danny52

I love Turner Classic Movies for programming old, less-than-classic movies like this nearly forgotten 1933 Warner Bros. chestnut. While channel surfing, I came across this one and was drawn in by the charming, natural performances of Loretta Young, Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and the children. I won't rehash the plot because it's been done in other reviews. It's astonishing to see the familiar faces, sometimes unbilled, playing supporting roles in this one. I instantly recognized Aline MacMahon, Lyle Talbot, Edward Arnold, Guy Kibbee (excellent) and child stars Mickey Rooney, Anne Shirley and Allen "Farina" Hoskins. And then there's John Wayne in an early non-Western role as a boxer. Rooney and Hoskins were veterans by this time, effortless scene stealers who could wring tears as easily as laughs. I wasn't familiar with child actor David Durand and he's quietly charming as a crippled boy. It's amazing how satisfying a simple, beautifully-crafted movie made for pennies compared to today's CGI-laden millon-dollar blockbusters can be. I'm just grateful that the programmers at TCM refuse to allow little treasures like "The Life of Jimmy Dolan" to gather dust in a can on a vault shelf. And this was just one movie in a day filled with other early Thirties treasures from the Hollywood assembly line. Long live TCM!

They say that the best comics sometimes make the best dramatic actors. Some of Chaplin's best moments on screen were poignant, not slapstick. The same can be said for Red Skelton, Jimmy Durante, Jackie Gleason and in this film, the wonderful Martha Raye. Playing the role of once-great big band singer/movie star Georgia O'Hanlon, Raye breaks your heart as she gets ripped off and verbally abused by the likes of Bobby Sherman as a bratty pop star and Robert Vaughn as an evil manager. A 23-year-old Kim Cattrall (looking light years away from sexy Samantha from "Sex and the City") plays a new Tinseltown gossip columnist who is trying to help O'Hanlon expose the crooks. The producers apparently decided to drag whoever was working on the lot to pop up in cameo roles--Jim and Hennie Backus, Betty White, Rip Taylor, Jack Carter, Steve Allen, Jayne Meadows--as well as an all-star cast in bit parts, including Dick Sargent, Lyle Waggoner, and Richard Deacon. Joe Penny plays Cattrall's love interest and legendary 1930s movie star Sylvia Sidney is wonderful as a washed up Hedda Hopper-type gossip columnist from the early days of Hollywood. Raye even gets to sing, "Angel Eyes," and clips from "Never Say Die," a movie she made with Bob Hope in 1939 are playing on a TV in O'Hanlon's dressing room. Martha Raye should have received an Emmy nomination for her performance in the most-challenging role she was ever given.