Sitting on the Moon

This unfortunately is a dull musical set on the Republic Lot and made in 1936, that studio's second year of operation. It was produced by Nat Levine who from 1927-35 owned his own studio called Mascot Pictures. He was a very successful producer of serials and had been merged against his will with Monogram Pictures to form Republic Pictures. Everyone owed despotic Herbert J Yates money and he owned the film processing factory they all used: Consolidated film laboratories...so he foreclosed on the most successful small studios and got their expertise, libraries and crews. In this merger, Yates made Levine head of production at Republic. This film is one of their earliest collaborations. But it is boring. Impressively lavish and I suspect made on a fairly good budget for a B+ movie, it has two good songs, a lot of ugly people. some swing music attempts...but it is all old fashioned and ...well, boring. Levine left Republic when Yates offered him $1,000,000 for his share in the business. Within a year Levine blew it all at the racetrack and was broke. I wish Scorscese could make this story in the same way he covered Hughes in The AVIATOR. Levine was only 38 when he was washed up. He managed a cinema after that and died in the 80s. Incredible. Yates paid himself a million dollars each year for 25 years for running Republic. $20,000 a week in the 30s and 40s! Anyway, SITTING ON THE MOON is interesting only for some background Republic Studio locations and a lot of great art deco furniture. That's it. There's a great joke in that title, but I won't go there. ahem...

Good little 'B' musical with some pluses going for it, mainly Grace Bradley. Vivacious and very pretty, she brightens every scene she appears in. And she can sing, in addition to her other assets. Had never heard of this picture before, and as someone noted, it was most likely the bottom half of a double feature.

"Sitting On The Moon" just goes to show you; you never can tell where or when a good movie will pop up - even tiny Republic Studios could ring the bell once in a while. I especially liked the closing number, "Lost in My Dreams", a song never heard nowadays.

When I looked at the main credits for this movie, I didn't expect much. Nat Levine producing for Republic? Ralph Staub directing? I certainly didn't expect this movie about mediocre songwriter Roger Pryor and washed-up star Grace Bradley falling in love and inspiring each other to success to be more than a cheap programmer, especially when the main supports are William Newell and the annoying Pert Kelton; it's not until I delved further into the cast list that I spotted Henry Kolker as a radio sponsor and Joyce Compton as the wife Pryor married on a toot in Tijuana that I saw anything to hope for.

Yet this cheaply done, cynical romantic comedy matches its subject so well, and Pryor and Bradley speak what would all too often be gushy lines simply, offers a good deal of charm to this this 53-minute B movie. Their characters' decency overcomes a few plot holes and a couple of decent songs fit the picture very well. While it's by no means a classic, it is an extremely engaging little flick.

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!

"Sitting on the Moon" is a pretty good B-movie, so don't believe the notion that Bs were bad. They weren't...they were just intended as an inexpensive second film at a double-feature.

Danny West (Roger Pryor) is a successful songwriter, though he isn't exactly disciplined. However, when he sees that Polly Blair (Grace Bradley) is out of work, he cleans himself up and helps her on her feet. You see, Polly had been a big movie star but had fallen on hard times...and he's determined to help her. And, help her he does. But in the meantime, Danny gets himself into hot water and it's time for Polly to return the favor.

"Sitting on the Moon" is a solid and enjoyable film. The title refers to a song Danny wrote for Polly and the acting and writing are very nice. In addition, look for Pert Kelton as Polly's friend. Pert was the original Alice from "The Honeymooners"...before Audrey Meadows.