Con l'amore non si scherza

In her autobiography Jessie Matthews said how difficult it was to make this film.This is because it was directed by her then husband,Sonnie Hale,who wanted this to be a platform for them both.It eventually recked their marriage.However what they have left for us is a lasting tribute to their respective talents.The musical numbers are well staged,with some marvelous art deco sets.Whilst the songs themselves did not become standards nevertheless they are very catchy.There is some sterling stellar support from some fine actors of the period.Whilst Barry Mackay might not be a well remembered name,he turns in a performance which is certainly well worth remembering.Then of course there is Roland Young giving us another of his incomparable bumbling performances.It is so sad that the second world war seemed to stop dead in its tracks her film career.She only made a handful of films after 1939.

God, how I wish this team had been doing the Astaire-Rogers movies in the same era. Wonderful, risque script and a gorgeously funny leading lady.

Anyone who loves a 1930s comedy musical will love this chic, classy hour and a half of silliness.

You would never guess that this was made by the very bankrupt Gaumont-British (in the process of being subsumed into Rank). The production standards and sumptuous sets look amazing. The final number for example, filmed in one take, needed two sound stages and involved a whole mile of dancing. This impossible number was meant to be part of a what's being seen on a stage and Buddy Bradley's flight of fancy choreography is reminiscent of how Busby Berkeley made us believe an entire New York street was on the stage in 42ND STREET.

This was Sonnie Hale's last go at directing. He didn't stop because he wasn't any good at it - he actually delivers an energetic and engaging picture. The trouble was that he blamed his career on destroying his marriage. He was married to Jessie Matthews and apparently their professionalism was too much to allow either of them to leave their work back at the studio. .....well that and the fact that Jessie found out her husband was having numerous affairs. If you're familiar 1) with what Sonnie Hale looked like and 2) that he was married to the sexiest, most gorgeous English film star of the 1930s you'll think this is impossible - was he mad?

This is not quite one of Jessie Matthews' best films but it's still brilliantly entertaining and filled with a mix of silly and uniquely subtle humour that you only find in an English film. There's never a dull moment in this, the script is witty and Hale directs this as though he'd been doing it for years. Jessie Matthews is fabulous, she's both graceful and funny, authentic and endearing. She brings such a warmth presence to every minute she's on screen, she's somehow instantly loveable.

This film also benefits from a superb supporting cast especially Roland Young, who has never been funnier. I wasn't convinced however that Barry MacKay, with his cut-glass accent was believable as a grimy Thames barge man which is odd because Jessie Matthews with her own cut-glass accent is believable - maybe that just shows what a very talented actress she was.

I had a friend who lived on a boat on the River Thames in Richmond - just along from the Who's guitarist Pete Townsend whose daughter Emma fancied me big time back in the 1980s. She was a bit of a big-head. Anyway, I learned about life on the water and was made aware of a section of society that most people are unaware of - there is a river community. This involves regulars dropping by on each other in their small speedboats to drop off drugs, say hello, etc. Well, it looks like Jessie Matthews (Kay) favours this lifestyle as she is brought up living and sailing along the Thames with skipper Frank Pettingell and his son Barry MacKay (Stevel). Matthews and MacKay constantly bicker at each other whilst pursuing their individual dreams away from the water.

The rivalry between Matthews and Mackay is not at all convincing - they are pretty horrible to each other - and both actors can be irritating, Matthews with her pronunciation and her singing, and MacKay with his temperament. However, the script can be funny, the supporting cast are quite good, the dancing numbers are entertaining and the film keeps you watching. Forget the songs, though. Jack Whiting (Randall) plays an already successful entertainer and his singing is far superior to Matthews. Alastair Sims (Sylvester) has a good part as an abstract artist.

Whilst watching the film, it struck my wife and I how similar in looks Matthews is to Sarah Brightman. I bet Jessie Matthews is the favourite actress of Andrew Lloyd-Weber. Also, more creepily, I bet if he was around at the same time, he would be hanging around her dressing room, writing terrible songs for her to perform and trying to get a date. Matthews must be relieved that he wasn't around, although she would have murdered any of the bland tunes that he came up with by performing them in that terribly old-fashioned singing style.

Jessie Mathews is simply adorable in this delightful 1930s English B&W musical. Poor little Thames River barge girl dreams of fame and fortune on the London stage only to give it all up for true love... and a schooner. In addition to a lovely singing voice and exuberant tomboy personality, Jessie was an exceptionally gifted dancer. Paired perfectly with the American singer/dancer Jack Whiting, the couple do a number of eccentric syncopated numbers rather in the style of Fred and Ginger. There is a very British take on a wise-cracking and vulgar American press-agent, aptly named "Windy," wonderfully played by Noel Madison, the son of the great Yiddish actor Maurice Moscovitch. (Mr. Jaeckel, the barber's friend, in Chaplin's "The Great Dictator.") The film was written and directed by her husband and produced in lavish style at Pinewood Studios by England's David Selznick, Michael Balcon, who would go on to produce the famous Ealing Studios comedies.