Rain or Shine

In the 1930s, Joe Cook was one of the biggest stars on Broadway, headlining in several hit musical comedies. He co-starred with Ethel Merman in the Broadway show "Fine and Dandy", getting billing equal to Merman's. Joe Cook's talents were amazing: he was a juggler, an acrobat, a song-and-dance man and a comedian who did weird monologues while wiggling his thumbs. Tragically, he succumbed to Parkinson's disease after making only two feature films and a few shorts. "Rain or Shine" is the film version of one of his Broadway musical hits, with all the songs left out ... and it's the best surviving evidence of Cook's astonishing talents. "Rain or Shine" is also an excellent example of Frank Capra's early directorial skill.

In this movie, Cook plays the utility man in the Rainey Circus, which gives performances "Rain or Shine" ... except that it's always raining. When most of the circus performers can't go on, Cook becomes virtually a one-man circus, with just a couple of helpers for his acrobatic routines. Joe Cook's chief stooge in this film (and on Broadway) was Dave Chasen, a Harpo-ish comedian who later became famous as the founder of Chasen's Restaurant in Los Angeles. Chasen's schtick was a distinctive hand-waving gesture which many comedians today are still copying.

Joe Cook is brilliant in this film. In one scene, he does an astonishing juggling trick with a cigar and a kitchen match that will make you want to rewind several times so you can watch it again ... and again, and again! It looks so simple, yet Cook must have spent hundreds of hours practising this one trick.

"Rain or Shine" has a lot of broad slapstick humour, most of it hilarious. One scene at a dinner party doesn't work, involving a huge pile of spaghetti. We can clearly see that the "spaghetti" is really twine, which kills the joke. Unfunny comedian Tom Howard plays a grouch named A.K. Shrewsbury, and there's an obscure joke about what an "A.K." he is. (A.K. = "alter kocker", a Yiddish insult.)

Among the circus acts in this movie is Ethel Greer, a fat lady who weighed well over 25 stone. I was astonished by the scene in which this huge woman falls out of her circus caravan into a rain puddle. Ethel Greer actually did this stunt herself, because no stuntwoman was large enough to double for her. Kenneth Anger's book "Hollywood Babylon 2" contains a photograph of an immensely fat woman whom Anger unkindly claims is Elizabeth Taylor. She's not, you know: she's Ethel Greer, and the photo in Anger's book is a scene from "Rain or Shine". Also in this movie is a snake charmer, played by silent-film comedienne Louise Fazenda in a rare sound-film appearance. (Fazenda married producer Hal Wallis and retired.)

Some bad news: the dignified African-American actor Clarence Muse appears in this film, playing one of the "Yassah, boss" roles that Frank Capra kept lumbering him with. In Capra's autobiography, he refers to Muse as his "pet actor". No comment. SPOILER WARNING: At this film's climax, the circus tent catches fire. There's an exciting sequence as Cook and all the circus hands try to put out the flames. Ironically, the only time it STOPS raining on the circus in "Rain or Shine" is when the tent is on fire and the rain would have done some good. As soon as the fire is out, the rain starts pouring down again. "Rain or Shine" is must-see viewing! My rating: 10 out of 10, since Joe Cook's brilliant talents more than compensate for any of this film's flaws.

It's evident this is a dated movie, but I think it is eminently watchable. Not Capra's best by any means, but a decent insight to the workings of circuses in the late 20's. A score of wonderful character actors, slapstick and physical comedy nicely blended with vaudeville routines. Yes, the dialog is fast-paced, but there are great one-liners and wholesome comedy. It's a shame the musical numbers are dealt with in the opening and closing credits rather than scored in the movie. Joe Cook is amazing as he juggles, tightrope walks, and balances his way through the movie. His dialogue is quick, tight, and funny. Most of the actors were unknown to me as an amateur film buff, but now I will look for more of their movies. The viewer can see the similarity to Wheeler and Woolsey, The Marx Brothers, Al Jolson, and other stars of early talkies. The visual reproduction is very good, with little background noise, as is the audio recording. This movie is part of a new Early Capra release with four other titles.

RAIN OR SHINE is a neat little circus film directed by Frank Capra and based on a Broadway musical that ran for almost a year in 1928.

