Wake Up and Live

Three decades after first seeing a poster of this movie in the encyclopedic book about movie comedians-"The Funsters"-in the bio of Patsy Kelly, and a few years ago after I found out this particular film was on YouTube, I finally got to watch Wake Up and Live. The main reason I just watched this was because since this is Black History Month and one of the players in this picture was Eddie Anderson, who by the time this was released had just been cast on radio in "The Jack Benny Program" as Rochester, well, since I usually go chronological in reviewing African-Americans in film during this month, this was next on my 1937 list. Anyway, Anderson appears in two scenes, both on an elevator since he works at one. In his second scene, Eddie tells leading man Jack Haley about an important radio star who wants to see him, first mentioning Fred Allen before segueing to "Jack Bernie" and then to Ben Bernie who's the one looking for Jack. The story itself concerns Haley's mic fright (illustrated by a cartoonish effect of that gadget becoming a demon in front of his eyes) and his attempts to overcome it while practicing in front of a "phony" one for Alice Faye. I'll just now say there are plenty of good songs, a couple of good tap routines by some brothers, some witty lines, a funny dance from Joan Davis, and good supporting turns by Ms. Kelly, Ned Sparks, William Demarest, Walter Catlett, fine numbers by bandleader Ben Bernie, and a good performance by newspaper columnist Walter Winchell as he and Bernie play up their off-screen "feud"! So on that note, I recommend Wake Up and Live.

Another classic motion picture that has never been available on video and another shame for eager classic movie fans. This 90 minute musical has everything you could ever hope for from a film. Great songs, dancing, comedy, drama, suspense and Alice Faye! The "feud' between Ben Bernie and Walter Winchell (as real as the "feud" of Jack Benny and Fred Allen) inspired this film which takes place during the great days of live radio.

Bernie and Winchell are the main attractions here but Jack Haley, Alice Faye, Patsy Kelly and Ned Sparks are the real stars of this picture. With the fine backing of Fox, this film was one in the long series of musicals featuring Faye and a stellar supporting cast. It is in this film that she introduces the standard classic song, "There's A Lull In My Life".

Jack Haley is featured as a singer who suffers from mike fright. Actually, Haley's wonderful singing voice is dubbed in this film by Buddy Clark! For trivia fans, Haley refers to this role in his next picture, "Rebecca Of Sunnybrook Farm", when he lets a young girl who is afraid of microphones know that he was once afraid of them too.

The film is a timepiece of an era long gone. If you ever get the chance to see this great film with all of its wonderful songs, "It's Swell Of You","Wake Up And Live" and, "Never In A Million Years", you won't be mislead.

Fox musicals are often weighed down by leaden screenplays, dull camera-work, irrelevant specialty acts, and personalities with not that much personality. Some of those traits are evident in this musical-comedy piffle about the Walter Winchell-Ben Bernie feud, but there are compensating pleasures. High among them is Alice Faye warbling good Gordon-Revel songs such as "There's a Lull in My Life" (a surprisingly boring arrangement of it, though, and she's unflatteringly gowned); also, a genuinely funny second couple in Patsy Kelly and Ned Sparks; also, a specialty dance by Joan Davis. Jack Haley's an adequate leading man, though not a particularly charismatic one, and, since the plot turns on his golden voice, his songs are dubbed by Buddy Clark. (Haley could sing, but not well enough to be a "phantom troubadour.") It's brisk and reasonably comical, the musical numbers are fine, and the production bloat that hobbled so many Fox musicals over the next decade is nowhere evident.

Good, Old-fashioned musical of the kind no longer made in Hollywood - partly because musicals went out of style and partly because of the antiquated subject matter. In this case, you have to be of a certain age to appreciate the storyline. It concerns a made-up feud between two old-time names, Ben Bernie who was a band leader, and newspaper columnist Walter Winchell. The feud was carried on mainly on radio and in newspapers.

Have I lost you yet? If so, you're probably too young to remember any of the stars or the songs. Alice Faye was as famous as she was pretty, but Jack Haley had yet to achieve immortality as the Tinman in 'The Wizard Of Oz". Patsy Kelly had a long career as an abrasive comedienne in many movies and Joan Davis had yet to hit it big in television. And radio was the main medium in those days - no TV or DVDs or internet or any related device.

Us old-timers can appreciate, but you young folks who are movie archaeologists will find plenty to like here, including several good songs which were popular a long time ago, like "Never In A Million Years" and "There's A Lull In My Life", and the dubbed voice of Buddy Clark, a Golden Age singer. If you can find this picture, watch it - as far as I know it hasn't been released in any format yet.

Cute 20th Century Fox film, very typical for them in the '30s, starring Alice Faye, Jack Haley, Ned Sparks, Walter Winchell, Ben Bernie, and Patsy Kelly.

Eddie Kane and Jean Roberts (Haley and Grace Bradley) are vaudevillians who come to New York to make it. Eddie's sister (Kelly) works for Walter Winchell. They are mentioned in Winchell's column and receive offers; sadly, Eddie can't sing in front of a live mike. Jean gets another job and Eddie works as a tour guide at the station.

In an effort to overcome his fear, he seeks out the star of the "Wake Up and Live" radio show, Alice Huntley (Faye) to help him.

One day, while working, Eddie comes across a microphone. Thinking it's dead, he sings "Never in a Million Years," which Ben Bernie's band is playing. He's heard over the mike, and everyone wants to know who he is. Even Eddie doesn't know! He's called "The Phantom Troubador" and there is a frenzied rush to find him.

Winchell has a feud going with orchestra leader Ben Bernie (kind of like the Jimmy Kimmel-Matt Damon feud) so they're in a race to reveal his identity first. Alice realizes who Eddie is, and has him "practicing" in her apartment at an exact time in front of a supposedly dead mike - it's live and feeding into the supper club where Bernie is playing.

Haley is dubbed by Buddy Clark, and both he and Faye sing like a dream. The songs, including "Wake Up and Live," "Swell of You," "Ooh, but I'm Happy," and "There's a Lull in My Life" are wonderful.

An uplifting film, enlivened by the performances and the singing.