Moi et le baron

This movie was written by Herman Mankiewicz. We may ask, "Is this as good as his "Citizen Kane?" This movie was produced by David O. Selznik. We may ask, "Is this as good as "Gone with the Wind?" This movie has song lyrics by Dorothy Fields. We may ask, "Is this as good as "Swing Time," "Roberta" and "Sweet Charity?"

Unfortunately, I would have to say, "No" all five times.

While this is a zany hour or so of music and vaudeville style comedy, it is too slight to be considered more than an amusing, quirky farce.

There's a lot of talent both behind and in front of the camera and everybody seems to be having fun, but nothing matches, meshes, or stands out (with the exception of two minutes of naughty precode fun watching some singing beauties taking showers.

Seeing Edna Mae Oliver and Zasu Pitts is always a joy. I didn't find either Jack Pearl or Jimmy Durante more than occasionally amusing.

Some reviewers have attacked Ted Healy for his bad treatment of the Three Stooges. This is the third or fourth film I've seen him in with the Stooges and I think he does interact very well with them. He is just playing a character and his mean treatment is just part of the act, not anything real. Essentially Moe just takes over Healy's harsh boss role after they split. We should give Healy the credit he deserves for creating the successful slapstick formula. If you watch Healy in "Varsity Show," you'll see a totally different side of him. He is both funny and charming in that movie. Sadly, he was killed a few months afterward. I think if he hadn't died, he would have continued to be successful without the Stooges. Perhaps he could have answered some of the charges that the Stooges later brought against him.

This is not a great film, but it has great interest for cinemaphiles. One reason is its pre-code action, particularly the "Clean as a Whistle" shower scene. Secondly, the film has a diverse cast of MGM talents on display.

The film's story is silly. After years of searching, they find Baron Munchausen in the jungles of Africa. When they bring him back to civilization, they first take him to Cuddles College (of course), where a bevy of (MGM dancing) girls reside.

Noteworthy cast members include Jimmy Durante, Zasu Pitts, and the Three Stooges.

When the Baron visits Cuddles College, the locals and coeds deliver a rhyming sing-song poem in the style of "The Wizard of Oz" Munchkins six years later. I looked for a connection; Herman J. Mankiewicz was a writer for both films.

Munchausen, played by Jack Pearl, is featured in another film in 1934, so audiences must have responded to this lightweight but light-hearted fare.

After years of seeing the Ted Healy & His Stooges sequences of this movie on the VHS tape "The Lost Stooges", I just finally watched the whole movie of Meet the Baron. It stars Jack Pearl as the title character who tells tales that can't be believed. Jimmy Durante provides support as his manager, Edna Mae Oliver is the dean of a girls college, and Zazu Pitts is a maid. As for Ted Healy with Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Jerry (Curly) Howard, they're plumbers sent to get water back in operation so the female students can continue showering. You know this was a pre-Code movie when you see various nude (though strategically covered with water) ladies singing while showering! Overall, the Stooges were perhaps the funniest parts of the movie with some amusing lines from Pearl, Durante, Oliver, and Pitts. Not really hilarious all the way through but Meet the Baron had some good moments. P.S. I wonder if Herman J. Mankiewicz got the Rosebud name that became a part of a classic he co-wrote called Citizen Kane from this film which he also had a hand in writing and in which the mule is called by that name!

An outrageous liar, pretending to be Baron Munchausen the famous explorer, arrives in new York City with his lowbrow companion. They proceed to defraud everyone in sight, before finally settling in at Cuddle College - where they plan to give the coeds the opportunity to MEET THE BARON.

In the early 1930's, Jack Pearl was a huge success on radio as Baron ('Vas you dere, Charley?') Munchausen, the champion fibber. MGM decided to groom him for film stardom, playing his famous character. Here, in the first of two films -HOLLYWOOD PARTY (1934) was the second - he is surrounded by first rate talent: the great Jimmy Durante as his sidekick; fluttery Zasu Pitts; the inimitable Edna May Oliver as the college dean; and Ted Healy & the Three Stooges.

The movie, while no classic, is enjoyable. Pearl, Durante and Misses Oliver & Pitts all have good moments. Fans of the Stooges will appreciate their contributions to the lunacy of the plot. Film mavens will want to look fast for Robert Greig & Lionel Belmore as explorers and Mary Gordon as the college washerwoman.

'Clean As A Whistle' has to be the strangest song ever included in an MGM movie - it takes place entirely in the college shower room...

This film is uneven: the first half is very promising, and it looks like "Meet The Baron" could develop into a classic of the absurdist-nonsense school of comedy, in the same vein as "Duck Soup" and "Horse Feathers". But the second half has too much violent, unsophisticated slapstick, and too many lame word puns ("take it with a grain of salt" - "you mean you can eat it?"). The two best sequences are the two musical numbers: the satirical "The Best is None Too Good", and especially the very pre-code "Clean as a Whistle", which must have been considered extremely hot by moviegoers back in 1933, and remains quite provocative and teasing today. Great closing gag, too! **1/2 out of 4.