Garden of the Moon

What distinguishes "Garden of the Moon" more than anything else is its nonstop script. Like the changeable weather in Hawaii, if you don't like one scene, wait a few seconds and something entirely different will come along. This is a romantic big-band musical that wants to be a Marx Brothers movie. The pace is hectic throughout.

The title refers to a posh nightclub in Hollywood that is run by John Quinn (Pat O'Brien), one of the most unlikeable characters in films. He treats everyone with contempt and likes nothing more than to take advantage of everybody he deals with. His publicity agent/booker is Toni Blake (Margaret Lindsay), a swell kid and a go-getter. On short notice, she books an unknown band--Don Vincente and His Orchestra. She falls for Don and, thereafter, has a conflict of interest.

The musical numbers are boisterous and campy. The songs come from Harry Warren, Al Dubin and Johnny Mercer. Some of them are clever and fun.

The cast is a real collection of talent and they chew the scenery just the way the director, Busby Berkeley, asked them to. Jerry Colonna, for one, may over do it with his googly eyes and double-talk.

I can't say this is a good film, but Berkeley certainly fills every frame with content.

This film is a pip and I'll tell you why- the presence of Johnny 'Scat' Davis.He was always the PERFECT musical sidekick in so many of the lightweight musical/ comedies of the late 30s and lights up the screen w/ his sincere energy and wholesome smile. JUST recently I've wanted to know more about him, and this is one of his best! Pat O'Brien is great and funny in a real 'rat you love to hate' kinda way. I can't look at pretty Margaret Lindsey without expecting to see Frankenstein's monster lumbering around the scene. This is a great little warm and fuzzy Busby Berkeley film. Perfect on a rainy afternoon. Caught it on TCM. John Payne is passable as the band leader, though he's not the best singer, if that's his voice. Definitely worth seeing!

John Quinn (Pat O'Brien) manages the night club, Garden of the Moon. Rudy Vallee has an accident and delays his club date. Club press agent Toni Blake (Margaret Lindsay) convinces Quinn to hire relative unknown Don Vincente (John Payne) and his band.

Busby Berkeley is the director. While there is music and performing, I kept waiting for the big overhead dance numbers. They never come. He was probably phasing out of those around this time. It's much more a night club drama and straight music showcase. Pat O'Brien is always great. John Payne is a little bland. There isn't much there. It may still be of interest to Busby Berkeley fans.

I believe Busby Berkeley is underrated as a comedy director. Everyone knows Berkeley for his larger-than-life, kaleidoscopic, troop-formation choreography, but the man directed several movies without such spectacles and I often find myself surprised at the nuggets of real comedy that pop up in films like STAGE STRUCK (1936) and GARDEN OF THE MOON (1938).

Pat O'Brien gives a terrific comedic performance as the ruthless and manipulative club manager. Some of his line deliveries are just perfect. I'm not always a Pat O'Brien fan, and his character in this film isn't the nicest guy, but he's great to watch in this role.

The comedy is greatly assisted by Granville Bates and Edward McWade as the penny-pinching hotel owners, the McGillicuddys. Their roles are relatively minor, but they are a hoot. ("When not in use, turn off the juice.")

Margaret Lindsay's character has a little more personality than some of the cardboard love interests she'd played earlier in the decade. She wears her hair a little differently, too (I guess it's the changing fashions), but she's still lovely.

Young John Payne plays a struggling bandleader who buts heads with O'Brien. Personally I found Payne's character to be a little abrasive, and I wondered what Berkeley veteran Dick Powell might've done in the role. Johnnie "Scat" Davis does his thing as Payne's sidekick/bandmate and the unforgettable, pop-eyed, mustachioed Jerry Colonna adds eccentric charm as a wacky band member.

There are some songs, and they're pleasant enough (written by Harry Warren, Al Dubin, and Johnny Mercer). Hijinks ensue as O'Brien clashes with Payne, with Lindsay caught in the middle. There are some great bits and some fine character actors (add Melville Cooper to the list), but this is still a minor film. I didn't care too much for Payne and the music didn't blow me away. O'Brien holds the movie together. It's enjoyable enough and rather obscure. Check it out if it comes on TCM.

The Garden of the Moon is the name of a nightclub in Los Angeles and it is obviously meant to represent the Cocoanut Grove Night Club which was located in the Ambassador Hotel. It was THE premier nightspot in Tinseltown and only the best acts appeared there.

The Ambassador Hotel also entered history for a tragic reason, it was there that Senator Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1968. Some twenty years after that the Ambassador was torn down and the old Cocoanut Grove was razed. It hadn't been operating for some years before that.

But in this film it's the Garden of the Moon and it's run by the fast talking, imperious Pat O'Brien. The only time O'Brien ever slowed down the tempo of his dialog was to play priests in Angels With Dirty Faces and The Fighting 69th while he was with Warner Brothers. But Pat was always entertaining.

O'Brien was most often teamed with James Cagney, but also he did several films with Dick Powell usually as a manager, agent, mentor, etc. for Powell who would sing. Powell was getting tired of doing musicals and the role of the band-leader/crooner in this film was so obviously written for him.

A newcomer named John Payne got a break here playing the Powell part. He gets a telegram from O'Brien signing him for an appearance at the Garden of the Moon and he and the band race across the country and then find out it's only for two weeks. For the rest of the film O'Brien and Payne are at each other's throats and Payne is helped by nightclub publicist Margaret Lindsay who works for O'Brien, but has fallen big time for Payne.

Songs here are by Harry Warren and Al Dubin and the director is Busby Berkeley. Like Dick Powell, they were coming to the end of their Warner Brothers contracts. Berkeley didn't break any new ground and no hit songs emerged from the score, but the three of them did their jobs in their usual professional style.

Curiously enough John Payne right after this was signed by 20th Century Fox to be a musical Tyrone Power who he resembled. And also Payne's career followed a similar path to Dick Powell's in that eventually he eschewed musicals for dramatic parts and did them as well as Powell did.

It's minor league Busby Berkeley, but even in the minor leagues it's still good entertainment.