Rhythm in the Clouds

This tedious 'musical' from 1937 was clearly an A grade Republic production maybe hoping to tag along on the bottom half of a double bill with a smart A grade film from MGM or Paramount. Very well produced with lavish and well furnished big sets and some style RHYTHM IN THE CLOUDS is basically a company calling card or showreel of Republic's 'expertise'... but...someone forgot to create something for the audience to enjoy. Screenplay by Nathaniel West (Of Day Of The Locust fame...he also later adapted Let's Make Music for RKO) who must have used a blunt pencil for this one. An A grade film out of Republic was a B+ for RKO or Columbia which might indicate the level of expertise on show. Basically it is about a dishonest female music arranger sneaks into the apartment of a vacationing composer and creates the impression they are collaborating. Her music with his name on it too. It becomes a hit and makes the radio. He returns: "screwball situations" . It just isn't very interesting. A no-star cast who might have been Boston stage actors recently and a forgettable music score makes this film dull. If you want to some ambitious production imagery and set design and camera work etc hard at work at Republic in their early days of 1937 here it is. A 30s production curio only. Amusingly, it is what Grand National or later in 1937, Monogram was striving for.

Patricia Ellis is a music writer who is broke and thrown out of her apartment. She goes to visit successful composer Robert Paige, but he's away. So she moves in and begins a banging-on-the-wall feud with her next-door neighbor, Warren Hull. Listing Paige as a collaborator, she gets her music sold to to advertising executive Richard Carle for face-powder magnate Zeffie Tilbury, hiring Hull -- who's a successful lyricist -- to write words for her music. Things are going along well, if confusingly, when just before the premiere of their collaborations, Paige returns.

If it sounds like it could be a comedy or turn into a Nathaniel West tragedy, that's because West was one of the writers of this movie. His great ambition in life was to be a member of literary salons, but he actually had to write to do that, and his publishers went out of business or sold only five hundred copies of a novel, so he went into the movie-writing racket. By the time he killed himself and his wife by running a red light on his way to F. Scott Fitzgerald's funeral, he had written or doctored 14 screenplays.

This Republic musical is directed rather lugubriously by John Auer. The one bright spot is William Newell, who turns every sentence into a tongue-twister. Otherwise, it's standard fare.

Cute little screwball comedy. Sure, it's not going to set funny bones on-fire, but the Republic programmer shows what a no-name cast and a cleverly nutty script can do for cheap entertainment. So can desperate Judy Walker (Ellis) manage a musical career by hammering on neighbor's walls, insulting her musical soul-mate, and pretending all sorts of screwball things-- stay tuned! Anyway, B-movie director Aurer keeps things moving and the humor in focus, showing again that even Hollywood no-names can deliver when proper elements converge. So give the little flick a try, even for a not-so-slow evening.

You can find this miserable waste of celluloid in those bargain basement 20 movies for $6 type of sets. Some of those films are really good! But not this one.

If you purchase one of those sets, please skip over this movie. If I can save one person from wasting 53 minutes of their life, this posting will be worth it.

Where o where did republic come up with this poor excuse for a cast? There are no obscure names here, obscure suggesting they were once well known. No has-beens, suggesting actors once had a decent career. The best thing I can say about the leads is that they looked pretty good. I can't comment on the acting since there wasn't any acting. There was some over acting from that annoying second rate Allen Jenkins type character - so incredibly unfunny. The leads were just a waist of space - and they couldn't sing either - and this was a musical. In fact, not one of them could even so much as carry a tune. I really hated the male lead's voice which was just a lot of bad vibrato.

There was only a couple of songs. None of them good.

So we are down to a bad attempt at comedy (writing and acting), terrible music, non existent direction, and putrid acting. Did I mention the horrid attempt at comedy yet? No charm, no fun, no nothing.

Other than that, it was great.

Shame on you, Republic Pictures. Stay out of the musical business.

Do not watch this film.

Not a bad way to spend 53 minutes staring at beautiful people, glamorous gowns and well designed sets, accompanied by lilting tunes. The story isn't too bad, even though the dialog tends to rely too heavily on comedy even when nothing is ready at hand. Patricia Ellis is so-so - rather pretty yet not as glamorous as several other leading B-ladies of the thirties, and a bit too temperate for a screwball comedy. As she only joins in shortly for the last song, it's hard to say anything about her voice. Warren Hull is a good-looking and sexy hunk with very good voice, but there appears to be no sparks flying between the two. Nevertheless, the film flies by very quickly (at 53 minutes - as presented in Classic Musicals 50 movie pack - it should) and keeps your attention well in grasp. Quite enjoyable, even though there is very little actual rhythm and almost no clouds to be seen.