Anything Goes

In New York, 1936 Cole Porter was the toast of the town...in Hollywood he was just another songwriter. When RKO turned his "The Gay Divorce" into "The Gay Divorcée", "Night and Day" was the only original song kept in the film, but Fred and Ginger were given "The Continental" and "A Needle in a Haystack" to make into standards. "Anything Goes" unfortunately didn't have such luck. It was Cole Porter at his best but censorship was always going to be a problem in bringing his risqué songs to the screen. While the censors relented about the plot, an on the run gangster, Moon Face Martin, Public Enemy 13 disguising himself as a priest, the songs were scrupulously cleansed of any references to cocaine, burlesque dancers and "Holy Moses". The main songs left out were "All Through the Night", "Blow, Gabriel, Blow" and "Anything Goes" (amazingly!!) in which Ethel Merman sang a couple of lines over the opening credits.

She soon appears on a swing singing a very cleaned up version of "I Get a Kick Out of You" then confusion sets in. This is not Bing Crosby's finest moment. Charlie Ruggles is a riot as Moon Face Martin, Public Enemy No. 13 (although having seen Victor Moore in a couple of films I can imagine how funny he would have been). Crosby is mistaken for Snake Eyes Johnson, a fellow gangster - he has followed Hope Harcourt (luminous Ida Lupino) on to a liner, thinking she is being harassed by gangsters, but in reality her father has hired private investigators. There is a scene were Reno Sweeney (Merman) and Arthur Treacher start a conversation with "you do something to me" (from Porter's "50 Million Frenchmen" (1929)) - perhaps it was to convince the audience that this movie was based on a Cole Porter musical and they were in the right movie house!!! Mostly the film is filled with lack lustre, forgettable songs although "You're the Top" is sang with verve by Crosby and Merman. The finale "Shanghi De Ho" is a lavish number that looks as though it is filmed in a theatre and not on the docks as it is supposed to be. The film, to me, seemed to have a cheap look about it!!!

Even though only four or five (depending on how you count) of Cole Porter's great songs were retained ["I Get A Out of You," "There Will Always Be A Lady Fair" (the sailor's quartet with reprises ), "You're The Top" (with reprises and bizarrely done up as the chorus to a "Shanghai-De-Ho" finale number"), "Anything Goes" (all too briefly in the opening credits and background score) and the haunting "All Through the Night" (sadly, surviving only in the overture in the TV print seen!) several of them with altered lyrics and the song cues very much in place for "You Do Something To Me"] and a passel of not bad others for crooner Crosby ["Steer By The North Star/Sailor Beware," "I'll Get a Moonburn," "My Heart and I"] added in typical Hollywood know-it-all fashion (Cole Porter was a particular victim of this syndrome) this essentially plot faithful, and decidedly all-star preservation of one of Porter's greatest hits is required viewing for anyone interested in "golden age" musicals and jolly good fun for anyone else, even in its lamely TV retitled and apparently badly edited "Tops Is The Limit" version.

Ethel Merman recreating her Broadway Reno Sweeney is at her best (possibly outshining even her later, smoother Broadway recreation in the film of CALL ME MADAM) and amply demonstrates why she (along with Mary Martin) was at the top of most lists of 20th Century musical theatre stars.

More than ample support is provided by Bing Crosby in the William Gaxton role of Billy Crocker (who Reno is attracted to but who hankers after runaway socialite Hope), Charlie Ruggles in the Victor Moore role of "Public Enemy #13, 'Moonface' Martin - on the lamb from the FBI, Ida Lupino as Hope Harcourt, Arthur Treacher as Lord Evelyn Oakleigh who is trying to bring Hope home to England to marry her, Margaret Dumont briefly seen as Mrs. Wentworth the owner of a kidnapped Peikinese, Charlie Chan's "Number One Son" Keye Luke & Philip Ahn as a pair of gambling Chinese and Grace Bradley as Moonface's moll Bonnie.

All are blissfully gathered (and some farcically hiding) on a ship crossing from New York to London. The original pre-Broadway rehearsal script had the cast shipwrecked, but the well publicized burning of the actual cruise ship Morro Castle off New Jersey while the show was in preparation made shipwrecks decidedly unPC for musical comedy so all the action was kept on board.

