Collège rythme

Unlike much of the other posters here, I really didn't enjoy the many musical numbers in this movie, and thought more acting and plot was needed. The first number on the train went on waaaaaay too long, I thought it would never end! I think I clocked it at around 8 minutes of silly, uninspiring singing. I would have liked to have seen some classroom scenes, a football game, or anything that positioned the action in a college. The sets were spectacular art-deco architecture and interior decorating, making me wonder if the movie had actually first been envisioned as a sophisticated Manhattann penthouse romp.

Not a terrible movie, but nothing much happens in my opinion.

This is a small and harmless RKO musical galvanized by some tuneful (though unmemorable) songs and rhythmic dances. It is mostly set on campus and captures the youthful zest of its largely unknown players, including Betty Grable, Lucille Ball, George Barbier, Charles Rogers, Barbara Kent, Johnny Mercer, Eric Blore, John Arledge and Sonny Lamont.

For one thing, it is great to watch a very young Betty Grable with her exuberant dancing and carefree enthusiasm before stardom. This is one of her earliest movies I've seen along with 1938's "College Swing"(also a campus musical). George Barbier as the rich and overprotective father who enrolls in college to watch for his son's social life is cool especially in the "Old Man Rhythm" number. Sonny Lamont is amusing as the heavy-set college boy who does some back flips and acrobats.

The song that opens the movie, set on the train where all the college students are singing and dancing is quite catchy. But my favorite numbers are "What Would You Suggest?" and "When You Are in My Arms".

This movie had some GREAT tunes, and not ones that became classics, these tunes will be new to you. I particularly like the one about going to college that the movie starts off with in the first scene. The movie is not about romantic rivalries between father and son, rather the father does not approve of the effect girls have on his son's grades and does not approve of his son's new fiancé' so he goes to college to sort things out.This is an older movie, but very watchable with none of the glitches that you sometimes see in these older films. It is rather an obscure movie from the early thirties, thus it has not been subtitled. I thought that this was a shame because I missed a few of the words to the songs and I would have liked to have heard every word. The kids were in the room when the movie started. They were on the computer and paying NO attention to Mom's old movie, but when the song about college came on, they drifted over and watched the whole, long song. I hope you enjoy this movie as much as I did. Thank goodness for TNT!

"Old Man Rhythm" is one of those musicals where the studio rounds up talent and creates a story that tries to fit them all in, including whatever specialty acts they are big on. But the plot of this film does not try much to be other than that. It opens with a musical number, on a train, that includes just about every actor in the film. That first scene tells us everything we need to know about the film: it's light and playful and filled with talent.

OMR is driven by the music of Lewis E. Gensler and Johnny Mercer. If you like clever lyrics and toe-tapping tunes, this is a good film to watch. Gensler is talented, but the entire film is Mercerized by the Ogden Nashish lyrics.

Speaking of which, the only slow part of the film is a scene about fleas. Yes, it's true. Apparently the entire scene (apart from being a silly plot device regarding a letter) is just a setup for a poem that is, nevertheless, interesting. The poem is called "Siphonaptera" and if you look it up on Wikipedia, you will learn its origins and its variations.

One more point about the music. It captures a time in the evolution of popular music when you can easily hear the transition from the blues to jazz (and swing). The musical arrangements in this film are filled with examples.

Betty Grable taps en pointe. Hermes Pan arranged the dance numbers, so I guess he might be partly responsible for this difficult feat. Among the other talented performers, I particularly liked Evelyn Poe, though her film career seems to have been short.

The story is not much to write home about. A college boy's father (John Roberts) is concerned that his son (JR, Jr.) is losing his scholarly focus because of a girl (Marion). He enrolls in the same college, hoping to turn the boy's affections toward another girl (Edith) deemed more suitable. Though Junior thinks Marion is the marryin' kind, she proves to be more interested in his familial fortune. They all live in some dormitories that wow and they frequent a soda shop where the local talents shake a leg and croon competently. Which is what the film is all about, after all--the music.

This double-bill special no doubt had the cats boogeying in their theater seats in 1935.

Old Man Rhythm is one of those silly college musicals that were so popular during the Thirties. The plots are almost the same in every one of them, but they were diverting. One of the main differences in this one was that it had no football game or hero in it. But like all the others it had very little learning as well. In fact I can't recall a scene with a classroom.

The leads in Old Man Rhythm are an over the hill Buddy Rogers who was going on the downside of his film career. He's the son of wealthy toy manufacturer George Barbier and he's living it up real high on the hog in college. He's got two girl friends, good girl Barbara Kent and bad girl Grace Bradley. Grace is one of those who makes no bones about going to college to find a rich husband and she's got a prime prospect in Rogers.

All this is real unsettling to Barbier who decides to abandon his business even though he's in a battle with a hostile takeover by Erik Rhodes. But he's going to go back to school in any event.

The plot barely gets in the way of a whole lot of musical numbers which are serviceable for the plot, but nothing truly memorable comes from the score. The music is by Lewis Gensler and the lyrics are supplied by the great Johnny Mercer. This was one of the earliest film scores that Mercer did in his career and we do get the added treat of seeing him as a performer as well. Though he wrote some of the greatest songs of the last century, Mercer was a fine performer who for some reason rarely appeared on the big screen.

Old Man Rhythm also has some of the best character actors from the studio era in the cast. Besides those I already mentioned you can also enjoy Donald Meek and Eric Blore. Betty Grable has a featured role in this film as well as one of the shapely coeds and in a bit part you can spot Lucille Ball if you scan carefully.

Of course the film is utter nonsense, but it's delightful nonsense and easy to take.