Frou-frou de Broadway

Anyone who likes movies with young discoveries will really enjoy The Star Maker, a movie about a man who attained fame and fortune by discovering children's talents. Bing Crosby takes the lead in this loose biopic of Gus Edwards, the songwriter who wrote "In My Merry Oldsmobile", "By the Light of the Silvery Moon", "School Days" and many others. Bing teams up with Ned Sparks and children all over the country show off their talents. He presents the kids on Broadway, then it starts all over again. There's very little conflict in this movie, but there are tons of songs! Newcomer opera singer Linda Ware enjoys a lot of screen time, but it's a little awkward when she and Bing talk to each other. They give each other such moony eyes, it seems like they might have been romantically involved. Then, when she calls him "uncle" and nothing's going on between them, it just feels weird.

After the sixth song, the movie gets a little long in the tooth, but those of you who like Baby June or other kid shows probably won't think so. I liked the production number "An Apple for the Teacher" which was cute and had different words than I was used to hearing on my Bing Crosby CD, but the plot really could have used a little kick. Plus, every time Ned opened his mouth and tried to be funny, I just rolled my eyes. I'm not really a fan of his deadpan monotone.

THE STAR MAKER (Paramount, 1939), directed by Roy Del Ruth, set in the early 20th century, stars Bing Crosby as Larry Earl, an unsuccessful songwriter who decides to settle down with his new bride, Mary (Louise Campbell) and take a 9 to 5 job, only to realize that his true calling is show business. On his way home, he comes across some urchins singing and dancing on the streets for pennies, nickels and dimes, and decides to take these street kids to turn them into professional entertainers. With the assistance of his loving wife, who also contributes to her husband's plans, Larry's troupe of children grows and grows, making the use of their talents in vaudeville and later, after child labor laws step in, presenting them on radio and still succeeding into making them world famous.

When THE STAR MAKER used to make frequent television revivals on the late-late show some 20 years or so ago, TV Guide used to present it in its listing with its brief synopsis as a biography on pioneer showman Gus Edwards. While not really a biography on Edwards, it is probably suggested on the impresario's life and career. As usual, Bing Crosby's pleasing personality, singing and chemistry with the young kids makes this worthy family entertainment. Aside from Louise Campbell as Crosby's Southern wife, there is that deadpan character actor Ned Sparks playing agent "Speed" King, who not only partakes in Earl's theatrical troupe, but the old grouch must deal with these restless and sometimes rowdy children. Amusing moments include having him surrounded by the kids and reading to them a kiddie story and constantly getting interrupted by questions, and another having Speed finding himself quarantined in a train compartment full of kids for ten days after being exposed with one with the chickenpox. Sparks' love/hate contribution with the children is as amusing as watching WC Fields' encounter with Baby LeRoy or any other Hollywood brat(s) - Grumpy on the outside but gentle on the inside.

THE STAR MAKER features a handful of old song standards, many written by Gus Edwards himself, sung mostly by Crosby, including: "Here Comes Jimmy Valentine"; "A Man and His Dream" (nice new song by Johnny Burke and James V. Monaco); "East Side, West Side" (instrumental); "If I Was a Millionaire"; "Go Fly a Kite"; "I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now?"; "Sunbonnet Sue" (sung by children); "I Can't Tell Why I Love You," "He's Me Pal," "In My Merry Oldsmobile"; Ludwig Von Beethoven's "Symphony # 5 in B Minor" (sung by Linda Ware); "The Darktown Stutters Ball" (sung by Ware); "An Apple For the Teacher"; "School Days"; "The Waltz of the Flowers" by Peter Tchaikovsky (sung by Ware at Carnegie Hall); and "Still the Blue Birds Sing" (new song by Burke and Monaco, sung by Crosby and children).

THE STAR MAKER gives special screen billing to 14-year-old Linda Ware, making her movie debut, possibly Paramount's answer to Universal's singing sensation, Deanna Durbin. A good singer but not a convincing actress, Ware's career sadly didn't go very far after this. Also featured in the cast are Laura Hope Crews, Walter Damrosch as himself; Thurston Hall, Billy Gilbert and a very young Darryl Hickman as one of the dancing kids.

