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This was a cute and relatively decent musical comedy starring Eddie Cantor. In many ways, this film hasn't aged all that well, as I'm sure it was considered a very funny movie back in 1933 when it debuted. While many of Cantor's one-liners seem a bit corny today, he was still such a pleasant personality on the screen that I was able to overlook this. However, the songs Cantor sang weren't all that memorable or funny--something I usually look forward to in his films. Instead, they seemed a little flat.
Additionally, while some consider Busby Berkely a genius, I have little interest in the over-the-top and seemingly irrelevant song and dance interludes he choreographed--they just don't age nearly as well as most musicals since his numbers are truly bizarre 1930s kitsch. To me, in many cases it's a case of "if you've seen one you've seen them all". By the mid-40s and through the 50s, the "Ziegfeld Follies"-style production numbers that Berkely was famous for had become passé. Although, for curiosity sake alone, you might want to take a look at the dance numbers. This is particularly true of the VERY racy beauty shop sequence that NEVER would have been allowed just a few years later in Hollywood due to a stricter enforcement of the Hays Code. It abounds with naked and semi-naked women with long tresses strategically situated! So, for me, I tended to ignore the song and dance and focus on the comedy. And, in this sense, it's a diverting and harmless fun romp through the days of Ancient Rome. It won't change your life, but is a pleasant way to kill 90 minutes.
FYI--be prepared to see Cantor in black face. He did this a lot in the 1920s and 30s--it was a pretty popular trend of the day. Sure, it will absolutely offend most, but if you take a few deep breaths and anticipate it, it isn't as bad as many minstrel acts I've seen on film.
Also FYI--the videotape jacket says the film stars Eddie Cantor and Lucille Ball. Ms. Ball is in the movie for a few seconds only (with very blonde hair) in song and dance numbers, so she doesn't exactly "star" in the film! It's interesting what marketing people will do to sell a film!
score 6/10
MartinHafer 2 August 2006
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw1436923/ |
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19-4-2021 18:06:15