Ici New York

This is a cleverly made, fast moving blend of several genres which will hold your attention. It's produced with typical MGM professionalism and has a realistic script with credible well developed characters.

It's not the most thrilling picture in the world but it's so well made that you'll keep watching. What's particularly memorable about this is its editing. Like a modern-day tv soap, none of the scenes last more than a couple of minutes then there's a geometric wipe to the next scene. This lively technique gives the picture a lot more energy than you might expect. Veteran director Harry Beaumont proves that you can indeed teach an old dog new tricks.

Films with multiple storylines were popular in the early thirties, the most famous being GRAND HOTEL, the best being SKYSCRAPER SOULS. This approach required not just the leads but all the characters to be real people, people with actual personalities and background stories. For such a relatively small picture, the characters in this are remarkably well rounded.

Although his character is meant to be a little bland, comic actor William Haines delivers quite a heartfelt performance but the stars are really the women who display some real acting skill. Madge Evans makes you believe that she is in love with "Bill." Karen Morley makes you loathe her. You just know that Anita Page, playing the middle sister is cynical of the wild carefree life she's adopted. Joan Marsh, the younger sister is naive, full of life and vulnerable. Indeed it's eighteen year old Joan Marsh who adds the necessary vitality to this. Joan was MGM's other Jean Harlow - had there not already been a Jean Harlow, Joan might have become a bigger star.

I've never seen Williams Haines play it so straight in a MGM drama. Here he's radio comedy writer Bill Grimes who is deeply in love with one of the players there, Laura O'Neill (Madge Evans). The problem is Haines is married to a woman who has lost complete interest in Haines with the exception of his monetary support. She doesn't care what he does personally as long as he brings home the bacon. Meanwhile, Laura is a pretty sensible girl, but her sisters are another story. Sally (Anita Page) is becoming quite the player in New York City nightlife via connections she makes at work - she's also got a job at the radio station. Into town comes baby sister Honey (Joan Marsh), and Laura is concerned that Sally will teach their baby sister her eat, drink, and be merry ways.

The first half of the film thus has some heavy stuff going on, but it is lightened by the behind-the-scenes look at radio work in progress. Particularly amusing are the scenes with Grimes trying to get sound effects right such as him arguing with the props man that their avalanche does not sound like an avalanche or that the "sick dog" sound he is making is not right for the dog food commercial they need to make. Grimes loses his job after the comedy he writes begins to lose its edge, and things go downhill fast. Add an incidental shove that turns out to have deadly consequences, and you have quite a drama on your hands.

Harry Beaumont did a good job of keeping this film moving without letting it get away from him. With things moving back and forth between Bill and Laura's romance, then to the radio station, then to Honey and Sally's partying with both the new and old money of the city, this thing could have turned into an incoherent mess in a hurry. Instead it all comes together quite nicely at the end with the individual pieces of the story holding your interest on their way to their joint conclusion.

To see how well the MGM assembly line could craft a tale in the early 30's and to see William Haines hold his own in a serious role, give this one a try.

Some Pre-Code Girly Imagery is on hand here as this rather Routine Drama is Enhanced by some Really-Cool looks inside the 1932 Radio Studio at the Machinations and Machinery, Technology and Radio-Art on Display that are Historic and Interesting.

It is that Backdrop that sets this Apart from the Routine as the Radio is also used as a Tool to Track the Couple on the Lam. Notice how the Announcer on Air calls Him a Killer and not a Suspect or Alleged Killer, that is Important as a Snapshot of the Media in the Early Thirties and is Priceless.

Slightly Above Average for the Aforementioned and is Certainly Worth a Watch in a Time Travel Cultural Context and the Production is Glossy and Slick. It's the Drama that is Pedestrian but it does have just Enough Entertainment Value to Pass as a Light-Weight Crime-Drama.

William Haines was one of the most popular actors with MGM in the late 1920s and early 30s. When seen today, this is a bit difficult to believe since most of his films followed a very familiar formula: Haines nearly always played a braggart who was extremely talented, he screws up and in the end proves he's a decent guy who's learned his lesson and everyone loves him once again. Taken one or two at a time, they are most enjoyable...but if you sit down and watch several, you notice that they are essentially the same movie again and again. I cannot blame Haines...the formula worked and MGM didn't give him a lot of choice in the matter...but when I saw that "Are You Listening?" was NOT the least like this formula, I was excited!

Bill Grimes (Haines) works for a radio station where he produces radio plays. However successful he is on the job, domestically he's a mess...with a marriage on the rocks and a girlfriend on the side! And so, when the wife is found dead, the assumption is that Bill did it...which he did but only by accident. Can Bill possibly clear himself? And, what role will his old radio station have in all this?

When you watch this film, it's very obviously a Pre-Code picture. After all, Bill's adultery is shown as being justified because the wife is a sourpuss and Bill is happy with his mistress. In the Code era, clearly Bill would have been seen as a villain for living this lifestyle....and he would have more likely deliberately murdered the wife because he was a villain.

And, speaking of the Code, this new and enforced Production Code is why Haines soon left Hollywood...even though he'd been a huge star. He was an openly gay man and refused to live the typical life of a gay star of the day--with a sham marriage arranged by the studio. And, interestingly, Haines lived a long and happy life with his life partner and was quite successful as an interior decorator to the stars.

So is this change of pace for Haines worth seeing? Yes and no. At least it's not the usual formula...but in some ways this bizarre story (with its even more bizarre ending) isn't 100% satisfying either. Worth seeing, naturally, but not a great film either.

It certainly was pre-code, wasn't it? More than the usual amount of girls getting out of the shower, girls standing around in their nighties. Pretty strong story and acting performances though. William Haines and friends work at a radio station, and that figures into the investigation when the un-expected happens. (Don't want to give too much away!) I think having lots of big names in this one helped - Madge Evans, Anita Paige, Neil Hamilton. I always loved Jean Hersholt. Even Hattie McDaniel in here. Ethel Griffies is Mrs. Peters. Country girl and her sisters move to the big city and the adventures they have! Was fun seeing the sound effect machines at the radio station. Reminded me of the Bob Hope films, where he works in radio and gets caught up in capers.

Directed by Harry Beaumont, who had been around Hollywood since day one, just about! He had also directed Joan Crawford in her early stuff. This is a fun watch. Caught it on TCM.