Viva l'allegria

"Everybody Sings" sports a cast with plenty of talent. Judy Garland stars in this "Let's put on a show" production, featuring Billie Burke and Fanny Brice, among others.

The story is forgettable. The real action is on stage, where the numbers are highlighted by garlands, gals and an orchestra. I doubt everyone will like the musical performances. They are somewhat dated.

Billie Burke plays the loquacious wife who voices her every thought (again). Her performance can be annoying, but every once in a while she hits just the right note and she's laugh out loud funny.

Soon after this production, Judy and Billie would rejoin for "The Wizard of Oz" which, by comparison, shows how mediocre this film is.

Allan Jones and Judy Garland star in one of those wacky backstage musicals that Warner Brothers was better known for in Everybody Sing. With a very talented cast doing the shtick they do best, Everybody Sings comes out as great entertainment.

The only weakness in this film and it's a big one is the lack of any memorable songs. The best known one in the film is Cosi Cosa which Allan Jones had originally introduced in A Night At the Opera and he sings a couple of lines of, here. The stuff written for the film directly just doesn't measure up.

If Judy doesn't put on a show as she usually does with Mickey Rooney, she does agree to star in a show to help her family who is going bankrupt. Her father is playwright Reginald Owen and her mother is actress Billie Burke who next year Garland would work with in The Wizard of Oz. Burke is one extravagant ham of an actress who is constantly reciting old play dialog in every given situation and she's very funny. Her extravagance is also driving Owen to the poor house.

Employed at this house are cook Allan Jones who also sings at a nightclub during the evening and Fanny Brice. I can't quite decide who's funnier in this film, Burke or Brice. It's a good thing that Jones and Garland were the singers that they are because as straight players they could never have held a scene from either of these women.

Everybody Sing is a great opportunity to see the great Fanny Brice perform. The image we have of her is from Funny Girl and Funny Lady and it's nice to see the real deal. Also Reginald Gardiner is quite good as a ham actor who's courting Lynne Carver, Garland's older sister who Jones is sweet on.

I only wish some memorable songs came from this film it would have achieved greatness if some had.

This is strictly JUDY GARLAND before she became the Judy we all know. Ditto for the ill used FANNY BRICE, whose "Baby Snooks" routine on radio was socko with millions during the '40s but looks bad here.

The story, a dumb one even for MGM family musicals, is about a bunch of eccentrics in a family that are intent on putting on a show (where have we heard that one before?), and bursting into song numbers at the drop of a hat. Unfortunately, none of the numbers are anything worth remembering (or hearing, for that matter). The whole thing falls as flat as a pancake by the time it's even into the middle section.

BILLIE BURKE does her usual fluttery act as a dizzy mother and MGM was still, at this point, trying to groom ALLAN JONES for stardom, but he's even more wooden than Nelson Eddy ever was. He too is saddled with some hard to like songs to give his tenor pipes a workout.

As one who enjoyed the best MGM musicals which came along in the '40s, from a studio whose musical talent was the uncontested best, this is simply a foolish yawner with no interest except serving as an early glimpse of JUDY GARLAND, who is unable to overcome this weak kind of rubbish. Same goes for the entire cast.

Summing up: Strictly below average as entertainment.

That's a good screenplay. Judy Garland plays a girl named Judy (what a coincidence !) who has lots trouble in school but, with the help oh her maid and her cook, she will see her life change. I love Fanny Brice's performance. She's so funny! I love all the Judy's movie until now and I want to watch all of them !

"Everybody Sing" is a delightful 1938 film filled with music but, as these things go, not much plot. That's okay.

Judy plays Judy Bellaire, whose mother (Billie Burke) is a busy actress, and her father (Reginald Owen) is a producer. When Judy gets kicked out of school for turning her classical music into jazz, no one will listen to the reason she's home - they're all too busy.

Mom is in rehearsal with her leading man (Reginald Owen), her sister Sylvia (Lynne Carter) is taking a voice lesson, and her father is frantically running around.

Judy's only pals in the house are the chef, Ricky Saboni (Allan Jones), who is in love with Sylvia, and the maid (Fanny Brice), an ex-Russian performer.

Eventually Judy, though underage, gets into a show put on by Ricky, who sings at night in a club. The singing is glorious, Judy singing "Swing Mr. Mendolssohn," "Down to Melody Farm," "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot," and "Ever Since the World Began."

Brice does a specialty number, and Jones, in his beautiful tenor, sings "The Show Must Go On," "Cosi-Cosa," and "First Thing in the Morning." Pre-Wizard of Oz, and pretty Judy sings with an incredible maturity of tone.

Fun, upbeat movie.