Uptown New York

UPTOWN NEW YORK is an underrated romance/drama picture, it really shows more depth and more feeling than many other movies of the early 1930s. Jack Oakie received an Oscar nomination for his acting in "The Great Dictator", but he should have got an Oscar for his absorbing portrayal of Eddie Doyle in UPTOWN NEW YORK. In many scenes Oakie does not act but he IS his character. The scenes when he is waiting in the hospital while his wife is operated in the next room are stunning. I have never seen something like this before. Beautiful Shirley Grey is also totally convincing and perfect as the beloved New York gal. (In some of the scenes she looks like Madonna). Leon Ames is good as the successful Jewish doctor, but Jack Oakie steals the show and makes UPTOWN NEW YORK - 80 years ago now - a great film with a timeless quality. And for a 1932 movie, it's quite modern in feel. The film has many imaginative scenes with great photography. The quality of the DVD from Alpha Entertainment is pretty bad and the framing is not very good. But Alpha is the only DVD available.

This 1932 independent film, made in the early days of sound, features two of Hollywood's most dependable supporting players in leading male roles--Jack Oakie and Leon Ames. Oakie rarely ever had another role that demanded so much of him emotionally and he makes the most of it, whereas Ames, best remembered today as the father in "Meet Me in St. Louis.," can't do much with the one-dimensional role of the doctor/lover. The big surprise here is Shirley Grey (1902-1981) who is perfectly cast, amazingly natural and sympathetic, in the role of the woman loved by two men. Despite her excellence, her film career as a leading dramatic actress lasted only a few years. No one seemed to have noticed how good she could be.

Leon Ames is about to get married and sail to Vienna for his medical specialty. He offers to throw it all over if Shirley Grey will marry him. She refuses, he goes off and she cries. Time goes by and she falls in love with Jack Oakie. Then Ames comes back to New York. He repeats his offer to Miss Grey just as Oakie proposes.

It's an oddly cheap movie for the talent involved, including director Victor Schertzinger. Although everything about it seems tentative, that redounds to its credit; it's the emotional uncertainty of the characters that is its point. No one is bad, just weak and needy. Oakie gives a surprisingly layered performance, mostly his usual brash persona, but crumbling easily into an emotional, hurt man. It's a surprisingly strong work from producer E. W. Hammons, far better known for his short silent comedies.

This is a highly engrossing film from the early 1930s, with excellent direction and attention to detail, including camera angles and scene composition. Everybody seems to have discernible failings, making the concerns that the characters feel seem realistic. The difficulties and angst the characters feel through their relationships translate to the viewer quite well for the early year that this picture was made. The acting is wonderful, including the always fun-to-see Jack Oakie, and the gorgeous Shirley Grey. Ms. Grey conveys subtle emotion beautifully with her body language and her expressive eyes. She seems so real. Mr. Ames was introduced as a bit of an unsympathetic manipulator early on and there was even an aura of possible villainy with his sneaking into Grey's apartment (an interesting complication for the viewer). The many scene settings and locales were varied and depicted life in that time well, including several domiciles, the wrestling arena, and the soda fountain. I feel like I was part of life in early 1930s NYC. One thing I appreciated was how the character Doyle's signature comment "check" was not beaten into the ground after a few offerings early on in the picture. This was a smart move. There was also use of background music, which wasn't yet common in 1932. This film is adult in treatment and was highly enjoyed. I am pleased to give this film a high rating even though it came from a relatively small releasing company and seen on a choppy and somewhat blurry print, but its quality comes through well.

UPTOWN NEW YORK (World Wide Pictures, 1932), directed by Victor Schertzinger, is an independent production starring a slightly young but thin Jack Oakie as Eddie Doyle in a rare dramatic performance. Blonde and sassy Shirley Grey, who is featured as Patricia Smith, is actually the central character here, given a rare opportunity to carry on an entire story during her brief Hollywood stint (1931-1935), which consisted of playing support to lead actors as tough dames/ molls or unfaithful wives in films for various movie studios, as well as appearing in "B" westerns, "poverty row" mysteries and/or chaptered serials.

The plot: Patricia Smith is a middle-class New York City gal in love with Max Silver (Leon Waycoff), but Max is forced by his ambitious Jewish family into a marriage to a girl he doesn't love but will further his career in the medical profession, which he does, leaving Pat behind. Later in Coney Island, Pat meets Eddie Doyle, a bubble gum machine operator. Their relationship starts off on the rocky side, but eventually Pat decides to marry Eddie on the rebound even though she's still thinks of Max. When Max, now a respected surgeon, comes back into her life, she refuses to have anything to do with him because he is now a married man. After Pat is struck by a passing truck, Eddie, who knows of his wife's past relationship with Dr. Max Silver, calls on him to perform an emergency operation. Following the surgery, Eddie is faced with problems regarding keeping both his gum machine business and Pat's love.

Somewhat passable love story taken from the novel by Vina Delmar, with the lead actors (Oakie and Grey) playing against type. Oakie is convincing in serious moments, but still comes off amusingly well during his lighter moments. If the actor who plays Max Silver looks familiar, he had his surname changed from Waycoff to (Leon) Ames, better known for many supporting roles for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in the 1940s and 50s, along with his leading television performance in "Life with Father" in the 1950s. Also in smaller roles are George Cooper, Alexander Carr, Henry Armetta, Lee Moran and Raymond Hatton. Both familiar faces of Tammany Young and Tom Kennedy can be spotted in the locker room during the prize fighting scene set in Madison Square Garden.

Once presented regularly on former cable networks of the late 1980s and early 1990s as Tempo Television and Channel America, UPTOWN NEW YORK can also be found either on video cassette or DVD format (usually at 76 minutes from its original 80). A rare find and curio for movie buffs. (**)