We're Not Dressing

This 30's Paramount film starts out on board the "Doris", luxury yacht belonging to heiress Doris Worthington (Carole Lombard). Along for the ride is her uncle Hubert (Leon Errol), Ray Milland and Jay Henry as two princes who stick together like glue and both want to marry Doris, and friend Edith (Ethel Merman) who says she'll take the prince Doris turns down. Bing Crosby plays singing sailor Stephen Jones who Doris has named caretaker of her pet bear. Aboard ship Doris pushes Stephen around - although not without him pushing back - until uncle Hubert's drunkenness causes the yacht to sink. Now the tides of inequality are turned and it's Stephen with his knowledge of survival skills - and common sense skills like cooking - that give him the upper hand over his five aristocratic companions when they all find themselves shipwrecked on a deserted island.

This is when Bing was in the light and breezy musical comedy part of his film career, and the public ate this amusing escapist stuff up. Besides Bing's singing, Carole Lombard is beginning to hit her stride as a great comedienne, Ethel Merman sings a little but is mainly part of the comedy, and a very young Ray Milland manages to get upstaged by a wrestling bear.

So that the "stranded on a desert island" theme doesn't get tired, George Burns and Gracie Allen are on the island too playing two naturalists in search of wild beasts that can be studied with an amusing bit where Gracie shows George the wild animal trap she's invented.

Recommended as great light musical comedy fare from the 30's that, although it is technically precode, could have easily gotten past the censors had it been released even a year later.