L'incontentabile

In Beverly Hills, California, wealthy Henry Stephenson (as Horace Bennett) is unhappy with the man daughter Ann Sothern (as Kit) plans to marry. Locked in her room, Ms. Sothern has food delivered on silver platters, which she immediately throws out the window. Meanwhile, aspiring singer Gene Raymond (as Peter "Pete" Quinlan) is preparing to audition for a job at radio station KARB. His roommate Gordon Jones (as Joe) places ads for himself and Mr. Raymond in the "wanted" section of the local newspaper...

Father Stephenson hires Mr. Jones to watch over Sothern while Raymond is hired by Sothern to pose as an obnoxious French Count. She hopes her father and perceptive aunt Jessie Ralph (as Evelyn Bennett) will find Raymond distasteful and comparatively approve of fiancé Alan Curtis (as Fred Randolph). There is very little original creative energy in "Walking on Air" - but Raymond's tenor is pleasant, his French is funny, Sothern is a fine leading lady and they get two of the best supporting characters in town.

***** Walking on Air (9/11/36) Joseph Santley ~ Gene Raymond, Ann Sothern, Jessie Ralph, Henry Stephenson

It's spring… and kindly but stern old gentleman Henry Stephenson has his daughter upstairs locked in her room. He sends up the butler with a tray of food; she throws it out the window.

Ann Sothern is the spirited young woman engaged to a cad her father refuses to accept. Her backup plan involves a help wanted ad: She hires a young man to pose as her replacement fiancé and assigns him to behave so rudely toward her father that he will change his mind about the original cad. Gene Raymond has some uproarious moments as the fake suitor—a French count complete with phony mustache—who digs right in to the job of insulting the girl's father and aunt.

It's a very lightweight comedy of impostors, wrong impressions and late revelations. A pretty typical plot—but lots of fun nevertheless.

Of course, Raymond and Sothern are meant to get together eventually, but only if they can get past the usual set of misunderstandings. Both stars are energetic and appealing. Raymond—whose character is also an aspiring crooner—gets to sing a couple of fine songs, as well.

Jessie Ralph is excellent as always as the witty aunt who offers advice, support and wisecracks. Ralph and Stephenson make a good pair as the older generation who may be misled by the youngsters' schemes but soon catch on.

Sothern and Raymond make a neat match and look like they are having a good time. The story moves along briskly and while the picture doesn't leave a deep impression, it's sure easy to watch!

Great moment: "You're losing your mustache!"

Walking On Air (1936) Ann Sothern, Gene Raymond, Jessie Ralph and Henry Stephenson. Formula B musical about a rich girl who wants to marry one guy and hires another to pretend to be a rich obnoxious count so her father will reconsider his unfavorable view of the one she thinks she loves. In the meantime, her father hires a bodyguard to keep her at home and she is locked in her room. She throws her meals, that are served on a tray of fine china and silver, out the window. Her pretend suitor is really trying to be hired by a radio show and we get to hear his audition and first broadcast. The 3 songs are forgettable and the script is predictable. Ann is okay and Gene is his usual smarmy sophomoric self. The two character actors steal the show. Which is a dud. 5/10

"Walking on Air" is a reasonably enjoyable piece of fluff punctuated with some awful music. Without the music, it would be an agreeable time-passer.

Kit Bennett (Ann Sothern) is a rich girl with lousy taste in men. Not surprisingly, they aren't particularly impressed by her new boyfriend. So, to get their approval of the guy, she pretends to be in love with an absolutely awful person--so the boyfriend would look great compared to this new guy. So she hires Pete (Gene Raymond) to play an annoying French member of the nobility. However, the family soon realizes Pete's a phony and they pretend to like him just to irritate Kit and upset her plans. In the process, it's not surprising that she falls for Pete.

Overall, this is a very slight but reasonably enjoyable film which is seriously marred by some of the blandest and dullest music you could imagine. And, because there's a lot of music, the film is pretty tough going at times.

Henry Stephenson and Jessie Ralph are parents at their wits end trying to keep heiress daughter Ann Sothern from marrying divorcee Alan Curtis who is a real drip. But Sothern has a plan.

She hires crooner Gene Raymond to impersonate an arrogant French count who is so obnoxious that the parents will cheer with relief when Sothern and Curtis tie the knot.

Only the usual happens in this gazilionth movie about heiresses in the 30s, Raymond and Sothern fall in love.

Raymond has a pleasant though he was no threat to Crosby, Columbo, and Vallee. And he sure couldn't compete with his own wife Jeanette MacDonald. Songs in this film are pretty forgettable.

Walking On Air is pleasant enough entertainment.