By the time this film went into production, the vogue for musicals was over, so all the songs were cut from the film (a common occurrence in 1930). Still, there was enough plot to carry the 90-minute film.

Joe Cook was the star. The long-forgotten, Cook was a major star on Broadway. His nickname was "the one-man vaudeville" because he could sing, dance, do comedy, and perform a series of juggling tricks. Cook made his film debut in a 1929 talkie short called AT THE BALLGAME.

In RAIN OR SHINE he plays the fast-talking manager of a failing circus owned by a girl (Joan Peers) who inherited it from her father. Two employees are in cahoots to ensure the circus fails so they can take it over. In a weak subplot, Peers and her boyfriend (William Collier, Jr.) attend a disastrous dinner party at his snooty parents' mansion.

Cook is front and center through most of the film as he attends to all the problems and egos under the big top. There's also a funny running gag with Cook and a local citizen (Tom Howard) and how he becomes a partner with the help of the Princess (Louise Fazenda).

The finale is quite exciting after the bank attaches the day's receipts and the performers realize they won't get paid. Cook is terrific in a series of circus tricks as he tries to put on a big-top show all by himself. Peers and Collier are OK as the young lovers, Fazenda has little to do, Howard is funny as the local, and Dave Chasen (who founded the famous restaurant) is funny as the stooge.

Think of THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH (1952) done on the cheap and a small scale, very small scale. RAIN OR SHINE (1930) is based upon lead actor Joe Cook's Broadway Show of 1928. In which Mr. Cook single handedly performs as if he was the entire Circus. That is recreated in this Capra film along with all the clichés of the Genre. Bankrupt Circus, Sheriff at the door and the inevitable Fight and Fire. Plenty of stereotypical characters, so if you are P.C. thin skinned you had better skip this one.

Joe Cook as SMILEY JOHNSON saves the Circus for Louise Fazenda as FRANKIE, 'The Princess' only too see it go up in smoke in the last reel. Cook's style was that of VAUDEVILLE, where a rather overbearing character is the center of attraction and supposedly well liked. Cook is unremitting in hammering the audience with his act which does not let up for the entire picture. In fact he probably acted this way 24/7 which makes me feel sad for his significant other.

By 1930 VAUDEVILLE was on its last legs. Beginning in Circa 1880 it was a popular live entertainment particularly for the 'middle class'. By 1920 though Silent Pictures had been established as a major threat. Then mid-decade came Radio, home entertainment provided for free which many Vaudevillians took advantage of, transferring their talents too the new medium. The Great Depression and by 1930 the perfection of the Sound Film, created the death blow. The theaters that supported VAUDEVILLE either closed or converted to movies, those who could cut it either moved too film or radio. As for live performance, you were either on Broadway or you did not count at all. Cook continued with success on Broadway where his style of acting could be tolerated. Film definitely was not his medium.

Rain or Shine (1930)

** (out of 4)

Mary Rainey (Joan Peers) takes over her father's circus after his death but soon finds herself in major financial trouble. The manager, Smiley Johnson (Joe Cook), always has a positive spin on everything but soon not even his fast talking can help the situation. Opinions on this film seem to be extremely mixed and I'm going to have to fall on the negative side. It's rather hard and perhaps unfair for my to criticize the film for the reasons I'm going to but here goes. I found Cook to be an incredible talent here and he gives an amazing performance. At the same time I'd say his performance was too amazing because he plays an annoying character and that's exactly how it struck me. The frustration the owner in the film has over his attitude and actions is the same frustration I started to feel and this really started to take away from the film for me. The first thirty-minutes kept me entertained but then I finally hit a wall to where I was wanting to hit certain characters. Again, it's somewhat unfair for me to bash Cook for giving a great performance but I couldn't help but to have his character on my nerves. The supporting performances are rather good as well and that includes Tom Howard as a dimwitted fool who can't keep anything straight. In perhaps the funniest and most unbelievable sequence, Ethel Greer, a real life "Fat Woman", falls out of a trailer and gets stuck in the mud. The men can't pick her up due to her large weight so they have to get an elephant to do the job. This scene is certainly outrageous and in some ways so shocking that I couldn't help but laugh my behind off. The ending picks up a lot of steam but by that point I was pretty much wore out and ready to move on.