Start Cheering (1938)

I have very little patience for leading men and their love interest, and their songs; and I don't care much for musical numbers by "guest" performers, so much of this movie was a complete bore to me. I'm also not much interested in watching the details spelled out for me in run-of-the-mill stories like this: I prefer watching what the characters DO within a story, not the playing-out of the story itself, and since a lot of time here is spent with the main characters talking out the narrative, my fingers were itching for the fast-forward button. Durante is always fun to watch, but the script is so poor that his jokes mostly fall flat. I agree that he and Walter Connelly have no chemistry, and the justification for Durante even being in the story at all is too contrived to suspend belief. I actually prefer his roles in the late MGM Buster Keaton movies, like "What, No Beer?", where his character is an integral part of the story and his vitality really helps to move along the film. In this movie, the only moments I really enjoyed were Durante's musical number, Hal LeRoy's dance (which I have to admit was spectacular), and the Three Stooges who perform two skits with perfectly timed ensemble work. Basically, the story-laden non-comedic scenes were boring, and most of the Durante comedy was slightly embarrassing and only borderline amusing. Recommendation: don't pay more than $7 to watch it.