Long on songs and production numbers, and light on plot, THE STAR MAKER, while not as famous and popular as Crosby's other musical flicks, is still worth seeing, and then to sit back to wonder how good the movie itself would have been had it been a bio-pic on Gus Edwards himself, and the use of actual future performers he discovered appearing as themselves in songs and sketches that made them famous. (***)

Bing Crosby is Larry Earl -- actually a thinly disguised Gus Edwards, song writer, vaudeville star and producer of dozens of kiddie shows on the vaudeville circuit, ending a major star of 1930s radio. Like many a movie of this sort, it is a story of a rocky start, and then triumph after triumph, interspersed with musical numbers, most of which had their scores composed by Mr. Edwards.

It's very enjoyable for the music as Bing, loyal wife Louise Campbell and kid-hating publicity man Ned Sparks discover hundreds of talented young singers, dancers and young comics. Chief among them is 14-year-old Linda Ware, whom Paramount was clearly positioning to be their answer to Deanna Durbin and Judy Garland; she sings swing and classical music and winds up debuting for Walter Damrosch and his symphony orchestra.

Like many a movie of this type, it has only a hazy connection with any real time line. Everything seems to happen in a world that combines elements of the Mauve Decade with the 1920s and even 1930s, as the Child Welfare people shut down the kiddie shows across the nation on the same evening that Bing discovers radio and foresees its endless possibilities -- and a triumphant finale for him.

I would suggest that anyone interested in the story of the Star Maker, read the following book:

Bing Crosby: A Pocketful of Dreams - The Early Years 1903 - 1940 by Gary Giddins

It explains why the Star Maker which WAS supposed to be about the life and career of Gus Edwards, turned into a movie that was only suggested by the life of my GREAT UNCLE! Naturally I am a bit prejudiced, but I feel that this man was such a unique entertainment personality, that for Bing Crosby to use a different name in the movie, that is Larry Earl, rather than Gus Edwards, was truly a disgrace.

He could write songs, he could sing, he could act, he could produce. And could he ever find talent........... the greatest entertainment talent this country has ever known: Cantor, Jessel, Bolger, Hildegarde, Phil Silvers, Eleanor Powell, Georgie Price, Lila Lee....................

Perhaps a better appreciation of his abilities and achievements can be seen in the MGM classic with its all-star cast, "The Hollywood Review of 1929", for which he wrote most of the score and actually appeared in the movie several times, a movie nominated for Best Picture, no less.

Gus Edwards truly did it all, and yet the one movie about him did not tell the true story. Maybe a re-make is in order.

Evan, his great nephew, NYC 10/15/07

"The Star Maker" is a film that will catchy you by surprise. At first, you'll like it and it seems enjoyable...but then the second portion hits and the going gets tough! How much you agree with this will certainly depend on your tolerance for watching a children's' talent show.

When the film begins, Larry (Bing Crosby) is a dreamer with huge plans of making it big on stage. Despite his being a fat-head, Mary (Louise Campbell) believes in him and marries him. But they are headed for tough times as Larry's musical career doesn't take off and they are living hand to mouth. However, his career explodes when he begins performing with a group of talented kids....so what's next?

I really enjoyed the first group of child performers--their tap dancing routine was lovely. But the rest of the acts were a real mixed bag...and most of the bag was awful! I have little patience for bad child actors...and the film really pushed this to the limit. Fortunately, Linda Ware was talented...although I didn't particularly love her operatic stylings...but at least they weren't painful!! The only bright spots were Ned Sparks' little digs about how he hated kids! Those were pretty funny.

Overall, a real mixed bag and it's sad that the movie didn't give us more Ned Sparks and more of Crosby's lovely crooning. On balance, it's a film for really devoted fans of Crosby as well as folks who LIKE child pageants!

By the way, be sure to prepare yourself for the incredibly racist song "The Darktown Strutter's Ball"...sung about midway through the picture.