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Weary of railing against Warner Brothers for the studio's mishandling of him, James Cagney moves to small Grand National, which produces for the star this sprightly musical compote. Cagney brings along all of his vigor and verve, and the little-known studio supplies a substantial budget for this tale of a Manhattan hoofer and bandleader, Terry Rooney (Cagney), and his sweetheart/wife (Evelyn Daw), who journey to Hollywood when Rooney is offered a film contract. Down-to-earth Rooney is resistant to receiving the prescribed "star treatment" and the head of the studio, Mr. Regan, (Gene Lockhart) construes his attitude as hauteur; when the initial film made with Rooney unexpectedly becomes wildly successful, the studio boss tries to keep the compass of his triumph from the budding star to prevent the latter from becoming more arrogant. Meantime, Rooney places his film experiences behind him by taking his bride on a lengthy cruise in a tramp steamer to the South Seas, and when they return and discover his exploding fame, comedic complications ensue. Cagney displays his customary class in his every scene with the musical production numbers being particularly effective, his dancing skill being a prominent element. True soprano Evelyn Daw performs beautifully throughout, and the classically trained singer makes for a comely female lead as well, while William Frawley as a press agent, Mona Barrie as the studio diva, and Philip Ahn, who plays Rooney's houseboy, all provide enjoyable turns. Director Victor Schertzinger utilizes his own Academy Award nominated score to a liberal extent throughout and the product becomes a tuneful and rather undervalued musical comedy.

Contrary to many reviews there is much to like in "Something To Sing About", a minor Cagney movie produced by Grand National Productions (Cagney was in the midst of a dispute with Warner Bros. at the time). There are equal measures of comedy, music and romance blended together to create what must have been one of 1937's most underrated films. Cagney sings, dances and, counter to type, has some tender love scenes with Evelyn Daw, who is pretty and petite and has a lovely singing voice.

Nutshell; song and dance man Cagney gets an offer from Hollywood. He succeeds, and is bound to secrecy regarding his marriage to Daw, the 'band canary' in the same band. Complications arise as a result, with some alternately funny and tender scenes. On hand are William Frawley as the studio's publicity man, Gene Lockhart the studio head and Mona Barrie the studio prima donna. Victor Schertzinger directed and wrote the songs, the best of which are the title song and "Out Of The Blue". Unfortunately, all the songs are long-forgotten.

"Something To Sing About" is one of those forgotten gems which show up on TCM from time to time. Do yourself a favor and catch it next time it's on.

7/10 - Website no longer prints my star rating.

SOMETHING TO SING ABOUT (Grand National, 1937), directed by Victor Schertzinger, stars movie tough guy James Cagney in his second screen musical. Though not in the Busby Berkeley tradition as FOOTLIGHT PARADE (1933) where Cagney sang and dance for the first time, nor academy award potential as his legendary performance of YANKEE DOODLE DANDY (1942), it does offer Cagney a slight departure from his usual style. He's not a wiseacre nor is he slapping dames around. Although still handy with his fists when in need of them, there's a gentle side to his nature, especially his loyalty to the girl he loves. As a band-leader, Cagney gets to do some fancy footwork, yet, much of the musical interludes go to newcomer Evelyn Daw. Resembling French actress Simone Simon (CAT PEOPLE,1942) and a diva singing voice of Jeanne Madden (STAGE STRUCK,1936), Daw's film career was as short-lived as Grand National Studios itself. Slightly better than Cagney's Grand National debut, GREAT GUY (1936) due to its higher budget and reasonable plot, SOMETHING TO SING ABOUT also marked his second and farewell with the studio.

Following the pattern of a Hollywood story, though not as famous as David O. Selznick's A STAR IS BORN (1937), the plot revolves around Terry Rooney (James Cagney), a New York band-leader, with Rita "Canary" Wyatt (Evelyn Daw), the girl he loves, as his lead singer. He leaves them behind when called to Hollywood to be tested for the upcoming motion picture, "Any Old Love." Arriving by train and met by Hank Myers (William Frawley), his publicity man, and Bennett O. Regan (Gene Lockhart), president of Galor Studios, Terry finds himself going through the motions by being taught to speak correctly by the dialog coach (Marek Windheim) costume changes by the wardrobe man (Johnny Arthur); going through extremes on how to look by the make-up man (Dwight Frye); and the way how he should act by his director (Richard Tucker). During a scene, Terry loses his temper and tears up the set. With all this captured on film, it is used for the sneak preview that turns Terry into an overnight star. Unaware of how good he is, Terry, who has sent for Rita, marries her, and goes on his honeymoon to the South Seas. Upon his return, Terry (real name Thaddius McGillicuty), discovers he's a sensation and is offered a long term studio contract. He's unable to accept due to a clause that forbids him to marry. At Rita's request, he decides to abide by the studio rules, with Rita acting as his confidential secretary. Their marriage soon falls apart when Terry's name becomes romantically linked with Russian actress Stephanie Hajos (Mona Barrie).

