College Rhythm

COLLEGE RHYTHM (Paramount, 1934), directed by Norman Taurog, marks the feature film debuts of radio personalities Joe Penner and Lanny Ross. As the title indicates, this is a college musical, one of many churned out by almost every movie studio in Hollywood during the 1930s, and if not a college musical, then a backstage musical. Musicals by the millions, in all categories, good bad or indifferent, but only a few have lived on to become classics and frequently revived on television. However, COLLEGE RHYTHM, while not a sequel to Paramount's previous rah-rah production, COLLEGE HUMOR (1933), it does have Jack Oakie making a return engagement playing an over-aged but slightly overweight alumni, with Lanny Ross stepping in for Bing Crosby in the vocalizing department.

COLLEGE RHYTHM begins predictably with a college football game taking place with the score of 6-0. Francis J. "Love 'n Kisses" Finnigan (Jack Oakie), an All-American halfback, is about to kick his field goal, but is superstitious. He doesn't want to do it without his mascot, Joe (Joe Penner), because his team has never won a game without him. Aside from football, Finnigan's other goal is women, particularly June Cort (Mary Brian), who happens to be engaged to his roommate, Larry Stacey, affectionately called "Piccolo Pete" (Lanny Ross) because he plays the piccolo in the band and sings in the glee club. Finnigan and Stacey are roommates, rival roommates for that matter, but they are complete opposites. Finnigan is outgoing who not only loves himself too much but enjoys playing practical jokes, especially on Stacey, who is sort of "square" who not only sings, but falls victim to Finnigan's jokes, and quips in his droll manner of, "very funny." In spite of their differences, Stacey knows that Finnigan's fame will not last forever, and offers him a job in his father's department store after graduation, which Finnigan laughs off and declines. The next scene finds the once popular Finnigan a homeless tramp, sharing the camp-side with other bums. He soon thinks about the offer and accepts the job at Stacey's Department Store in Los Angeles. Once there, Finnigan takes charge into changing things around for the better as Stacey's Department Store competes against it rival competition, Whipple's Emporium. Aside from singing and dancing department store employees staging shows to promote its products, the story later returns to where it started, with a football game as the rival department stores try and prove one superiority over the other.

The musical program, with music and lyrics by Harry Revel and Mack Gordon include: "We're Here to Stay" (sung by chorus during opening credits); "Stay As Sweet As You Are" (sung by Lanny Ross); "That's College Rhythm" (sung by Lyda Roberti, Jack Oakie and participated by Joe Penner at the closing); "Three Cheers for Love," "Three Cheers for Love" (reprise, both sung by Lanny Ross); "Goo-Goo" (sung by Joe Penner) and "Take a Number From One to Ten" (sung by Lyda Roberti).

In the supporting cast are Helen Mack (co-star of THE SON OF KONG (1933)as Gloria Dayham; George Barbier as J.P. Stacey; Robert McWade as Herman Whipple; Franklin Pangborn as Peabody, the Stacey Department Store floorwalker; Bradley Metcalfe as the bratty boy, Sonny Whipple; and future Academy Award winner and TV actor, Dean Jagger, as a football coach. Look quickly for future film stars Ann Sheridan and Dennis O'Keefe in brief bits.

Lanny Ross has a pleasing singing voice, but never rose above the popularity of Bing Crosby. He does sing a good tune, "Stay as Sweet as You Are," with reciting lyrics as, "Night and day I pray, that you'll only stay, as sweet as you are." His second solo number, "Three Cheers for Love" is sung twice, first in its entirety, and secondly heard in background as Oakie converses with Helen Mack. Also given two song numbers to sing is the "hot and ready" Lyda Roberti, and like Ethel Merman, this blonde Polish bombshell's voice carries from one side of the room to another. The first, "That's College Rhythm" is performed in the department store. Her second, "Take a Number From One to Ten" is takes place in the grand stand prior to the big football game. This production number is well produced and memorable, with the co-eds dressed in black and white dancing, doing and spelling out formations like a Busby Berkeley number, but this time, the choreography is directed by Leroy Prinz. And let's not forget Joe Penner preferring to sing his signature title song, "Goo-Goo," to his duck ("Lover come quack to me") instead of to Mimi (Lyda Roberti). At one point, in order to please her, he changes the song's title from Goo-Goo to Mimi, but as he's singing to her, he forgets himself by keeping the same lyric about her rosy beek (instead of her cheek), which causes Joe to get pushed into the lake, splashing water over Goo-Goo.