Few shipboard films (certainly not the bland and UNfaithful 1956 remake with Crosby and Mitzi Gaynor) have as much fun capturing an Atlantic crossing OR a Broadway show.

The 1936 "Anything Goes" is another example of Hollywood's mishandling of what could have been a classic film version of a classic Broadway show. All the opportunities were there-Bing Crosby as the male lead, Ethel Merman (who did make her songs famous, even if you can't stand her singing style) repeating her stage role, Charlie Ruggles a perfect and hilarious replacement for Victor Moore, and one of Cole Porter's two greatest scores-the other being "Kiss Me Kate". So what do the filmmakers do?

They throw out all but four of the original songs and turn the film into a Bing Crosby vehicle by getting a group of songwriters to write several new songs especially for him, one of them reportedly at his request. Then, they rewrite the lyrics to "You're the Top" (one of Porter's most clever songs), retain only the first verse of the title song, "Anything Goes", make a minor change (required by the censors of the time) to the lyrics to "I Get A Kick Out Of You", keep the original plot line (notice that the filmmakers considered the ridiculous plot sacred enough to leave alone, but not Cole Porter's songs), and release this flat, unfunny mess. At least Ethel Merman fans get to see her sing two of her biggest hit songs on film.

After so many years of knowing this was on YouTube, I finally decided to watch this initial film version of Cole Porter's musical Anything Goes. Ethel Merman reprises her Broadway role as Reno Sweeney and got to sing the Porter songs, "I Get a Kick Out of You" and "You're the Top" which she performed with the other film star, Bing Crosby, though both songs had some lyric changes either because of the Production Code or because Paramount didn't want to have stars not contracted to that studio mentioned in the latter song. Oh, and "Anything Goes" was only sung briefly by Merman at the beginning. Anyway, this was quite a funny farce though it takes a while before one gets what's going on and even then, you have to really pay attention to understand it! Charlie Ruggles is a hoot as someone disguising as a missionary man and Margaret Dumont is her funny dowager self sharing a scene with him. The non-Porter songs aren't bad, either, and Ida Lupino was a luminous leading lady here. So on that note, this version of Anything Goes is worth a look. P.S. The reason I decided to watch this now was because I've been reviewing the Our Gang shorts in chronological order as well as some films outside of the series that has some of those kid players in the same way. So it was that OG player Jerry Tucker has a part here doing some mischief between Crosby, Merman, and Ruggles and another man who's laying in a deck chair. And the version I watched on YT had the alternate title, Tops Is the Limit.

'Anything Goes' has always been one of my favourite Cole Porter musicals. The songs are some of his most memorable and catchy and the lyrics some of his cleverest.

This screen adaptation is slightly disappointing but also with plenty to enjoy. It is not among the best screen adaptations of his work (i.e. 'Kiss Me Kate') but not one of the weakest either (i.e. 'Can-Can'). The story is very lightweight and even more flimsy, and the grand production finale is a little overblown, the more lavish production values not quite meshing with the slightly less cinematic look where some lacking-in-finesse editing can be seen.

Porter's songs are simply wonderful and brilliantly sung by Ethel Merman and Bing Crosby, but did deserve better treatment. There are some glaring omissions and lyric changes to accommodate the censors meaning that the risqué naughtiness that made Porter's lyrics so clever is swapped for tamer and safer writing and, as much as one tries to judge on its own feet, it just doesn't feel the same.

However, apart from the editing it is a good-looking film, not lavish but nicely photographed in black and white and attractive enough costumes and sets. The music is wonderful, even with the changes and not quite feeling like Porter, and the choreography is never cluttered or leaden. The script is clever and witty, with some pleasing humour, and it's all solidly directed.

Nothing to fault with the performances. It is very easy to see why Merman was a triumph in her role here on Broadway, belting out powerfully in the title song (one of Porter's most famous classics for very good reason), "You're the Top" and particularly "I Get a Kick Out of You", the latter being the highlight of the film. Crosby looks relaxed and is charming, while Ida Lupino radiates in beauty and charisma and Charles Ruggles enjoys himself enormously.

To conclude, so much to enjoy but full potential is not quite met. 7/10 Bethany Cox