It's a Great Life

Rosetta and Vivian Duncan have always done things together. When Rosetta gets fired for being a little free in her vocabulary, Vivian quits. Fortunately, agent Benny Rubin has seen their act at the company show. Along with Lawrence Grey at the piano, they are a hit in vaudeville. But Rosetta thinks it's all them, so Grey gets downgraded... until Vivian marries him. That breaks up the act, and neither is particularly good without the other.

The Duncan Sisters had commitments that made them unavailable for THE BROADWAY MELODY, so MGM made this diagetic musical for them You can see what made them a starring pair in live performances in their performance of "I'm Following You". There are also a couple of two-strip Technicolor sequences for the big production numbers. They definitely were crowd pleasers, but given the advances made in movie musicals over the years, they haven't aged particularly. Even so, it's a decent if unremarkable movie, and excellent for 1929. With Jed Prouty, Oscar Apfel and, I am told, Ann Dvorak in the chorus.

IT'S A GREAT LIFE is a one-of-a-kind comedy-musical-melodrama starring the legendary The Duncan Sisters, one of the few vaudeville headlining acts to be given a chance at major film stardom. MGM appears to have spared no expense at attempting to showcase the Duncans to best advantage and while the end result unfortunately did not result in screen stardom for the gals (the Duncans never again appeared in a feature film although they would make a musical two-reeler and several appearances as themselves in short films over the next decade) they are utterly charming though surely more than a little eccentric to modern viewers.

Sisters Casey (Rosetta Duncan) and Babe Hogan (Vivian Duncan) work at a major department store. Babe is sweet on the store's pianist for the sheet music department, James Dean (!!!) (played by Lawrence Gray). For reasons never quite clear, Casey hates him with a passion and constantly makes him the butt of her humor. Ill-humored Casey is a sarcastic cutup and ultimately her mockery of the store's "theme song" during a store musical production ends up getting all of the trio fired. Fortunately, a pal of Jimmy's, a talent agent, has seen the act and launches them on a successful career as vaudeville performers but the fighting between Casey and Jimmy only escalates and when Babe and Casey sneak off and get married, an infuriated Casey breaks up the act leading all of them down the path of failure.

Rosetta Duncan is a riot as the sassy older sister, she's a fantastic comedienne and her mocking, disrespectful humor seems astonishingly contemporary today even while the movie itself creaks like many early talkies. She also is a delight with a comic song. The talents of the (considerably) prettier Vivian Duncan are more modest although she is an endearing presence and sings lovely harmony with her sister. The sisters, both into their thirties at the time, are quite effective as their "little girl" personas in several song numbers as they no doubt were even more so on the stage at the time.

The movie seems a bit long with it's slender plot and small speaking cast and the turn toward melodrama was at least for modern audiences was a mistake, but the movie has still has much to recommend it with it's vivid glimpse at 1920's New York, a "flapper" fashion show, appealing two-strip Technicolor sequences, quite good songs and numbers and above all the two and only Duncan Sisters. As Babe Hogan would put it, this movie is quite "sweet".

What a treat! Early talkie musical starring Broadway and Vaudeville stars, the Duncan Sisters. They sang, danced, and did comedy. This film is sort of a knock-off of THE Broadway MELODY. The Duncan Sisters were wanted for that film but were on the road, so the producers copied them in hiring Bessie Love and Anita Page. Later that year MGM snagged the Duncan Sisters for this film.

They play sisters who work in a department store along with handsome Jimmy (Lawrence Gray). When smart-alec Casey (Rosetta Duncan) gets fired, they all quit and launch a career in "the show business." Jimmy is sweet on Babe (Vivian Duncan) which infuriates Casey.

Anyway, they form an act built around Jimmy's songs. He plays piano while the girls sing and dance. They are a hit, but there is constant friction between Casey and Jimmy. The couple gets married and Casey goes berserk, breaking up the act. Casey goes solo, while the couple tries to make it alone. They all flop. Some time after, Babe gets really sick and Jimmy is forced to track down Casey and bring her back home.

