Musical Monday: Paramount on Parade (1930)

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It’s no secret that the Hollywood Comet loves musicals.
In 2010, I revealed I had seen 400 movie musicals over the course of eight years. Now that number is over 600. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

This week’s musical:
Paramount on Parade (1930) – Musical #831

Studio:
Paramount Pictures

Director:
Dorothy Arzner, Otto Brower, Edmund Goulding, Victor Heerman, Edwin H. Knopf, Rowland V. Lee, Ernst Lubitsch, Lothar Mendes, Victor Schertzinger, A. Edward Sutherland, Frank Tuttle

Starring:
Iris Adrian, Richard Arlen, Jean Arthur, Mischa Auer, William Austin, George Bancroft, Clara Bow, Evelyn Brent, Mary Brian, Clive Brook, Virginia Bruce, Nancy Carroll, Ruth Chatterton, Maurice Chevalier, Gary Cooper, Cecil Cunningham, Leon Errol, Stuart Erwin, Henry Fink, Kay Francis, Richard “Skeets” Gallagher, Edmund Goulding, Harry Green, Mitzi Green, Robert Greig, James Hall, Phillips Holmes, Helen Kane, Dennis King, Abe Lyman, Fredric March, Nino Martini, Mitzi Mayfair, Marion Morgan Dancers, David Newell, Jack Oakie, Warner Oland, Zelma O’Neal, Eugene Pallette, Joan Peers, Jack Pennick, William Powell, Charles “Buddy” Rogers, Lillian Roth, Rolfe Sedan, Stanley Smith, Fay Wray

Plot:
Paramount Pictures Studios introduces their movie stars in a talking picture musical. The studio’s stars appear as themselves, performing songs and skits. Jack Oakie and Maurice Chevalier are more heavily featured than most of the stars.

Trivia:
• 11 different directors filmed different segments of the film
• A Spanish language version was filmed and released under the title “Galas de la Paramount.”
• The Marx Brothers filmed a scene which was later deleted.
• This was the last of the major studio musical revues. The others were films like SHOW OF SHOWS or HOLLYWOOD REVUE OF 1929
• Portions of the film are missing or damaged, but the audio for some of the musical numbers have been found and restored to the film, including the number “”Isadore the Toreador” with Harry Green and Kay Francis.

Highlights:
• Nancy Carroll’s dance number
• That glimpse of Gary Cooper
• Ruth Chatterton and Clara Bow singing

Notable Songs:
• “I’m True to the Navy Now” performed by Clara Bow
• “Sweepin’ the Clouds Away” performed by Maurice Chevalier
• “Dancing to Save Your Sole” performed by Nancy Carroll, Al Norman and Abe Lyman and His Orchestra
• “My Marine” performed by Ruth Chatterton
• “We’re the Masters of Ceremony” performed by Jack Oakie, Richard ‘Skeets’ Gallagher and Leon Errol

My review:
During the dawn of sound, several of the major, mainstream film studios produced large scale revues, introducing their top stars with the new medium of sound. Rather than featuring a narrative plot, the films mimic a Broadway revue or a vaudeville performance, filled with songs and skits.

For Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, it was THE HOLLYWOOD REVUE OF 1929 or for Warner Bros., it was SHOW OF SHOWS (1929). Paramount Pictures installment was PARAMOUNT ON PARADE (1930). While Paramount was the last studio to produce this type of “all singing, all talking, all dancing” type of film, they also improved on what the other films did.

With a shorter running time than the other films, PARAMOUNT ON PARADE highlights the studio’s top stars with songs and skits. For example, William Powell performs a skit as detective Philo Vance, Clara Bow sings a song and Nancy Carroll dances. Other stars, like Gary Cooper, appear briefly on screen and say a few words so audiences can hear how he would sound.

While the format is so similar, this is just a better execution than the other films. While this film was restored by UCLA and the Film Foundation, some visual portions remain lost or only the audio survives. Even still, the print I watched was excellent.

What’s fun about films like this is that stars you don’t expect to sing perform songs. I had no idea Ruth Chatterton or Clara Bow could sing, so their performance were a highlight to me. But the standout number in the film for me was Nancy Carroll’s dance.

I also love Jack Oakie, so I was thrilled to see him anytime he appeared on screen.

But like every musical revue, not all numbers will be great. For me, child star Mitizi Green was a bit annoying. A little Maurice Chevalier went a long way here as well, and he performed more songs than anyone else.

What’s great about films like PARAMOUNT ON PARADE is that they are a unique curio in Hollywood history. It’s interesting to see how each studio both promoted the dawn of sound, and also how they copied each other.

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