Safety in Numbers

This Paramount musical from 1930 boasted the currently hot Buddy Rogers when he emerged from the silents as a musical star (PARAMOUNT ON PARADE, FOLLOW THRU). This is a sideways version of the GOLD DIGGERS films with a trio of chorus girls on the loose and on the take (they live in a swanky apartment). But the catch here is that the rich and naive (think Dick Powell) Rogers is sent to live with them, with them as chaperons! Each girl is paid $10,000 to chaperon Rogers until he turns 21 and inherits $25 million.

Most of the song here are OK but nothing special. But "The Pick Up" is terrific as it swings through the intro, a trombone solo by Rogers, and an astonishing bit by Louise Beavers (as the maid Messalina). I never heard her sing before. The song ends with a chorus line of silhouettes dancing in front of a spinning New York skyline. An amazing number.

The chorines are played by Kathryn Crawford (who sings), Josephine Dunn (an MGM starlet loaned out to Paramount), and Carole Lombard (of all people). Others in the cast include Richard Tucker as the uncle, Virginia Bruce as Alma, and Roscoe Karns as the cab driver.

Rogers has a pleasing singing voice but his acting is very shaky (yet he is likable). Crawford looks rather dumpy. Lombard has the best line readings and you can see her future great performances in this early talkie.

Buddy Rogers is set to inherit $25,000,000 soon. His uncle, Richard Tucker, thinks he spends too much time at the office staging musical numbers, so he ships him off to New York to get some seasoning, and includes an introduction to Kathryn Crawford, Josephine Dunn and Carole Lombard, three chorines who share a penthouse apartment, figuring there's safety in numbers. Rogers spends all his cash buying a gift for his hostesses, so he settles down to write a musical, get them better pay, and fall in love with one.

The songs were written by Richard Whiting and George Marion Jr. They're all right, but not particularly well staged or performed, except for one verse by Louise Beavers. In fact, the whole movie is stodgily staged, except for one number involving a big chorus of silhouetted women and an optical printer. The soundtrack is filled with crowd noises, and the pacing of lines is a bit draggy.

This poor pacing is odd because it's directed by Victor Schertzinger, a composer and film director who had been at the latter job since 1917. One would expect the man who composed "Tangerine" (albeit with Johnny Mercer doing the words) to have a better sense of pacing and aural focus. However this was 1930, Hollywood was still in chaos from the switchover to sound, and Schertzinger was probably worried about his job; 1930 was the year that movie musicals collapsed. Despite Rogers' pep, musicals like this, with their risque 1920s-style plots, were rapidly losing favor.

"Safety In Numbers" makes you wonder if Buddy Rogers' career would have gained more momentum had it been filmed in, say, 1934-5, after the clunkiness of early sound-on-film technology had been ironed out. This was clearly meant to be a showcase for Rogers, and he certainly makes the most of his musical opportunities, singing in every number except "You Appeal To Me." Come to think of it, NOBODY sings "You Appeal To Me," because Carole Lombard could not sing, choosing instead to speak the lyrics over the orchestral accompaniment. But Rogers zips through his songs, even playing the drums and piano at one point, not to mention a wicked trombone solo during "The Pick-Up." The only problem seems to be whether or not Rogers is meant to be a libertine or a sweet guy - clearly his uncle imagines him to be a jazz-and-sex crazed rogue, but Rogers' sweet pan and wholesome, charming personality suggest nothing more decadent than a high school football captain slightly intoxicated on grandma's elderberry wine.

Regardless, the film is a risqué romp through an early Depression garden of opportunities to see young women in their underthings for extended periods of time (Rogers ingenuously asks one of the girls what a bra is - she answers: "A ping-pong net." He deadpans: "I love ping-pong.") It's difficult to tell Carole Lombard and Josephine Dunn apart in long shot, but up close (and when they opens their mouths), it's clear that Lombard had an edge on Dunn in terms of comedy and timing. Both Dunn and Crawford were forgotten by the mid-thirties; the former's blandness and the latter's staginess probably did nothing to contribute to their longevity.

Credit goes to George Marion Jr.'s lyrics - he is one of the more obscure Tin Pan Alley lyricists, but I always find his words snappy, literate, and loaded with internal rhymes and fresh ideas (ridiculous as "A Bee in Your Boudoir" might be, it's a clever song that sticks in your head).

If you can find the film, give it a whirl, for the sake of Buddy Rogers, a half dozen great songs, and a look at the "naughty" musical cinema of the Depression before the Code crackdown in mid-1934.

First of all I was pleased with the large amount of screen time that Carole Lombard had in the film. I would say she gets the best lines of the three girls and the best dresses. Her delivery was also not as stilted as in many other of her early films. Perhaps the quick pace and light atmosphere of the film kept the dialogue more natural. All three girls sing a song to our leading man in an attempt to win his love, but sadly Miss Lombard only talk-sings her song. I thought many of the songs were enjoyable, although none of them were up to the standards of Lombard's other musical "We're Not Dressing". I was impressed, however, by the special effect of the silhouetted dancers dancing over a montage of New York at one point during the feature number. This film did have a heart, but it would have been so much better if we had been able to see any real development of the relationship between Buddy Rogers and the girl he chooses. As it was I can't say there was any reason to chose her over the others. He said he loved her; but why?

Bill (Buddy Rogers) is sent to New York by his uncle (Richard Tucker) to experience life before he inherits $25million. His uncle has paid 3 women Jacqui (Kathryn Crawford), Maxine (Josephine Dunn) and Pauline (Carole Lombard) to chaperone him and ensure that he does not fall foul of gold-diggers. One such lady Cleo (Geneva Mitchell) turns up on the scene to the disapprovement of the women. We follow the tale as the girls are offered more money to appear in a show instead of their escorting role that they have agreed to carry out for the 3 months that Bill is in New York, while Bill meets with Cleo and another woman. At the end, love is in the air for Bill and one other .............

The picture quality and sound quality are poor in this film. The story is interspersed with musical numbers but the songs are bad and Kathryn Crawford has a terrible voice. Rogers isn't that good either. He's pleasant enough but only really comes to life when playing the drums or trombone. There is a very irritating character who plays a cab driver (Roscoe Karns) and the film is just dull.