lasts longer than the hour because it is so good!
Here is a brief synopsis: It takes place right before the stock market crash. Doug is a tycoon. He is a dud when it comes to any affairs of the heart. A beautiful girl comes into his office to talk to him about a problem. Doug can't solve the problem, but falls head-over-heels in love with this girl. He hears she's going to Europe by boat and chases after her. She's headed to Europe to get married. He boards the ship also and chases after her on board. Meanwhile the market crashes and he is wiped out. During a big scene, she embarrasses him while her friends hide in a life boat while he confesses his love to her. There is a lot more to go before this movie sends!
I won't tell you how it ends!
ALSO: a young Edward Everet Horton plays a butler in this flick on board the ship. There's a very young crooner that makes a singing appearance on board!
Those of you looking for a great play to put on at your college or high school should seek out the screenplay for this movie!
Enjoy! -
trancelucence6 December 2020As another reviewer mentioned, the art deco decor on steroids in the office and the penthouse is FABULOUS, must be seen to be believed. I worked on the Queen Mary, and the sheer scale of the settings throughout, and aboard the "L'Amerique" even dwarfed her's (the real L'Amerique sunk in 1904, so the gorgeous recreations were on a series of sets). The dazzling gadgets of the time are also featured (headphones, complex telephony, intercoms, etc). I looked to see who the set designer was- Julie Heron. This film cost a staggering one million dollars to make, unheard of at the time, and settings and art direction obviously had much to do with it. (She had a long list of film and TV credits spanning some six decades, including many notable films, e.g., King of Kings.)
I found this absorbing and engaging - e.g., the witty repartee and the chemistry between the main players. Bebe Daniel's character (stunning in some shots) is every bit as witty and self-assured as Fairbanks'. Both, as well as Edward Everett Horton, are in top form. Fairbanks is a live cannon, incredible, over the top (and VERY athletic). He is the lynch-pin of the film, personality plus- really shines. The word "hell" was used and there was a (funny) tongue in cheek allusion to homosexuality. The sexual innuendo was much more daring than after the imposition of the notorious "Code". Bing Crosby (young and red hot at the time), performs as himself. The ending was somewhat abrupt, and not much is made of Bebe's profession as an aviatrix, but otherwise, as someone who's a film history buff, I liked it very much.