For all its worth, COLLEGE RHYTHM is a fine little musical programmer. Sadly this is an overlooked item. To date, not even respected movie critic Leonard Maltin has given this a review in his annual "Movies and Video Guide Book", although COLLEGE HUMOR (1933), COLLEGE HOLIDAY (1936) and COLLEGE SWING (1938) do get printed space availability. One thing all three COLLEGE movies from Paramount have that COLLEGE RHYTHM doesn't, and that's the support of the husband and wife comedy team of Burns and Allen. But COLLEGE RHYTHM does stands on its own merits. It may not win any scholarships or awards for best college musical of the 1930s, but it does pass the time for good old-fashioned entertainment. (**1/2)

... or at least it starts out that way. Jack Oakie is the All-American football hero at a college where his mousey rival (Lanny Ross) plays in the band. They're both nuts for blonde Mary Brian (who looks great). The team mascot is Joe Penner (in his feature film debut) and his duck.

After graduation, Ross goes to work in daddy's big department store where mousey secretary Helen Mack is nuts for him. Along comes down-and-out Oakie looking for a job and is hired. He comes up with the idea of rival department stores having football teams, and we're right back where we started. Store employee Lyda Roberti takes a shine to Penner and leads an impressive production number "Take a Number from One to Ten," but the film's big song, "Stay as Sweet as You Are" is sung by Ross.

It has its moments. Penner utters the immortal words "wanna buy a duck?" If you look fast you can spot Jane Wyman in the chorus and Ann Sheridan as a sales girl.

College Rhythm was one of the best examples of a Thirties college musical where knowledge acquired and reasoning skills sharpened was about the last thing on everyone's mind. First and foremost was football and Jack Oakie picks up from his role in College Humor, also for Paramount as the blowhard All American football player.

He's got a running feud with the studious Lanny Ross who is the son of a rich department store owner George Barbier. Ross and Oakie are also rivals for campus queen Mary Brian.

Ross says in no uncertain terms that while Oakie maybe the big man on campus now when he gets in the real world he's going to have problems. And at first Oakie does, but when he goes to work for Barbier, Barbier is enthralled by Oakie's celebrity status and starts favoring Oakie over his kid. This all is upsetting to salesgirl Helen Mack who really likes Lanny, but he can't see her for Brian.

One of Oakie's ideas is for the store to sponsor a football team and Barbier whose family name in the film is Stacy thinks its grand. Of course rival department store owner Whimple played by Robert McWade then has to get his football team.

Pro football was not what it has become back in the Depression days. Still I can't see Knute Rockne's Four Horseman or Red Grange ever selling themselves to teams sponsored by Stacy and Whimple.

Lyda Roberti has a couple of numbers as the head cheerleader for Stacy's football team and their mascot is radio comedian Joe Penner. His style is the equivalent of a combination of Harry Langdon and Lou Costello. As his radio catch phrase was 'Wanna buy a duck' he gets a pet duck to tote around the entire film. Penner also sings a love song to his pet which is ludicrous, especially since Lyda Roberti is interested in him. Both these performers died way too young within 8 years of the release of College Rhythm.

One of the best songwriting teams of the Thirties wrote the score for College Rhythm. Harry Revel and Mack Gordon first wrote for Paramount including some Bing Crosby films besides this and then later moved to 20th Century Fox where they wrote nearly all of Alice Faye's movie songs for about five years. Here they gave Lanny Ross his signature song, Stay As Sweet As You Are and they also wrote Take A Number From One To Ten and the title song for Lyda Roberti in this film. I'd hate to have you think their talents ended with Joe Penner's song, GooGoo I'm Gaga over you. GooGoo was the name of Penner's duck.

Lanny Ross had a great baritone voice and had a great career on radio where he did not have to face the public. Ross was a male version of Jean Arthur who was also terrified of audiences. But as Ross was a singer, radio proved to be a godsend for him. He did a few films and his best known besides College Rhythm was that he was the voice of Gulliver in the Fleischer Studios animated Gulliver's Travels.

College Rhythm is a film planted firmly in the Thirties, that kind of film I can truly say will not be made again. But it's a delightful bit of nonsense and holds up pretty good.

I sure wish I could find a copy of this movie. As a 6 or 7 year old my grandmother took me to see this film, the first movie I had ever seen. We went to the Saturday morning Matinee and I was so enhanced I made her sit through 3 or 4 showings. I'll never forget Joe Penner and his "wana buy a duck?". As I remember now, the movie its self wasn't very good. But I sure loved it!!