Mjeteconer Just perfect...

SpunkySelfTwitter It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

Juana what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

museumofdave It's an old line, for sure, but not the usual approach Kay Francis usually used in her romantic relationships. But this is not the usual Kay Francis film, as her role is secondary to Jeannette MacDonald and Jack Oakie in this delightfully silly romp from Paramount. It's a pre-code kind of film, with all kinds of humor in dubious taste, and thus quite appealing to viewers who enjoy a trip into an unrestrained Hollywood product. There must have been something in the Paramount water in the early 30's, as once in a while they released something completely off-the-wall, full of very broad humor, eccentric stunts, wild dance moves, and plot absurdities--two prime examples were directed by Leo McCarey--this one, and three years later, the comic jewel Duck Soup, with all four Marx Brothers. In between, W.C. Fields starred in Million Dollar Legs, another screwy film taking place in Klopstockia, the nation where all the men are named George and the women are named Angela, and where the office of President is decided by arm wrestling. In this film, absurdities abound, and if you like your humor more linear or sophisticated, the nonsense may not be appealing...native girls in hula skirts on a remote island speak with a "poifect Brooklyn accent," gravel-voiced Eugene Palette, a house mover, cautions his workers to handle with care, and then, naturally and continually inadvertently smashes vases to smithereens. Oakie breaks out in several tap routines with great charm and elan, and Jeanette seems to be having fun just along for the ride. It makes almost no sense at all, unlike say, Abbott and Costello or The Three Stooges, who at least follow a logical plot line, bordering if not crossing into the territory of surreal.Unfortunately, sources where this film is available in a decent quality print do not exist, and the DVDs currently available are terribly washed out with fuzzy sound; one seems to be only to see it at Museum and College Retrospectives. It's time for whoever currently controls the early Paramount product to dig these things out--especially the early Kay Francis films not available.

kidboots 1930 was James Hall's busiest year, a popular leading man of the silents, talkies proved he had a pleasant, recordable voice and he could sing - an indispensable attribute in those crazy all talkie, all singie days. But even though he was the star of "Hell's Angels", by the end of the year he was on his way out - courtesy of alcohol and a reputation for being unreliable.It was advertised as "more fun than a circus" and had the usual 1930 Paramount cast - overworked supports Jack Oakie and "Skeets" Gallagher (who surprisingly didn't get a song to sing), slinky "other woman" Kay Francis, silly ass Englishman William Austin (who did get a song and was very funny) and personalities Eugene Palette and Charles Sellon. Beautiful Jeanette MacDonald who fitted into the zany proceedings perfectly, had created a splash in "The Love Parade" but musicals were on their way out and after this one Paramount dropped her. This film was so typical of what killed off the early musical cycle - stars stepping into production numbers at the drop of a hat, mediocre songs and indifferent choreography but in spite of all that this wacky film works and no one seems out of place.This terrifically fun film features MacDonald as Joan Wood, a costumer who loses her shop because all of her money is tied up in a South American bound revue with F.O.B. (Fast Outcurving Blondes)!!! James Hall plays her boyfriend Wally Wendell who has been disinherited by his grandfather (Sellon) because he refuses to marry slinky Constance (Francis) a childhood friend. Before she sails and for the edification of the tradesmen (accident prone Eugene Palette) she and Wally sing "My Mad Moment". Also shipboard are Wally's friend Basil (Austin) and taxi driver "Voltaire" (with non stop comment about his name)(Oakie) - on the run from, it seems, the whole New York police force. Typical of the weirdly conceived musical numbers is "It Seems to Be Spring" which starts as a rehearsal then becomes a wild life montage as MacDonald and Hall peel off their coats when it begins snowing!! It has some zany comedy - what starts as a couple of chaps throwing boaters into the ocean ends with a whole crowd and boaters going everywhere. The scene is set for Jack Oakie as he goes into "Joe Jazz" - which would have been great staged in the conventional way with Oakie doing his patter and the chorus cuties tapping on their boxes but there is just so much inter-cutting and over direction - the whole effect is just too busy.Suddenly the liner hits a wreck and our intrepid group find themselves shipwrecked on an island ruled by King Jerry (Gallagher) and his island sweeties ("they were part of the Virgin Islands but they drifted"!!) who have to dodge oil geysers and throw pearls around like marbles. The title song "Let's Go Native" is staged in a good innovative way as the dancers, strutting their stuff at the beach, are reflected in the water. And maybe the film's highlight - Kay Francis, in a low melodious voice, doing her own singing to "I've Gotta Yen For You". Francis who out shines MacDonald in looks and barely there costumes (Jeanette's outfit of seaweed and cocoanuts makes her look frumpy) had to be content with finding true love with "Joe Jazz".Even Paramount's musical misfires were often witty and now "Let's Go Native" can be looked as a satire to that whole crazy, lovable period.Very Recommended.

drednm This musical comedy defies its own plot and meanders on its merry way from Broadway to an ocean liner headed for Brazil but gets sunk, shipwrecking the stars on a remote island inhabited by natives who have been turned into showgirls by the previous shipwreck victim! With that said, there's little point in trying to follow this film but just sit back and enjoy the funny and sexy Jeanette MacDonald (yes she sings too) as she is romanced by James Hall (he also sings). Hall is mostly forgotten now but was a big star in late silent and early talkies (HELL'S ANGELS). Jack Oakie does to production numbers that are lively and well edited. Kay Francis shows up as an heiress and sings the lovely (I've Got a Yen for You). On the island they meet Skeets Gallagher who has turned the local girls into showgirls (Virginia Bruce and Iris Adrian among them).Also on hand are David Newell and and funny William Austin as Pistol. Then there's Eugene Palette as head of the moving crew that is repossessing MacDonald's furniture.MacDonald, Oakie, and Francis are terrific.

sobaok One would expect a great sophisticated farce with magical musical moments with a cast like Kay Francis, Jeanette MacDonald and Jack Oakie. However, things just chug along and most all transitional moments rely on tired slapstick. Jeanette sings a catchy tune at the beginning before leaving onboard for Buenos Aires, but that's it for her, except for a brief dance number. Kay Francis vamps on board ship and gets to duet with Jack Oakie "I've Gotta Yen For You". Oakie is full of his usual pep -- really, they're all in their prime here, it's just a miserable script and poorly directed, by of all people, Leo McCarey. who did BELLE OF THE NINETIES,DUCK SOUP, RUGGLES OF REDGAP,THE AWFUL TRUTH(!) and AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER. What, I wonder, happened here? Only for diehard Francis and MacDonald fans.