While the plot is creaky and the acting is not always very good, the musical numbers are vintage gold. "I'm Following You," which was a big hit, is sung several times. There is also a great comic version of "Tell Me Pretty Maiden," which was the theme song of FLORODORA GIRL, the terrific Marion Davies film which also starred Lawrence Gray. "The Hoosier Hop" is also solid and done in 2-strip Technicolor. Another color sequence is a fashion parade that goes comically wrong.

Gray is charming and handsome and it's hard to figure why he wasn't a bigger success in talkies. He also has a great singing voice. Benny Rubin and Jed Prouty co-star.

Of the sisters: Rosetta is the shorter one and the broad comic. She kept reminding me of Patsy Kelly and Beryl Mercer. Vivian was "the pretty one" and has an OK soprano voice. They duet on several songs and are quite effective. They both are passable dancers and comics. They were big stage stars but didn't do all that well in films. Their only other feature together was TOPSY AND EVA, based on their smash hit stage musical. They also did a few shorts.

I liked them and thought they were both talented and personable. Maybe they could have found a niche in films. Rosetta was on the verge of a comeback on TV (WILD BILL HICKCOK) when she was killed in a car accident. Vivian apparently retired and lived to be 90.

IT'S A GREAT LIFE is creaky and stagy but what a treat to see these big stars on film.

A sister act finds IT'S A GREAT LIFE in show business as long as they can stick together.

MGM crafted this confection as a showcase for the talents of the Duncan Sisters, of Vaudeville & Broadway fame, and as such it's an interesting relic of its era. The sound quality is remarkably good, considering its age, one of the songs is quite good, and the antique color, which highlights a couple of stage sequences, is very pleasing to the eye. As a vehicle for screen stardom, however, the film proved a disappointment. The Sisters' movie career was over almost before if could get started.

Rosetta (1900-1959) and Vivian (1902-1986) do quite well as siblings who rise from performing in retail follies to the Vaudeville stage. Vivian, the pretty one, gets most of the film's few romantic moments, but Rosetta, who was an true clown able to do hilarious things with her face & body, steals the picture. When allowed to be silly she is enormous fun to watch. The script, unfortunately, keeps her character in a bad temper for much of the time, eventually wearying the viewer with her interminable fuming. She's so much more enjoyable when in a jolly mood, especially when teamed with sister Vivian. Their lovely duet, "I'm Following You," is a genuine heartwarmer.

Lawrence Gray, who had made a name for himself in comic Silent film roles, makes the most of his somewhat thankless part as the piano player who captures Vivian's heart. Jed Prouty, as the department store manager who quietly loves Rosetta, and Benny Rubin, playing a Vaudeville booking agent, both do well with their small roles.

The opening scene, with the Sisters madly dashing down the street to work, hotly pursued by a cop and a mob of excited New Yorkers, is one of the movie's best and gets the proceedings off to a frenzied start.

Unfortunately, Alexander Gray is not half as engaging in Sam Wood's "It's a Great Life" as he was in "Sally" (1929) in which he romanced Marilyn Miller. Here he is paired with Vivian, the prettier (if less talented) of the Duncan Sisters who turn out to be comedians rather than the single-minded, full-throated singers I always imagined. Rosetta is the real clown of the act, Vivian the straight "guy" who also sings a little. While Gray struggles with his role as Vivian's love interest, Rosetta's romantic partner turns out to be Jed Prouty, who is surprisingly effective, considering he made no less than seven other movie appearances in 1929, including his most well-known role as the stuttering uncle in "Broadway Melody". There are also some effective cameos from the crowds of extras. The first half of the movie is an unalloyed delight. Director Sam Wood certainly gets things off to a really great start. In fact, I nominate it as the best ever opening sequence for a musical. Better still, this M-G-M production, I'm very happy to say, still has its two Technicolor sequences intact (even in the first is printed a little too dark and the second a little too light in the current DVD).