gullwing592003

I used to have this rare James Cagney musical on VHS I bought it in the early '90's. I watched it countless times & no matter how many times I viewed it I could never remember any of the musical numbers. The title song is good but just not very memorable for some reason....& I have a good memory. Unlike his other musicals like "Footlight Parade" in 1933 was a very successful musical with memorable dance routines & songs. "I have "Footlight" on VHS it's the only Cagney musical I have.

I don't have "Something To Sing About" anymore & I'm a James Cagney fan. I just watched this again on You Tube & I've forgotten how good it really is. I learned recently this movie was a flop & sank Grand National into bankruptcy in 1939 after $900,000 was invested in the production.

Poverty row independent studios rarely if ever produce hits & classics. Simply because they don't have the publicity machinery & distribution to realize a movie's highest potential in box office returns. I can't help but wonder had this movie been produced at Warner Bros. Maybe it would've resonated with audiences more. The storyline is based on James Cagney own success story of a song & dance man getting an offer from hollywood to break into films. Cagney does some very impressive dancing in this. A side of him he didn't get to show very often he was quite a versatile actor. It's an interesting curiosity it's just not as memorable as "Footlight Parade" & "Yankee Doodle Dandy" but still worth watching.

Baz got most of it right. I'd say 90% right it was mostly accurate it's the most realistic movie of Elvis ever done to show what it was really like & the way it actually was. I been into Elvis since 1977 so I know most of the facts. Baz didn't pull no punches & wanted to tell the truth & I think some people have to pick it apart because it was too real & they can't handle it. Example in the early days in 1955. '56 & '57 I read books & seen in interviews of Scotty Moore & DJ Fontana's saying what the early live shows were like & many times the fans rushed the stage & trashed DJ Fontana drums & Scotty Moore said it was scary. Elvis himself mentioned it in the '68 TV Special. More than once in '56 & '57 Elvis was given restraining orders to stand still & not move or he'd get arrested & put in jail & the police filmed his shows. All Elvis could move was his little finger & Elvis did grab Nipper the RCA dog on stage & would roll around the stage with Nipper & drive the kids nuts & Baz captured that at the Russwood Park show in 1956 after the Steve Allen show. Elvis really did tell the fans what the real Elvis Presley was like & he performed with fire Elvis was out for blood. The riots did happen in the 50's & it's as legendary as his notorious gyrations. They didn't call him Elvis the Pelvis for nothing. Ok he didn't sing "Trouble" until 1958 for "King Creole" but it fit the narrative as Baz wanted you to know what was gonna happen. Things the movie got right was the riots of Elvis' early shows & the Louisiana Hayride & the controversy from the Milton Berle Show in 1956. Things wrong was Elvis buying Graceland it wasn't until 1957 Elvis bought a 1 story house on Audabon Drive in 1956. Elvis was drafted in the army & didn't enlist, the establishment wanted to stop rock n roll in 1958. The movie didn't focus much on the movie years as most of Elvis' movies were not that good anyway. Elvis did fire Tom Parker but not on stage & Elvis never knew the Colonel was an illegal alien. The movie has some creative liberties but most of it was factually correct. It's a movie not a documentary if you want 100% accuracy watch a documentary or read a book there's plenty out there.

"They Drive By Night" is a great movie I always like to come back to. A classic movie that's really 2 movies the first half is a truckers flick with the Fabrini brothers Joe (George Raft) & Paul (Humphrey Bogart. It's fun to watch both actors & at times it's a George Raft movie & other times it's a Humphrey Bogart movie. But this theme & premise doesn't last thru the entire movie.

I don't get why Joe Fabrini (Raft) didn't understand why Paul (Bogart) wanted to stop at a motel to get some rest & sleep & made Paul drive when he was also tired as Joe told Paul to take the wheel for awhile. Anyway Paul is driving & clearly has white line fever & I won't say what happens next.

The 2nd half of the movie is a film noir where Ida Lupino is the focus & dominates the movie as Raft & Bogart take a back seat. It really should've been two separate stories. The first half about truckers on the road comes off better IMO. Ida Lupino walked away with this movie with her stand out performance. Still a great movie with a good cast & a wisecracking Ann Sheridan & Alan Hale is very good & funny & lots of memorable snappy dialog. Recommended..