Spring Is Here

This is seems to me to be a very true adaptation of a Broadway musical of the late 20s, filmed in quite a static way with the characters lined across the screen playing it exactly as if they were also across the stage bellowing lines into each other's faces so the back row could hear it. Given this performance is for a film it seems nobody thought to re direct it for a cinema audience who could hear every word courtesy of fantastic chunky Vitaphone gramophone sound. There is no doubt the dippy parents and flapper daughters play it well to the audience who even might have been expecting a play on film. SPRING IS HERE is quite funny, very stage bound and completely what we expect 80 years later: stodgy comedy, vaudeville mugging wonderful Rogers and Hart music all flattened into the technical aspects of the time. This film is a curiosity piece really, and would irritate your friends who do not understand that it is the restrictions of the medium of the time that makes a film like this attractive to those who love 1920s sound films. Beautiful clothes and sets add to the fun; but do not inflict this film on anyone not familiar with the time tone and tinniness. Maybe play the scenes of just the songs, as they are terrific. No wonder the talkies took off, but you can also see why depression audiences soon tired of songs being yelled at them.

Early musical about fickle Betty of the Long Island "fashionable set", the kind who seem to mostly go around with tennis rackets and ukuleles gripped in their hands. She stays out 'til five in the morning "riding" with a new fellow (leaving her regular beau high and dry at the dance) - so her grump of a dad decides he needs to put a stop to that kind of stuff and "get her a good husband". Well, when the regular fellow, Terry, shows up next morning, dad practically proposes himself - but Betty won't marry Terry. Terry IS in love, so - given the push by Betty's little 16-year-old sister (who looked to me about 35), he decides to spark Betty's jealousy by flirting with other women. And boy does he - including giving a passionate kiss to Betty's mom!

This film is pretty silly, though has moments - such as the dad spouts a number of pretty good one-liners and there is a little bit of pre-code naughtiness too. The whole film comes across as a little stiff and stage play like - it includes characters bursting into song here and there, most of which are fairly mediocre, though I thought a few of the numbers were kind of catchy. The lead actors in this are not very memorable (though, at least, they sing well) - the most interesting characters are actually the girl's parents, quite amusingly portrayed by Ford Sterling and Louise Fazenda - the mom is depicted as very dizzy (reminded me of Gracie Allen). Betty turns into a "yes dear" baby talker kind of gal in the end, oh well. Fun, light entertainment.

...-and short!-adaptation of Rodgers & Hart's Broadway success (the movie adds some songs by Harry Warren and lyricists Sam Lewis and Joe Young). And I admit my affinity for such a movie probably springs from my curiosity regarding early sound musicals, so your mileage -and appreciation - may vary.

Alexander Gray is well cast as the hero, coming across rather more relaxed here than he did in the previous year's Sally; the engaging Bernice Claire also stars as one of the era's stock characters, the young woman yearning for excitement. Lawrence Gray plays-much as he did in The Patsy-the good-natured bad boy enticing our heroine from her too-meek suitor, and gets to bestow his pleasant light tenor on the score's most enduring hit, "With a Song in My Heart."

I'm having difficulty tracking down a detailed description of the story of the original Broadway show; but it appears to me that there must have been a subplot in the Broadway show involving the younger sister (in the movie, played by Inez Courtney) and her beau (the movie's Frank Albertson) which was subsequently cut for the movie, as Albertson's role serves no purpose plot-wise in the movie (but he contributes some sprightly song and dance, notably-with Courtney-the title song). All of this is cheerfully entertaining and well-done, if somewhat standard fare; elevating the movie into must-see status, however, are Mack Sennett veterans Ford Sterling and Louise Fazenda as the much-tried comic parents. Sterling, who always completely inhabits whatever role he plays-OK, he hams it up (but all to the good)!-has been underappreciated for about three-quarters of a century or more, and is long overdue for a renaissance of interest, for his early work as well as his late work.

The Brox Sisters give a wonderful rendition of "Cryin' for the Carolines." Direction and camera-work are workmanlike-skillful if uninspired; but the writing is clever and blithe, and sometimes refreshingly suggestive. Recommended. I'm surprised that the stage show Spring Is Here has not been a regular on the community theater and civic light opera circuit; cheerful, undemanding, modest in its production needs, uncontroversial, with familiar theatrical "types," it seems to be tailor-made for semi-professional offerings.

SPRING IS HERE is a breezy, yet undistinguished early sound musical. A hit on Broadway, it suffers from the overproduction of musicals at the time (meaning it received no special consideration during its making) and from a director who brings no visual flair to the medium. What we're left with are pleasant performers and pleasant, if not memorable, tunes. The standout performance here is given by Louise Fazenda, a ubiquitous figure in these early sound musicals made at Warners. Her portrayal of a character who is simultaneously embarrassed and titillated at the innuendo surrounding her is delightful and captures the necessarily frivolous tone needed in such a piece. Incidentally, Fazenda was the first in the sound era to portray the dumb blonde, an archetype that still pleases to this day.

Not bad early musical based on a flop Broadway show by Rodgers and Hart.

Willful Betty (Bernice Claire) thinks she loves flashy Steve (Lawrence Gray) because Terry (Alexander Gray) is boring and because her father wants her to marry him. But with a little coaching from her dizzy mom (Louise Fazenda), Terry turns into a lover and wins the day.

Set among the "Long Island set," this breezy little film is full of smart retorts and good songs. It also features a funny performance by Ford Sterling as the frantic father and good work by Inez Courtney (from the Broadway show) and Frank Albertson as the younger set.

Claire has a pleasing soprano and the Grays (not related) also sing well. Best known song here is "With a Song in My Heart." The Brox Sisters show up at the party and sing the hit "Cryin' for the Carolines." Also noted in the cast are Natalie Moorhead as the vamp, Bess Flowers as a guest, Gretchen Thomas as Maude, and Wilbur Mack as the vicar.

While Lawrence Gray gets top billing here, it's Bernice Claire and Alexander Gray who are really the stars. They starred together in 3 films in 1930.