Chasing Rainbows

What a potentially great film (finally got hold of a copy), a big hit MGM musical that boasted Bessie Love, Charles King, Jack Benny, Marie Dressler, and Polly Moran.

What a shame that all the Technolor is gone from the existing print, and even worse, so are all the big production numbers! Title cards appear to tell us where the numbers USED to be. Even the audio is gone.

Indeed we miss Bessie Love leading a chorus in "Everybody Tap," Charles King singing "Love Ain't Nothing' but the Blues." and Marie Dressler singing "My Dynamic Personality." Also the entire finale of "Happy Days Are Here Again" is also gone. Thanks to Richard Barrios for listing the missing songs in a footnote in A SONG IN THE DARK.

The few numbers that are left aren't too great. King sings "Lucky Me and Lovable You" to Love (who does not sing). But they do a short dance number. Dressler does an early number on the train, and Nina Martan (odd spelling) also sings one song.

In this backstage musical about an acting company traveling across country in a show called "Goodbye Broadway," we get the usual stories about jealousy, love, etc. Love is adorable as Carlie, King is better than he was in THE Broadway MELODY, Benny is funny, and of course Dressler and Moran steal every scene they're in. George K. Arthur has a small role as a (gay?) member of the troupe, and so does Gwen Lee as the member who quits early on, requiring them to hire Martan. Eddie Phillips plays the smarmy lover.

After smash hits with THE Broadway MELODY and Hollywood REVUE OF 1929, MGM launched this musical with its A Cast, but by the time the film hit theaters, the craze for musicals was winding down. Revue films were so unpopular that MGM included "Not a Revue" in its advertising for CHASING RAINBOWS. Bessie Love was MGM's #1 musical star of the time, and Marie Dressler and Polly Moran are just plain hysterically funny together.

Let's hope these Technicolor musical numbers are found some day. What a treat that would be!

It's really not fair to give a numerical score to this film, as it's NOT the "Chasing Rainbows" of 1930. That's because the Two-Color Technicolor portions of the film are missing and Turner Classic Movies substituted stills for the missing scenes! It's a crude way to try to reassemble the film--far from ideal, that's for sure.

"Chasing Rainbows" is a musical featuring Bessie Love and Charles King (who'd just starred together in the Oscar winning "Broadway Melody"). In addition to being a musical, Jack Benny (in one of his first films) as well as Polly Moran and Marie Dressler (both of which made a short series of comedies together following this film) are on hand to provide some comedy. Those familiar with Benny's 1940s-50s persona might have a hard time recognizing him, as here he is nothing like his radio and TV self. I'd seen him in a couple early shorts, so seeing him as a fast-talking sort of guy didn't surprise me.

The film finds Benny the leader of a touring Broadway-style review. Although Love and King are good friends, you have a strong impression that they are destined to be much more. But, in the meantime, dumb 'ol King's head is turned by a new leading lady (Nita Martan). You just KNOW that Nita is 100% bad and Bessie is a sweetheart, but it sure takes King a long time to recognize this. In fact, he is a bit too stupid to be real! In the meantime, there are lots of song and dance numbers, comedic interludes (which aren't all that funny) and various backstage vignettes. In fact, the plot isn't always all that important--it's more an excuse to feature the other acts.

As I said above, it's very hard to score this movie. It is rather old fashioned and derivative (an awful lot like "Broadway Melody") but good for 1929/1930. But the fact that it's missing so much of the film make it great viewing for total film nuts (like me) but not so great for everyone else. As I LOVE films from this era and don't mind the very dated style, I could highly recommend it to people like me....all six of us! By the way, this film was apparently made in 1929 and not released until 1930. Believe it or not, this is actually pretty easy to tell as sound technology improved quickly during the late 20s-early 30s and the film looks and sounds more like a 1929 production.

By the way, if you DO see this film, get a load of Bessie's laughing sequence--she sounds positively demented! It's easy to see it's an early talkie, as later directors never would have done the scene that way.

Pretty big role for Jack Benny in his very first film acting role, playing someone besides himself (acc to IMDb). He rattles off many of his one-liners as Eddie, part of the big traveling (and unraveling) road show. He should know, after all those years of vaudeville, before getting his own radio and TV shows. This movie is all about taking the show on the road, and Bonnie's (Marie Dressler) facial expressions as she gets elbowed, steam-blasted by the train, and insulted by the rest of the cast. Dressler was showing her age here (sixty something, with pretty big bags under her eyes) but that didn't slow her down any. She made SEVEN films in 1930, and only made a couple more before passing away in 1934. Two of her last ones were biggies, Tugboat Annie, and Dinner at Eight! Co-stars Bessie Love (Carlie) and Polly Moran (Polly) had also started in the silents and continued on with the talkies. Lots of backstage jokes and chiding each other, mostly by Eddie and Polly. Also an on again, off again love story between Carlie and Terry (Charles King, who only made a few films). Some serious, touching moments between the girls as they talk over their intentions regarding the men-folk. Sad to note that the color song and dance portions are missing in action - hopefully someday they will be found. Directed by Charles Reisner, who had worked his way up through every occupation, starting with the silents. Written by Robert Hopkins, who would be nominated for an Oscar for his writing on San Francisco (1936). Good story, no plot holes, very family friendly. I really enjoyed watching this one.... it wasn't as hokey as a lot of those "back-stage, behind the scenes stories" were back then. Good to see J. Benny in an early role.

Any film that starts out with a passenger train chugging across the countryside, followed by a full ensemble rendition of Ager-and-Yellen's "Happy Days Are Here Again" can't be all bad. Sadly, this great old song is presented only in fragmentary form at the beginning to set the tone for a story about a traveling theatrical troupe; later, when the time comes for a full- length version, we learn from an insert that the sequence has been lost, a blow which this backstager cannot survive. (Imagine Golddiggers of 1935 without "Lullabye of Broadway.) There is a decent Ager-Yellen ballad ("Lucky Me, Lovable You," crooned impeccably by Charles King) and a couple of comedy numbers put over with gusto by the scenery-chewing Marie Dressler. The plot (girl-loves-boy-who-loves-other-girls) moves too slowly and far too much time is spent on Dressler's vaudevillian comic routines with her frequent screen partner Polly Moran. The two were real crowd pleasers back in the day, which only shows how much tastes have changed. Their shtick is occasionally funny but not funny enough to justify twenty minutes of footage. Jack Benny is very good as the level-headed stage manager who holds the troupe together and Charles King acts almost as well as he sings. The delicate Bessie Love has a strange, extended scene in which she breaks into grimacing, demented laughter which veers into crying and then back into laughter.

I won't repeat other reviews; I agree with almost all comments. What I'd like to address is the unprofessional editing. In one scene actors apparently are listening to Jack Benny lecturing but without sound. This is clearly a medium reaction shot, meant to have Jack's voice over. Poly Moran stands in a doorway without moving for about three seconds before action begins. An actor enters a door from the outside - you can't see the door - and then the camera pauses. Then on the inside we see the door continues to open. At the trimmed fade out you see the door start to open again. This is an A picture made by an A studio. Such gaffes are unforgivable.