Les rois du jazz

Unlike most of today's audiences, I'm not 'alergic' to an old-fashioned Hollywood musical. Just last week, I saw "The Best Things In Life Are Free" for the first time in 15 years. It is disappointing - but not so much for what it is, but rather what it could have been: a classic. And considering the talent involved on-screen, I'd lay most of the blame at the feet of the director and the 'bean-counters'.

Fluidity and pacing are critical in a musical, and I think the direction and staging is a big issue in "The Best Things...". For example, with the exception of the 'Birth of the Blues' number, the camera feels almost nailed to the floor. By comparison, despite the raucous, finger snapping music and Sheree North's vivacious hoofing, the other big production number 'Black Bottom' feels oddly 'constrained' and 'flat' (almost one-dimensional). The musical numbers scroll by as if on a player-piano roll, with little cinematic depth or texture - despite lively action performed by talented people.

In my humble opinion, "Best Things..." has all the ingredients to make a great musical, but they somehow 'taste' like the 'generic-brand' as opposed to Grade-A fancy. This is even more strange upon looking at the 'brand names' utilized: the Set Decorations were by the same team as created the sumptuous "Daddy Long Legs" and "The King and I"(!). Costume Direction was by Charles LeMaire(!). The musical numbers were directed by John de Cuir ("No Business Like Show Business" and "Call Me Madame"). And lest we forget, director Michael Curtiz is the man who gave us "Casablanca," "Yankee Doodle Dandy," "Mildred Pierce," and just two years before, "White Christmas." While decidedly nearing the end of his career, Curtiz still had Elvis' "King Creole" and a few other decent films ahead of him.

So..., the ingredients of an "A-list" picture were decidedly in evidence. I lay the blame at the feet of penny-pinching executives. Having lavished so much money on sets,costumes and Cinemascope, "Best Things..." registers as if executives decided in mid-production to cut back on what was originally intended to be an 'A-picture'. But as opposed to a vehicle with truly great music or Broadway pedigree, the 'substance' IS the 'spectacle' in a movie like "Best Things...", and somebody cut WAY back on the 'spectacle'.

Perfect Example: MGM's "Meet Me in Las Vegas" was released this same year (and ALSO starring Dan Dailey). But "Meet Me..." had the glamorous cameo's (Sinatra, Debbie Reynolds, Vic Damone...) and 'guest artists' (Lena Horne, Frankie Laine, Sammy Davis, Jr) that one expects of a musical of this kind.

In "Best Things...," this kind of 'sparkle' is curiously absent. Instead, the best thing "The Best Thing..." trots out is a bit-player in black-face(!) impersonating Al Jolson(!) Huh...? In 1956, Fox had contracts and/or 'relationships' with a number of great performers who, with just a bit of thought, could have been brought in to do some interesting '20's themed cameos: imagine JOHNNIE RAY as an 'updated' "Jolson;" DOROTHY DANDRIDGE as (the early-career, sexy) "Ethel Waters" or "Florence Mills;" or how about JANE RUSSELL as "Helen Morgan" or "Ruth Etting" (a role she regretted turning down a year earlier in MGM's "Love Me or Leave Me")? What fun that would've been...!?

While DeSylva, Brown & Henderson's work may not be of the caliber of Porter, Gershwin, Ellington and Coward (properly pronounced 'C-AAhhwd' - lol), the boisterous score is certainly evocative of the roaring '20's. Charles LaMare's costumes are dazzling and fun. Appearing in his last film (before choosing to retire to concentrate on supper clubs and a lucrative career as a popular TV host), one remembers what a great voice Gordon McRae had. And its fun to see somebody BESIDES 'Marilyn,' or 'Jayne' in the female lead of a splashy fifties musical, Sheree North being quite an accomplished Broadway dancer, as evidenced by her top-notch performance with Balanchine ballet dancer Jacques D'ambroise in this film's 'Birth of the Blues' number (this scorching-hot fifties movie-musical number is, sadly, largely forgotten as it is buried within this film...).

A classic? Heck no. Still, I think "Best Things..." has 'good bones', and isn't the worst way one could while away a rainy afternoon getting lost in some old fashioned celluloid tinsel.

