Rumors of rivalries may be good publicity, but they're not always true and it was absolutely false in the case of Alice Faye and Betty Grable who came together for the only time in this glorious period Twentieth Century Fox musical. They are quite believable as sisters during the good old days of the great American song book, working alongside the team of Harrigan and Calhoun played by John Payne and Jack Oakie.
Loosely based on the writing team of Harrigan and Hart, Payne and Oakie plug their songs to make stars out of the two women but aren't always very honest. Pushy Oakie is honest in a sense, but not in a positive way and often he's the cause of problems while Payne basically keeps truth away from his true love Faye, not telling her that he's given one of the songs he's promised to her against his will to the popular Nora Bayes (Esther Ralston).
The songs are quite snappy even if many of them are forgotten outside of fans of classic pop tunes written prior to the second world war. Faye and Grable definitely have a spark on screen (more so than with the men), and It works in their favor that their on screen affection was genuine off screen. That truly humanizes both the characters and the actresses, and their contrast in performing styles makes them individualistic as well. Extremely satisfying in many ways, not only for the music but for the historical context and a look back at a changing period of American culture.
Loosely based on the writing team of Harrigan and Hart, Payne and Oakie plug their songs to make stars out of the two women but aren't always very honest. Pushy Oakie is honest in a sense, but not in a positive way and often he's the cause of problems while Payne basically keeps truth away from his true love Faye, not telling her that he's given one of the songs he's promised to her against his will to the popular Nora Bayes (Esther Ralston).
The songs are quite snappy even if many of them are forgotten outside of fans of classic pop tunes written prior to the second world war. Faye and Grable definitely have a spark on screen (more so than with the men), and It works in their favor that their on screen affection was genuine off screen. That truly humanizes both the characters and the actresses, and their contrast in performing styles makes them individualistic as well. Extremely satisfying in many ways, not only for the music but for the historical context and a look back at a changing period of American culture.