Other members of the cast worth mentioning include Kathleen Lockhart as Emmy Robbins, a gossip columnist; James Newill, Candy Candido and Harry Barris as members of the band; William B. Davidson as Mr. Richards, the night club manager; and Philip Ahn as Ito, Terry's servant and friend who realistically shows the two ways Japanese speak, articulately, and the Hollywood stereotype of Japanese lingo ("Yes, honorable mastah"). This is something rare in movies from this era, bringing out into the open that Orientals converse just like everyone else.

Although the story is routinely done, the songs, written by Victor Schertzinger, come off as unmemorable, though a couple of dance numbers help out during the dull stretches. The song include: "Something to Sing About" (sung by Evelyn Daw during opening titles); "Here Comes the Bride" (danced by James Cagney); "Right or Wrong." (sung by Daw); "Any Old Love" (sung by Cagney); untitled dance number (performed by Cagney and male dancers); "Out of the Blue" (sung by Daw) and "Something to Sing About/"Out of the Blue" (reprise). Aside from Cagney's dancing, the title song comes off best, and is used considerably in underscoring through much of the story, along with "Out of the Blue." "Right or Wrong" the film's weaker song, is vocalized by Daw on a long distance telephone call to Hollywood with Terry (Cagney) listening on the other end.

When SOMETHING TO SING ABOUT resurfaced on commercial television in the 1970s, it played under another title, THE BAFFLING HOOFER, actually from a 1940s reissue print 15 minutes shorter than the original 93 minute length. A decade later, it turned up under its original title, and being a movie that fell victim to public domain, was distributed on video cassette through various companies. For years, video copies of SOMETHING TO SING ABOUT were inferior either audio or visually. Its cable broadcasts such as on the Nick-at-Nite Movie on Nickelodeon during the 1980s, and American Movie Classics (1989-1990) were vast improvements. SOMETHING TO SING ABOUT has later been restored with much better copies presented on Turner Classic Movies, where it premiered August 2, 2005, and finally DVD.

In closing, without the presence and charisma of James Cagney, SOMETHING TO SING ABOUT might have remained in some dark archive, along with other Grand National releases (1936-1939). Generally, the movie itself is okay, but not nearly as fun as LADY KILLER (1933), Cagney's earlier venture into Movieland. As with other films with a similar theme, it goes through the motions with behind the scenes of movie making and how fame and fortune may or may not be for the main character in question. This movie may not be something to sing about, but actually something to consider since it's a chance to see Cagney in rare form, starring in a musical and an independent production outside his home base of Warners. A fine supporting cast of veteran actors (Frawley and Lockhart) helps. (***)

Hollywood was really turning the cameras on itself when it made this 1937 movie. This is a very good take-off on why so many Hollywood marriages fell apart-mainly the studio system. So many stars of the past blamed Hollywood for their marriages falling apart. Right off the bat, I can think of Judy Garland and David Rose.

Cagney proved what a great hoofer he was 5 years before his Oscar win in "Yankee Doodle Dandy."

This wonderful Hollywood plot concerns itself with Cagney making it big in Hollywood and then running away and marrying his sweetheart, well played by Evelyn Daw. Too bad we never heard much from her.

William Frawley, the future Fred Mertz, of I Love Lucy Fame, steals the picture as a publicity agent hell-bent on getting Cagney stature no matter what the cost.

There is that accidental item that could cause a fatal rift between the married couple but Hollywood knew how to settle that so well in a final staging of a song and dance number.

Okay we've been told all the stuff about Cagney arguing with WB and dancing over to Grand National, and we know this is the umpteenth remake of earlier Warner flicks.

The movie is low-low budget, but it is fun to watch so youse guys watch it. The main reason is its star who, too seldom, was given the opportunity to display his very unique dance prowess. Unfortunately, he was given too little time to dance in this pic, but when he did, it was 100% captivating.

Another treat was Evelyn Daw. One of the critics fairly compared her to Jeanette McDonald, and I agree. Beautiful voice, cute, good personality. (I boycott Jeanette movies. In "The Great Waltz" Miliza Korjus put her in the shade. Ms. M told Mr. MGM she would walk if they starred her anymore. She was a moneymaker, so Louis B did as he was told).

A couple other "Something To Sing About" pluses were Bill Frawley and Gene Lockhart as studio bigwigs with Lockhart as the biggest wig.

Anyway, if you want so spend some pleasant time, well, this sometimes frantic movie, will be fun. Just watching Cagney, whether he dances, fights, or struts like a peacock, is always a fat bonus.