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:
Collegiate (1935) – Musical #836
Studio:
Paramount Pictures
Director:
Ralph Murphy
Starring:
Joe Penner, Jack Oakie, Ned Sparks, Francis Langford, Betty Grable, Lynne Overman, Henry Kolker
Themselves: Betty Jane Cooper, Bob Crosby, Mack Gordon, Harry Revel
Plot:
Jerry Craig (Oakie) inherits an all-girl school from his aunt and can’t sell the school. They also meet Joe (Penner), who has amnesia but somehow has a great deal of money and is their financial benefactor. To make the school profitable and with the use of Joe’s money, Jerry and his pals (Sparks, Overman) transform the school into a charm school. Jerry also overcomes one road block: Miss Hay (Langford), who was his aunt’s secretary and is protective over the school.
Trivia:
• Remake of the films:
– The Charm School (1921)
– Sweetie (1929)
• Last feature film of Betty Jane Cooper. Cooper was in a total of two feature films.
• Songwriters Mack Gordon and Harry Revel appear as themselves in the film as music coaches.
Ned Sparks, Jack Oakie, Lynn Overman
Highlights:
• Betty Grable early in her career
• Betty Jane Cooper’s teaching dance number
• The “Rhythmatic” number
Notable Songs:
• “My Grandfather’s Clock in the Hallway” performed by Jack Oakie
• “Who Am I?” performed by Joe Penner
• “You Hit the Spot” performed by Francis Langford
• “Rhythmatic” performed by Jack Oakie and Betty Grable, reprised Betty Jane Cooper
• “I Feel Like a Feather In The Breeze” performed by the chorus
• “Learn to Be Lovely” performed by Betty Jane Cooper
Betty Jane Cooper dances on a platform and is surrounded by girls watching
My review:
Yet again, I’m here to express frustration about not being able to access classic films. This time, I’m looking at you, Paramount Pictures.
Take this week’s Musical Monday – COLLEGIATE (1935). With a 7 star ranking on IMDB (good by that website’s standards), and a great time, this one is hard to find and I had to a questionable DVRed version from eBay just to see it.
While the visual quality of the print I watched was bad, the story was worth it.
In the film, Jerry Craig (Oakie) inherits an all-girl school from his aunt and can’t sell the school. They also meet Joe (Penner), who has amnesia but somehow has a great deal of money and is their financial benefactor. To make the school profitable and with the use of Joe’s money, Jerry and his pals (Sparks, Overman) transform the school into a charm school. Jerry also overcomes one road block: Miss Hay (Langford), who was his aunt’s secretary and is protective over the school.
COLLEGIATE features such a delightfully fun cast. I love the trio of Jack Oakie, Ned Sparks and Lynn Overman, with the added comedy of Joe Penner. Admittedly, this film belongs to these four actors, and our female leads don’t have as much to do. Frances Langford plays a fairly thankless role with really only one song to perform, and Betty Grable only sings one song as well.
The biggest musical highlights in the film are performed by dancer Betty Jane Cooper, who acts under her own name. Cooper performs two showstopping dance numbers, and then this film ended her acting career. I’ve tried to figure out what happened to her, but haven’t had much luck yet.
The plot of this film is humorous, and I liked Oakie’s initial shock of hearing he inherited an all girl’s school and can’t sell it. I was confused by one plot point though: Francis Langford tells Jack Oakie that she wasted five years of her life on him, repeating that element of time several times as she tells him off. I didn’t realize so much time passed in the film! Or maybe it was because I was watching such a terrible print.
While looking for images for this review, it was funny to see promotional stills. The costumes, sets and actresses appeared crystal clear – a luxury I didn’t have in the unclear, almost blurry print I was watching.
This was an enjoyable film. Funny, enjoyable songs and a pleasant 80 minute. But I am frustrated that some films, especially those released by Paramount Pictures and 20th Century Fox, are difficult to find. If they aren’t already streaming (which very few are) or released on DVD, you’re forced to watch poor quality versions. I’d like to think that one day we will see some hope, but I’m doubtful.
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