Tag Archives: 1930s musicals

Musical Monday: A Night at the Opera (1935)

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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:
A Night at the Opera (1935) – Musical #853

Studio:
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Director:
Sam Wood

Starring:
Groucho Marx, Chico Marx, Harpo Marx, Kitty Carlisle, Allen Jones, Walter Woolf King, Sig Ruman, Margaret Dumont, Edward Keane, Billy Gilbert (uncredited)

Plot:
Opera promoter Otis B. Driftwood (Marx) is hoping that wealthy Mrs. Claypool (Dumont) will invest in his opera company. The company’s stars, Rodolfo (King) and Rosa (Carlisle), are at odds because Rodolfo is in love with Rosa and Rosa is in love with tenor, Riccardo (Jones). When the opera company goes to the United States, Riccardo is a stowaway on the boat, with hopes of being with Rosa and the opera company. When the group arrives in the U.S., conflicts arise when Rodolfo feels threatened by the prescience of Riccardo.

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Musical Monday: Montana Moon (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:
Montana Moon (1930) – Musical #851

Studio:
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Director:
Malcolm St. Clair

Starring:
Joan Crawford, Johnny Mack Brown (billed as John Mack Brown), Dorothy Sebastian, Ricardo Cortez, Benny Rubin, Cliff Edwards, Karl Dane, Lloyd Ingraham, Mary Carlisle (uncredited), Claudia Dell (uncredited)

Plot:
Joan Prescott (Crawford) is a wealthy party girl, whose father (Ingraham) is a cattle rancher in Montana. While on a train trip with the family’s guests, Joan’s sister, Lizzie (Sebastian), confides that she’s in love with Jeff Pelham (Cortez) and asks her sister not to steal this boyfriend, as she has with many others. When Joan realizes Jeff is interested, she hops off the train to help out her sister and meets cowboy Larry Kerrigan (Brown). After a whirlwind romance, Joan brings Larry to meet her rich family and society friends and the two quickly realize Larry doesn’t fit in.

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Musical Monday: Rhythm in the Clouds (1937)

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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:
Rhythm in the Clouds (1937) – Musical #842

Studio:
Republic Pictures

Director:
John H. Auer

Starring:
Patricia Ellis, Warren Hull, William Newell, Richard Carle, Zeffie Tilbury, Charles Judels, Robert Paige, Joyce Compton, Suzanne Kaaren, Esther Howard, Eddie Parker (billed as Ed Parker), James C. Morton

Plot:
Judy Walker (Ellis) is an aspiring composer and is down-on-her luck. When she’s evicted, she concocts a scheme to stay in the posh apartment of composer Phil Hale (Paige). While staying in the apartment, Judy and her wall neighbor, lyricist Bob McKay (Hull) have a feud about both being too loud – though neither has seen each other. Walker and McKay begin to work together on the radio without knowing that they are their hated neighbors.

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Musical Monday: San Francisco (1936)

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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:
San Francisco (1936) – Musical #220

Studio
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Director
W.S. Van Dyke

Starring
Clark Gable, Jeanette MacDonald, Spencer Tracy, Jack Holt, Jessie Ralph, Ted Healy, Shirley Ross, Harold Huber, Irving Bacon (uncredited), Dennis O’Keefe (uncredited), Jason Robards Sr. (uncredited)

Plot:
After her tenement building is destroyed in a fire, Mary (MacDonald) needs work. She finds a job as a singer for Barbary Coast saloon owner, Blackie (Gable). When Mary is offered a chance to sing grand opera, which is her dream, Blackie is reluctant to let her leave.

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Musical Monday: Jericho (1937)

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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:
Jericho (1937) – Musical #804

Studio:
Capitol Films

Director:
Thornton Freeland

Starring:
Paul Robeson, Henry Wilcoxon, Wallace Ford, Kouka (billed as Princess Kouka), John Laurie, James Carew, Lawrene Brown, Rufus Fennell, Ike Hatch, Frank Cram, Frank Cochrane, George Barraud, Federick Cooper, Henry Aubin, Eugene Cozier, Charles Farrell, Peter Gawthorne, Danny Greene, Percy Parsons, Eslanda Robeson

Plot:
The story begins during World War I on a ship heading towards France. When the ship is torpedoed, Jericho Jackson (Robeson) is trying to save men who are trapped in the boiler room so that they don’t drown. When a superior orders Jericho to forget it and evacuate, Jericho pushes the man, killing him. Despite saving several men and the defense of his friend Capt. Mack (Wilcoxon), Jericho is Court Martialed and held for murder. Jericho escapes and Capt. Mack is blamed and jailed for his escape. On a boat with another deserter (Ford), Jericho ends up in North Africa, where he meets and leads the Tuareg people.

