Mr. Dodd Takes the Air

Small town electrician Claude L. Dodd (Kenny Baker) sings at the local strawberry festival. He impresses the Mattress Company's owner who hires him to sing in New York City on a radio broadcast sponsored by the company. His friend 'Sniffer' Sears (Frank McHugh) quickly declares himself as Claude's manager and joins him on the trip.

Kenny Baker was a radio favorite at the time although he will never be mine. His style is definitely old fashion crooning. It's not bad, but it's not for me. It did get nominated for best original song. Again, I wouldn't have done it. Otherwise, this is a minor comedy with minor chuckles. It's all very minor and not for me.

I had never heard of Kenny Baker till this turned up. He certainly could sing but not in a way that appeals to me. He's likable as the hick who becomes a star. Gertrude Michael is excellent as the gold-digger who tries to get his money. Jane Wyman is sweet as the girl who truly cares for him.

But Alice Brady is a scream as a diva. She's an opera singer -- who dubbed her singing voice?? -- and a very grand lady. She presages Mary Boland's classic performance as the Countess in "The Women." There's no reason not to like this harmless movie. And Brady elevates it to having a reason to like it very much indeed.

Popular radio tenor Kenny Baker plays a naive country bumpkin who gets a chance to sing on radio and becomes a big hit, while falling for the station's secretary, Jane Wyman. I enjoyed Baker's singing of the five songs in the movie (one as a baritone that was undoubtedly dubbed), but the plot is so thin the writers introduce a subplot, which has him the inventor of a gadget that makes a $19 radio sound like a $500 one. Naturally, there's a villain (John Eldredge) who wants to steal it, and a gold digger(Gertrude Michael), who loves Baker's $1000 per week salary, helping the villain. Baker's manager, Frank McHugh, is there for comedy, while Alice Brady shows up as a famous but ditsy egotistical opera singer, a role some people may enjoy but I found totally superfluous. Michael pits herself against Wyman, who patented the gadget in her name to protect Baker, and he is so disillusioned about it all, he fakes losing his voice to return to his home town of Pewamo to work as an electrician, leaving his device and everyone back in New York. But they haven't forgotten about him.

Hayseed electrician Kenny Baker becomes a radio crooning sensation in New York, has women trouble.

This looks like it was intended for a Dick Powell vehicle as a singing Stu Erwin, which he turned down, and good for him. Alfred Green doesn't take any of it seriously, so hackneyed are the plot elements; as a result, it's a snickering movie from beginning to end. Alice Brady gets an over-the-top role as an opera diva, Warner Brothers' regulars show up: Frank McHugh as Baker's pal, a brunette Jane Wyman as the girl he loves, and so forth. The result is fun, but slight. Harry Warren and Al Dubin got an Oscar nomination for one of their songs.

None of the shenanigans in MR. DODD TAKES THE AIR ring true due to a weak script of Hollywood clichés prevalent in many of the '30s films, and the fact that KENNY BAKER, while possessing a fine tenor voice, has very little charisma for a man who has to carry most of the film. True, he's likable enough, but his acting leaves a lot to be desired. He would be featured in a few more films in the '30s and '40s, but never had a breakthrough role.

JANE WYMAN, who gets fifth billing when she has a major part in the story, is pert and vivacious as the secretary who takes an immediate interest in Baker and wants to help his career. GERTRUDE MICHAELS is "the other woman," a conniving socialite who wants to steal a device Baker has invented for improving radio's sound quality.

ALICE BRADY has an inconsequential role late in the film, as an egotistical opera singer and seems out of place in an overplayed role.

It's a minor item, an entirely forgettable film that is only worthwhile for hearing Baker sing a few songs in his own crooner style.