Mix a little "Singin' in the Rain" with a story line loosely based on the lives of the songwriting team of Buddy DeSylva, Lew Brown, and Ray Henderson, throw in a little "Guys and Dolls," and you end up with a fairly entertaining film containing several beautifully choreographed production numbers featuring Sheree North, Dan Dailey, Gordon MacRae, and (of all people) Ernest Borgnine. Set in the 1920s and made in the 1950s, like "Singin' in the Rain," the movie features a great song-and-dance session filled with gangsters dancing to the tune of "Black Bottom"--a song that made flappers go wild doing the Charleston--and showcases the dancing talent of Sheree North. "Oh Boy I'm Lucky" features the guys working through the writing of a song as a trio, no easy task. Other great DeSylva-Brown-Henderson songs featured: "It All Depends on You," "Sonny Boy," "Button Up Your Overcoat" and "Sunny Side Up," and the catchy title tune. "The Birth of the Blues" number displays North at her finest, against a background of jailbirds, some black and some white. It is interesting that when the prisoners are shown lusting after North, only the white prisoners are shown, but when the prisoners are making music in their cells, the black prisoners are also shown. The most cringe-worthy moments in the film are the appearance of Norman Brooks (playing Al Jolson) and Dan Dailey in blackface trying to act like Uncle Tom. Entertaining as the musical numbers are, the film stands as a testimony to apartheid America, where many states criminalized interracial marriage, and where black women were all loyal servants and elderly black men could be mocked with aplomb and referred to as "boy."

I have no idea how accurate this bio-pic is about the musical writing team of Lew Brown (Ernest Borgnine), Buddy De Silva (Gordon MacRae) and Ray Henderson (Dan Dailey) is, I have no idea as information about these guys' personal lives is scant on the internet. However, I strongly believe it's mostly fiction because that was the norm for films like this in Hollywood during this time. Besides, I find it very hard to believe Lew Brown could be this angry all the time! He did die from a heart attack...so who knows? Not surprisingly, the film only focuses on a small portion of their lives--from the time they teamed up in the 1920s through their time in Hollywood and Broadway.

Much of the film is your typical 1950s musical--with some incredibly irrelevant and artsy dance numbers that are dream sequences (sort of like shorter versions of the HUGE one in "An American in Paris") and some traditional song/dance numbers. In between, there is story...but often this takes a back seat to the songs.

Did I like it? Not much. It's reasonably well made and the trio wrote some very familiar tunes that are sometimes enjoyable. But Borgnine's one-note performance wasn't enjoyable and the other characters seemed underdeveloped...though not as badly as Borgnine's. MacRae had a nice voice and was a heel. Dailey played the piano and was bland. I really wish they'd eliminated a few songs and focused much more on the story...but that is personal taste and the 1950s musicals often were more music than story. Compared to these other musicals, this one is just okay...and the Jolson sequences are, not surprisingly, dated. Seeing a guy who's obviously not Jolson and hiding it by ALWAYS having him in black-face was kind of silly...and tacky.

Henderson, De Sylva, and Brown. Not exactly in the same league as Berlin, Porter, or Rodgers and Hart/Hammerstein. Still, you may know a few of their songs as they've lingered through the years - 'The Birth of the Blues', for example, or 'Button Up Your Overcoat'; they also wrote the campus musical 'Good News'.

The three mismatched songwriters are played here by Gordon MacRae, Dan Dailey, and Ernest Borgnine. Yep, and he even has a song or two. The stand-out though has to be MacRae's superb rendition of 'The Birth of the Blues', in which he proved yet again why he was in the top handful of singers in the movies. Girly support is from Sheree North, but she isn't very memorable. Nor, in fact, is the story of this trio - perhaps musical biopics were tired by 1956, or we were just wise to the cliches.

'The Best Things In Life Are Free' is worth a look when there are no superior musicals on, and is a fairly good example of colour and Cinemascope of the period. But a great musical, it isn't.

Michael Curtiz's 1956 film "The Best Things in Life are Free" was frequently shown on Chicago television in the 1960s. I had not seen the film until it was recently broadcast on the Fox Movie Channel. Unfortunately, it was not a letterboxed print, so it was very difficult to determine the film's merits as it had the left and right margins entirely cut off. That aside, I think it was an attempt at a darkish musical with Curtiz touches and this was reflected in the script.

The film is entirely done on soundstages, no exteriors at all, so it feels kind of clunky, as many of the early Cinemascope films were as well.

I liked the actors, especially the wonderful actor and dancer Sheree North. Her best number, "Black Bottom", was badly impacted by the lack of a letterboxed print. She was very fortunate to be partnered by one of George Balanchine's finest male dancers, Jacques d'Amboise, photographed here in his dancing prime. Lucky Sheree North! Dancer (and future partner of Fred Astaire) Barrie Chase is also featured in the film.

I was amused by Ernest Borgnine's dancing, singing and acting, puzzled by Dan Dailey's lack of dancing, and liked Gordon MacRae, who played Buddy daSylva.

I liked the film, and hope to see a letterboxed print in the future.