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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.

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Musical Monday: Hold That Co-Ed (1938)

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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:
Hold That Co-Ed (1938) – Musical #821

Studio:
20th Century Fox

Director:
George Marshall

Starring:
John Barrymore, George Murphy, Marjorie Weaver, Joan Davis, Jack Haley, George Barbier, Ruth Terry, Donald Meek, Johnny Downs, Paul Hurst, Guin “Big Boy” Williams, William Benedict, Frank Sully, Charles C. Wilson, Glenn Morris, Dick Winslow (uncredited), Doodles Weaver (uncredited)
Specialty Acts: The Brewster Twins (Barbara and Gloria Brewster)

Plot:
Former all-American football player Rusty Stevens (Murphy) gets his first job as a football coach at State College. Upon arriving, the school’s president (Meek) informs Rusty and the students that Governor Gabby Harrington (Barrymore) has just outlawed football, deeming it an unnecessary expense to the tax players. The college students show up to protest, and when Gov. Harrington’s senate opponent, Major Breckenridge (Barbier), criticizes his college stances, Gov. Harrington pours money into the State College football program. While the football players aren’t very skilled, their secret weapon is Lizzie Olson, who is unmatched at her football kicking.

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Musical Monday: Hawaiian Buckaroo (1938)

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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:
Hawaiian Buckaroo (1938) – Musical #817

Studio:
Produced by Principal Productions
Distributed by 20th Century Fox

Director:
Ray Taylor

Starring:
Smith Ballew, Evalyn Knapp, Harry Woods, Pat J. O’Brien (billed as Pat O’Brien), George Regas, Benny Burt, Laura Treadwell, Fred ‘Snowflake’ Toones (uncredited), John Ince (uncredited), Robert Fiske (uncredited)

Plot:
Jeff Howard (Ballew) works as a ranch hand herding cattle in Arizona. When the rancher goes bankrupt, the ranch’s cook, Mike (Burt), approaches Jeff about a business partnership where the two would travel to Hawaii and manage pineapple crops. On the boat down to Hawaii, Jeff and Mike meet haughty heiress Paula Harrington (Knapp), who instantly dislikes Jeff. When Jeff and Mike realize their business venture is a scam, they try to find work elsewhere. They end up on Paula Harrington’s ranch, who has problems of her own with people trying to con her out of her property.

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Musical Monday: Sweet Surrender (1935)

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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:
Sweet Surrender (1935) – Musical #811

Studio:
Distributed by Universal Pictures

Director:
Monte Brice

Starring:
Frank Parker, Tamara, Helen Lynd, Russ Brown, Arthur Pierson, Otis Sheridan
Themselves: Jack Dempsey, Abe Lyman

Plot:
When radio singer Danny O’Day (Parker) loses his job and dancer Delphine Marshall (Tamara) needs a rest, they both end up on a sea voyage to Paris. Delphine travels in disguise as a mousy woman named Martha so she isn’t bothered by fans. So thief Maize Marshall (Tamara) takes the opportunity to pose as Delphine in order to rob people. Meanwhile, Danny, who is smitten with Delphine, is trying to romance the wrong woman.

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Musical Monday: The Big Broadcast of 1937 (1936)

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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:
The Big Broadcast of 1937 (1936) – Musical #526

Studio:
Paramount Pictures

Director:
Mitchell Leisen

Starring:
Jack Benny, George Burns, Gracie Allen, Bob Burns, Martha Raye, Shirley Ross, Frank Forrest, Don Hulbert, Virginia Weidler (uncredited)
Themselves: Leopold Stokowski, Benny Goodman and His Orchestra, Benny Fields

Plot:
Jack Carson (Benny) produces a radio show and is working to get Mr. and Mrs. Platt (Burns and Allen) to sponsor the show with their golf ball product. In the midst of signing their sponsorship, Jack discovers radio deejay Gwen Holmes (Ross), who sings along to his star singer, Frank Rossman (Forrest), and ribs his singing. Jack is not too pleased, and hires Gwen to keep her off of the radio, and publicity man, Bob Miller (Milland), woos her. However, they find that Gwen actually is a great singer and she quickly rises to fame.

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