Arcobaleno

Jack Benny, a violin-playing vaudeville performer, had just finished co-emceeing the "Hollywood Revue of 1929" for MGM. With a five-year studio contract under his belt, his next role for the studio was playing a stage manager, Eddie Rock, for a road show group. The February 1930's "Chasing Rainbows" contained Benny's first cinematic dramatic/comedy role. He looks very comfortable mixing with the film's stars by giving funny quips about their situations back stage.

As a loose sequel to the Academy Awards 1929 Outstanding Picture "Broadway Melody," Carlie Seymour (Bessie Love) and Terry Fay (Charles King) continue their cat-and-mouse relationship, but amped up ten-fold from the original. The roadshow premise gave MGM producers an excuse to expand the cast of characters to broaden its entertainment value. Veteran actress Marie Dressler teamed up with fellow-Mack Sennett alumni Polly Moran, their second of nine movies together, to deliver a sideshow of laughs. The main plot, however, involves Carlie's secret passion for Terry, only to be jilted a number of times by his habit of falling in love with the show's leading ladies.

Set in America in the waning days of World War One, "Chasing Rainbows," similar to the then-trending early film musicals, wrapped its dramatics with several song-and-dance numbers. The most familiar tune for modern viewers is "Happy Days Are Here Again," written in 1929. The song appears for the first time here on film, where it's sung just as the war's Armistice is announced. Presidential candidate Franklin D. Roosevelt played the peppy song during his 1932 Democratic National Convention, and it was his adopted theme song throughout his campaign. A year later, 'Happy Days' was linked with the Repeal of Prohibition in December 1933, sometimes rephrased as "Happy days are beer again." In "Chasing Rainbows," the song was designed to conclude the movie in an elaborate Technicolor ending. However, the final reel has disappeared and only stills serve as a wrap-up to the feature.

The film didn't quite perk up its box office returns. Benny relabeled the movie "Chasing Customers." He appeared in two additional MGM features before the studio decided to buy out his contract. He played one other serious role in 1930's 'The Medicine Man' for Tiffany Pictures, before discovering radio in 1932. His personality was perfect for the broadcast medium when he was hired for NBC's 'The Canadian Dry Program.' Benny remained in radio as a popular comic until the mid-1950s while juggling a number of movie and television appearances throughout his life.

It's really not fair to give a numerical score to this film, as it's NOT the "Chasing Rainbows" of 1930. That's because the Two-Color Technicolor portions of the film are missing and Turner Classic Movies substituted stills for the missing scenes! It's a crude way to try to reassemble the film--far from ideal, that's for sure.

"Chasing Rainbows" is a musical featuring Bessie Love and Charles King (who'd just starred together in the Oscar winning "Broadway Melody"). In addition to being a musical, Jack Benny (in one of his first films) as well as Polly Moran and Marie Dressler (both of which made a short series of comedies together following this film) are on hand to provide some comedy. Those familiar with Benny's 1940s-50s persona might have a hard time recognizing him, as here he is nothing like his radio and TV self. I'd seen him in a couple early shorts, so seeing him as a fast-talking sort of guy didn't surprise me.

The film finds Benny the leader of a touring Broadway-style review. Although Love and King are good friends, you have a strong impression that they are destined to be much more. But, in the meantime, dumb 'ol King's head is turned by a new leading lady (Nita Martan). You just KNOW that Nita is 100% bad and Bessie is a sweetheart, but it sure takes King a long time to recognize this. In fact, he is a bit too stupid to be real! In the meantime, there are lots of song and dance numbers, comedic interludes (which aren't all that funny) and various backstage vignettes. In fact, the plot isn't always all that important--it's more an excuse to feature the other acts.

As I said above, it's very hard to score this movie. It is rather old fashioned and derivative (an awful lot like "Broadway Melody") but good for 1929/1930. But the fact that it's missing so much of the film make it great viewing for total film nuts (like me) but not so great for everyone else. As I LOVE films from this era and don't mind the very dated style, I could highly recommend it to people like me....all six of us! By the way, this film was apparently made in 1929 and not released until 1930. Believe it or not, this is actually pretty easy to tell as sound technology improved quickly during the late 20s-early 30s and the film looks and sounds more like a 1929 production.

By the way, if you DO see this film, get a load of Bessie's laughing sequence--she sounds positively demented! It's easy to see it's an early talkie, as later directors never would have done the scene that way.

