Down to Their Last Yacht

This RKO comedy was the last film that Sidney Fox did. 8 years later the tiny young actress was dead from overdosing on sleeping pills.

She went out on a weird movie with Down To Their Last Yacht. She's an heiress whose family only has its yacht left. It gets rented out to Polly Moran who is hosting a big cruise for those who made out OK and didn't lose their shirts in the Depression.

They are a crowd of boors as Captain Ned Sparks finds out. He's planning to rip them off until he runs the ship aground on an island where Mary Boland is queen.

If that ain't weird enough I can't help it. The film is funny but it has a surreal quality to it. I thought the ending would show it was Fox's dream. That wasn't it though.

Fans of some of the players will like this.

I'm not sure if this movie is bizarre, as several previous reviewers have claimed, or just a silly attempt to slap something together that will appeal to audiences after they have sat through whatever the main feature was.

For this must certainly have been made as the B movie for houses that showed double features.

Humor: Mary Boland is her usual funny self. Sterling Halloway, who could be funny, doesn't get much to work with.

Sex: You get to see lots of "native" men and women in skimpy outfits. For 1934, this could have been titillating. No one would have mistaken them for real "natives," however. Some of them sing with noticeably New York accents.

Music: The big production number near the end, the second-last number, is pleasant.

Production values: Some of the editing of that production number is interesting.

And there you have it. For 64 minutes, it's fine. Longer than that would have been too long for something so unsubstantial.

I can't imagine anyone would have paid money to see just this, without a better main feature.

Such a fun group -- Mary Boland (The Women), Ned Sparks (Bride Walks Out, Imitation of Life), Sterling Holloway, Sydney Blackmer. Too bad they couldn't have given that group a better script to work with, but here it is. As the title suggests, the family is quickly running out of cash, so they rent out their "last yacht" for a big cruise to the upper crust. The script starts out with a plausible story, but goes silly about halfway through, and i'm also not a fan of all those musical song-and-dance numbers. Ned Sparks is his usual awesome self, with his slow, dry, sarcastic statements, as the captain. When the ship runs aground, they have to deal with "Queenie" (Boland), who pretty much carries the second half of the film, with her musings and wisecracks. and that final song and dance number... it just goes on for-everrrrrrrr! this one is just campy and silly enough to be fun, but the story line goes off the rails, for sure. fun, if just for the historical value. Directed by Paul Sloane, who had been around since the EARLY days of silents. It's watchable, and has two of my favorite character actors... Boland and Sparks! Check it out! it's fun and upbeat.

If you're up for a challenge, definitely see RKO's 1934 bizarrefest DOWN TO THEIR LAST YACHT. You'll have self-inflicted dandruff from scratching your head by the time it's finished, I promise you. A family formerly of the social register hit the skids after the stock market crashes. All they have left is their 80 ft. yacht, which Polly Moran arranges for rental on behalf of skipper Ned Sparks. A boatful of nouveau rich (with the likes of Tom Kennedy, Maurice Black and Blanche Payson!!) set sail for the south seas. Stowaway Sidney Blackmer (watch out - he sings!!) pines for ingenue Sydney Fox, late of MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE. Sparks runs aground and the whole gang is captured by Queen Mary Boland and her butler (what else) Charles Coleman. The natives are seen lazily singing of love. The lead is none other than Felix "Tom Tom" Knight. Boland's native guards are armed with tommy guns. She threatens to kill them if Blackmer doesn't marry her. I won't give it all away, but there's more incredulity involving bombs, a radio-wired saxophone and Pooh himself Sterling Holloway.

Whether or not DOWN TO THEIR LAST YACHT was actually the financial disaster that legend has painted must be confirmed with documentation. While not a top drawer release, it was certainly big enough to warrant issuance of motion picture edition sheet music. Also, there are some pretty costly optical and miniature effects. But whatever its cost and subsequent receipts, there is no denying that the film is strange beyond comprehension. And for those who are inquisitive and indulgent of films off the beaten path, DOWN TO THEIR LAST YACHT is definitely worth 64 minutes of your time!

After the 1929 market crash, the Colt-Stratton family falls from high society to the working poor. Their last major possession is a large luxury yacht where they live. They are forced to rent to the newly rich loud-mouthed Nella Fitzgerald for a gambling trip. The ship runs aground on the South Sea Island of Malakamokolu which is ruled by white Queen Malakamokalu (Mary Boland).

This is a weird little comedy musical adventure. I like the opening premise but it turns into a bit of mess with too many characters. I don't like the music generally although I can't hate that too much. This takes a weird abrupt turn in the middle. It's old Hollywood exoticism with some brown-faced acting and a white crazy Queen. The movie may as well start with the shipwreck and let its freak flag fly.