The Sap from Syracuse

A lot of people aboard a cruise ship heading to Europe from America want to find on-board passenger Jack Oakie (Mr Looney). It's a tale of mistaken identity and can get a little complicated to follow and also a little dull.

The standout comedic moments don't come from Jack Oakie but they are meant to. The funniest moments come from Granville Bates (Nycross) and Sidney Riggs (Pangolos) wandering around the ship asking who the hell has a name like 'Mr Looney'. The film drags a little and is more interesting as a time capsule where we can compare the cruise ship dining rooms of yesteryear and conclude that they were more classy in olden times.

I viewed a battered copy of this movie, taken from an old MCA-TV 16mm print. While it only contains one song, "How I Wish I Could Learn To Say I Love You", it still is fun to watch due to the intrigue of the on screen villains and their attempts to take over Ellen Saunders company. The half-wittedness of Littleton Looney fits Jack Oakie's acting style to a tea, thus his portrayal of an earth mover operator whom everyone thinks an engineer is believable.

Ginger Rogers is very young here and looks quite different than in her RKO or WB pictures. While not a sexy vixen here, her impish cuteness in this and 'Queen High' can be quite charming. This is her first starring role in a full length feature. Her first full length feature as a supporting actress is 'Young Man of Manhattan', in which she plays a marriage wrecking teenage flapper named Puff. This is worth seeking out as well.

Anybody viewing this film is likely to be watching a copy of a decrepit old copy from UCLA, crumbling nitrate and all. The old 2 reel change in the middle shows different quality of the media, typical of film which has been imperfectly stored for generations.

As a result, Rogers' voice - and all the actors' voices - sounds thin and reedy. This was more from the poor quality of the reel than from her actual voice, which she had already been using on vaudeville and Broadway stages for about six years by the time this was filmed and which as a result was capable of filling a hall with a full and powerful sound. That quality seems missing from the pretty atrocious copy available to us.

The plot seems dated today, but after all, it's a 90 year old film. That said, the plot is well developed and humorous. If this had been given the high quality production values of her later films, with great cinematography and direction and splendid supporting casts like she had later - Blore and Horton and Alice Brady - this story could have been polished and used for an Astaire-Rogers film.

Given the poor state of the media, listening carefully is necessary to fully understand the story.

Oakie was a couple years ahead of Rogers in moving into film, and had made a half dozen 'talkies' by the time of 'Sap'. He's able to hold his own with an 18 year old Rogers; by the time she was in high quality films like 'Flying Down to Rio' or 'Gay Divorcee' her star power and assurance would have overwhelmed Jack, who became a very fine supporting actor.

Is this a great film no. But to watch the career of Ginger Rogers as it first takes flight, this one is an absolute essential.

Jack Oakie is a construction worker from midstate New York who inherits some money and decides to take a first-class voyage to Europe. His pals send telegrams and gifts that convince everyone on board he is actually a bigwig engineer. When brunette Ginger Rogers meets him, she thinks him the answer to her problem. She is convinced her guardian, Granville Bates, has stopped work on her mine in Macedonia so he can swindle her out of it. It takes the love-struck Oakie most of the movie to figure out why everyone keeps wanting to ask him engineering questions.

Because it's only Rogers' second feature, she's basically in starlet mode, speaking (and singing in her duet with Oakie) in a baby-doll voice. Oakie is only slightly blustery in this movie. He's more of a light comedian here, and pleasant enough, but the movie, while amusing, never rises out of programmer status. Still, the leads, as well as support George Barbier and Greek Chorus Betty Starbuck and Verree Teasdale keep things moving along.

Jack Oakie stars as a guy named, believe it or not, 'Littleton Looney'!! Looney is a working man who suddenly learns he's inherited $18,000 (a tidy slum back in 1930) and with it, he's taking a cruise to Paris. His friends want to give him a nice sendoff, so they send all sorts of telegrams trying to make Looney look like a real big shot. It works very well, as soon folks on the boat think he's a man of high finance...not just a lucky working stiff! Along the way, he meets up with a lovely lady who is in dire straits...she owns a mine and the manager of the mine is doing everything he can to ruin her! In desperation and trusting no one, she asks Looney for assistance. What's next?

In many ways, this movie actually reminds me of the 1980 film "Being There". This is because no matter what the leading man does, those around him assume he's brilliant and talking metaphorically. But he's basically a simple guy with simple pretensions.

One reason to watch this one is not whether the film is any good or not. Instead, it's a chance to see Ginger Rogers in a very early role before she got a HUGE makeover. Instead of her usual blonde hair and polish, she's dark haired and her voice isn't quite what you'd expect. It really is amazing how different she is...almost as dramatic a makeover as Ida Lupino's just a few years later.

So is the story any good? Yes. It's a nice little slice of life movie and the characters are likable and the story holds up well. My only complaint is not the fault of the filmmakers...and that the sound quality of the YouTube print I found was very poor.