Hurrah ao Amor

"Hooray for Love" is a potboiler comedy romance and musical revue typical of so many that all the Hollywood studios made in the 1930s. After sound entered moving pictures at the end of the 1920s, these musical revue type of films began to supplant the live performances that people were used to from vaudeville. But, a studio couldn't just string together a bunch of numbers and routines on film; although to audiences within a few decades looking back, it appeared that many of these old films were little more than that. So, they wrote stories in which to place all those numbers. And, most of these turned out to be little more than strings to tie together the musical numbers and comedy sketches.

The absolute rubber stamp of all these films is their setting in New York City. It had to be there because that's where Broadway is located. Broadway isn't just a street. It's the name of the general theater area of New York where live plays are staged, and that the street traverses. And, Broadway had been the birthplace and headquarters of theater shows since its first theater opened after the Dutch bought Long Island from the natives in 1626.

With so many movies showing the glitz and glimmer of the Big Apple, the draw of the big city to many small town kids was strong. The vast majority of those who left home for the lights and glamour of New York never made it in show biz, obviously. Some stayed and settted down after finding real work. Others went back home. And some struck out, seeking opportunities elsewhere.

Of course, Hollywood wouldn't have sold many tickets to movies that showed disappointment. Struggling and hard times, yes, until the breaks came. But then, the hero and or heroine would get the break and make it big with a hit on Broadway. A frequent variation on this theme would be the traveling theater shows that would take trains across the country to put on shows. In short order, these types of musical films - the revue formats, set on and off Broadway, became like the dime novels of literature of the time. The better talents appeared in musicals with more story substance and/or quality music and dance; and they were set in numerous locales from nightclubs in exotic cities to every imaginable setting.

Now, back to this 1935 musical revue and comedy romance. It's the standard hair-thin plot with just a slight variation, set on Broadway but without any standout musical talent, or any memorable numbers. Bill Robinson, a song and dance man of the period does some nice tap dancing and singing, but his numbers are forgettable, and the scenes are far too long and unimpressive. Legendary jazz piano player Fats Waller is wasted with some mundane key work. The music is sparse and not of star quality. Indeed, the film has just a few numbers stretched out and repeated a couple times.

One wants to give Gene Raymond and Ann Sothern better marks. They are very likable here. But the story just drags on and quickly becomes boring. Even the best of the humor, provided mostly by a middle-aged (53) Thurston Hall, wears thin after a while. This movie just doesn't have much.

For a comparison of films of the musical revue type, look at another RKO picture that also starred Gene Raymond. Two years earlier, the studio made "Flying Down to Rio." It was loaded with talent and great musical productions, and it had a good plot.

Douglas Tyler (Gene Raymond) pursues Patricia Thatcher (Ann Sothern) as both a performing partner and girlfriend. She's not having any of it. He struggles to get anywhere in the business of show. The Commodore talks him into investing in a show after he realizes that it's Pat's father. The show rehersal goes horribly with the bad singing of Trixie Chummy (Pert Kelton). Doug mortgaged his family home and is in danger of losing it.

I love Pert Kelton's comedic section and Bill Robinson's dancing. I really like the first half of the story. I'm less in love with the second half. It's nevertheless pretty good.

"Hooray for Love" is a film where most of it is very ordinary and familiar. But there's also a part that is pretty amazing and it is well worth watching the movie just to see these performances.

Douglas (Gene Raymond) is a struggling performer and Broadway wannabe. He tries working at the bottom for a local radio station and is soon fired. Shortly after, he meets a bombastic braggard. 'Commodore' Thatcher (Thurston Hall) claims to know people and can get Douglas in touch with some Broadway producers. In reality, Thatcher is a schemer and he mostly is interested in Douglas' money! The Commodore's daughter, Patricia (Ann Sothern) is a singer for this production....and early on there is a meet cute with Douglas and she can't stand him...at first. The rest of the film is about the ups and downs of putting on this show despite the odds.

If all this sounds familiar, well...it is! I have seen many films like it...including various musicals from Warner Brothers (such as "42nd Street") and the MGM Rooney-Garland films. But what makes it stand out are the cameos by Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson (one of the great tap dancers of his era), Jeni Le Gon (a great tap dancer and singer) and Fats Waller (one of the finest pianists...and quite the singer). Seeing the film just for their performances wouldn't be a bad thing! Overall, I give this one a 7....the story is okay and the dancing and music is tops.

You have to wait till near the end to see the Bojangles number, with a brief appearance from Fats Waller, but the wait is painless. Ann Sothern stars on the strength of her singing, of all things...

A not very memorable score from Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields characterizes Hooray For Love. But Gene Raymond and Ann Sothern have every reason to believe the title. And where else will you get to see Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson dance and Fats Waller sing and play piano in the same number. That in itself is worth setting aside some time to see this.

But the real star of this film is Thurston Hall who usually plays stuffy establishment types in films and on television. But here he's a larcenous old conman who fleeces earnest young Gene Raymond who is trying to put on a show.

Raymond wants to put it on with Ann Sothern and Hall who sees that his daughter who is the only thing that really means anything to him makes some heavy sacrifices with society matron Georgia Caine. Over at Paramount WC Fields would have played this part to perfection.

I'm surprised at the number of people who don't know about Ann Sothern's theatrical background. Under her real name of Harriet Lake, Sothern was in any number of shows on Broadway, she in fact starred in one of Rodgers&Hart's musicals before coming to Hollywood. It was only in television that she seems to have given up the musical part of her performing persona.

Hooray For Love is an enjoyable piece of Thirties backstage fluff with the main features being Robinson and Waller and a different kind of role for Thurston Hall.