I really love this film - that is, what is left of it. What remains is roughly the 85 minutes which comprise the dramatic portion. What is missing are the Technicolor numbers, or approximately 20 minutes. TCM has inserted publicity stills with title cards telling the audience of any plot developments that happen during the missing scenes, and all in all it is quite watchable in its current state.

This movie reunites Bessie Love and Charles King from "Broadway Melody" fame of the year before, and throws in Jack Benny, Polly Moran, and Marie Dressler of "The Hollywood Revue", also from 1929. Many people describe this film as a redo of the Broadway Melody formula, but it really is quite different from that. The film follows the troupe of the show "Goodbye Broadway" as it moves from town to town during one theatrical season. Here Charles King plays vaudevillian Terry Fay who is oblivious to the fact that his partner, Carlie, (Bessie Love) is in love with him. Terry makes a play for every leading lady on the vaudeville circuit. Of course they use him, of course they break his heart, and of course he goes right out and does it again. However, he finally meets his match in Daphne Wayne (Nita Martin) who sees in Terry a way to make it to Broadway and off the road show circuit.

Plotwise, it isn't much, but plot really isn't the point of these early talkie back-stagers. Bessie Love comes across wonderfully as the taken-for-granted partner. You can really feel the emotional roller-coaster she is on as she thinks she may have finally gotten to Terry only to find out he's thrown her over once again. Jack Benny is great as the wise-cracking stage manager. MGM has thankfully dropped the lechery angle that he had in Hollywood Revue and instead has him adding in his biting sarcastic wit here and there, showing us a taste of what will make him a success in radio. Polly Moran and Marie Dressler are hilarious as two aging ladies of the vaudeville scene, long-time friends who are constantly at each other's throats.

The whole group plays together with such chemistry, yet Jack Benny himself always kidded about how this film landed with a thud when it opened in 1930, calling it "Chasing Customers". If you like any of the stars I've mentioned and the early talkie musicals, this one is worth watching and even has a few songs in it. If it had been released a year earlier it would probably have been a major hit and be intact today. Had it been made a year later - well, it wouldn't have been made at all a year later because by 1931 nobody was making musical films anymore. This is really worth seeking out, just don't be surprised by the condition the sound and video are in. The film really looks shaggy compared to how well the other early MGMs have been preserved.

What a potentially great film (finally got hold of a copy), a big hit MGM musical that boasted Bessie Love, Charles King, Jack Benny, Marie Dressler, and Polly Moran.

What a shame that all the Technolor is gone from the existing print, and even worse, so are all the big production numbers! Title cards appear to tell us where the numbers USED to be. Even the audio is gone.

Indeed we miss Bessie Love leading a chorus in "Everybody Tap," Charles King singing "Love Ain't Nothing' but the Blues." and Marie Dressler singing "My Dynamic Personality." Also the entire finale of "Happy Days Are Here Again" is also gone. Thanks to Richard Barrios for listing the missing songs in a footnote in A SONG IN THE DARK.

The few numbers that are left aren't too great. King sings "Lucky Me and Lovable You" to Love (who does not sing). But they do a short dance number. Dressler does an early number on the train, and Nina Martan (odd spelling) also sings one song.

In this backstage musical about an acting company traveling across country in a show called "Goodbye Broadway," we get the usual stories about jealousy, love, etc. Love is adorable as Carlie, King is better than he was in THE Broadway MELODY, Benny is funny, and of course Dressler and Moran steal every scene they're in. George K. Arthur has a small role as a (gay?) member of the troupe, and so does Gwen Lee as the member who quits early on, requiring them to hire Martan. Eddie Phillips plays the smarmy lover.

After smash hits with THE Broadway MELODY and Hollywood REVUE OF 1929, MGM launched this musical with its A Cast, but by the time the film hit theaters, the craze for musicals was winding down. Revue films were so unpopular that MGM included "Not a Revue" in its advertising for CHASING RAINBOWS. Bessie Love was MGM's #1 musical star of the time, and Marie Dressler and Polly Moran are just plain hysterically funny together.

Let's hope these Technicolor musical numbers are found some day. What a treat that would be!

I won't repeat other reviews; I agree with almost all comments. What I'd like to address is the unprofessional editing. In one scene actors apparently are listening to Jack Benny lecturing but without sound. This is clearly a medium reaction shot, meant to have Jack's voice over. Poly Moran stands in a doorway without moving for about three seconds before action begins. An actor enters a door from the outside - you can't see the door - and then the camera pauses. Then on the inside we see the door continues to open. At the trimmed fade out you see the door start to open again. This is an A picture made by an A studio. Such gaffes are unforgivable.