So awful that it's a delight (and it's a historical document, too)
Added 4/30/2006
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In the 1920s, the biggest name on Broadway was Flo Ziegfeld, whose staple (but by no means his only claim to fame) was an annual review called the "Ziegfeld Follies." The "Follies" offered the biggest names in variety and acres of scantily-clad, beautiful girls. His great rival was Errol Carrol who produced a similar show called the "Varieties." Carroll couldn't match Ziegfeld's star power but he offered more girls and even less clothing.
The market crash of 1929 was the beginning of the end for the two Broadway titans. Ziegfeld, true to his time and style had been heavily into the market on margin. He went flat broke and died not long after, leaving his wife, the wonderful actress Billie (the Good Witch Glenda) Burke, to pay off his debts. Carroll struggled along for a few more years. In September of 1933, believing that the day of the huge review show was over, he tried his hand at a book show, which just happened to be about a huge Broadway review. It was called "Murder at the Vanities" and it ran for 207 performances until March 1934. Oddly enough, one of its featured performers was a Rumanian named Bela Lugosi who not long before had had a smash hit on Broadway playing a vampire, of all things.
Meanwhile, Warner Bros. had earned enormous success and profits with a series of movie musicals featuring numbers spectacularly choreographed by Busby Berkley. Rich, glossy Paramount considered itself several cuts above gritty, striving little Warner Bros., but it did not have anybody remotely like Busby Berkley. "Murder at the Vanities" must have seemed like a brilliant idea to the Paramount brass. They could simply import spectacular, audience-tested musical numbers from a hit Broadway show with built-in name recognition.
Like many brilliant ideas both before and after, it didn't work. Broadway magic and movie magic have many things in common, but they are not interchangeable. Berkley's numbers are brilliant and stirring even today. The big production numbers in "Vanities" are just static and bloated, coming to filmic life only occasionally, as in the scene when Toby Wing notices blood dripping on her.
For us in the Twenty-first Century, though, "Murder at the Vanities" does perform the valuable service of showing just what a set of big review numbers of the Follies-Vanities type looked like. Later Hollywood recreations, as in "The Great Ziegfeld", "Yankee Doodle Dandy" and "Rose of Washington Square"--not to mention "Funny Girl"--all had a softening effect and were heavily influenced by the styles of their times.
The strongest performers in the movie version are Jack Oakie, Victor McLaglen and that exquisitely superannuated saddlebag, Jessie Ralph, all thoroughly steeped in filmland ways. Yes, they are hammy but the sheer energy they exude almost comes burning off the screen. Kitty Carlisle's part is virtually a dramatic nullity but she does get to sing two big numbers--even if one of them, "Where Do They Come From and Where Do They Go?"--background music for the display of clothing-optional babes--has to be one of the most thundering musical clunkers ever to stink up Hollywood or Broadway but, hey, she looked GREAT in a body stocking and pasties! Carl Brisson was a European performer of the Viennese school of operetta and completely out of his context, whether on Broadway or in Hollywood. Gertrude Michaels in the obligatory role of the unpopular cast member is quite good, especially in the marijuana number, which is a hoot! (By the way, an earlier reviewer has noted that the marijuana number was cut from television screenings. It may well have been at some time, but when this film was regularly shown on television in the San Francisco area in the early 1950s, the marijuana number was definitely there, as was all the very strongly suggested nudity.)
Other reviewers have praised the appearance of Duke Ellington and his band. I strongly disagree, Ellington and his players appear in one-half of one number, purely as a stunt. I think that it was an insulting use of a truly stellar artist. Ellington, on the other hand, I imagine, would have said that it was an easy gig that paid well.
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Beating the Code - and Just Getting There
Added 11/13/2003
This pastiche was created just in time to beat the Production Code that would ban most of its content for years to come. It may not be the worst plot in the history of mankind but it is certainly in the running. If Carl Brisson understands English, and there is doubt from his glassy stare during almost all occasions, it is certain that "Sweet Marijuana" was translated from some other set of societal norms. Watching poor old Toby Wing vainly trying to cover her breasts while blood drips on them from the fly above makes one wonder who is stoned during the making of this affair. But Duke Ellington is wonderful and Leisen, who was a set dresser for de Mille, allows his detestation of women to shine forth in unabashed glee. This is an absolute must for devotées of the '30's
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Unusual Yes, Good No
Added 1/12/2003
This strange, uneven little mix of musical and murder mystery is famous mainly for it's musical number "Sweet Marijuana" in which Gertrude Michael sings of getting stoned so her lover, if only in fantasy, will come "back to me", backed by showgirls apparently gowned as marijuana plants!! The song was cut from the TV print for decades and resurfaced in prints for college film theaters in the 1970's mainly as a selling point for the picture!! The number actually is not very good (frankly none of the numbers are with the exception of the Duke Ellington number which has an ugly, violent "comic" ending) but Ms. Michael is the best thing in the picture as a bitchy spurned lover who threatens revenge when old flame Carl Brisson becomes engaged to Kitty Carlisle. Best known as the catty socialite who loses Cary Grant to Mae West in I'M NO ANGEL, Michaels had a dissapointingly short career in major film roles (though she would act in pictures for decades) but here shows herself a fine nasty second-lead "other woman" in the mold that Gail Patrick would become famous for a few years later (ironically Ms. Patrick has a small but key part in this film.) Jack Oakie is essentially the lead in the film but his hammy comedy is much better served in second leads himself. This was a rare film appearance for Swedish singer Carl Brisson (he was well into middle age at the time) cast opposite Kitty Carlisle as the young lovers. Ms. Carlisle, quite glamorous but not especially beautiful, makes a rare screen appearance as well in a part that allows her to sing several numbers but does not allow her to display her warm comic sensibility that made her a popular stage star and later a TV personality. This movie is basically a Paramount knockoff on Warner Brothers' Bubsy Berkley musicals (the showgirls are even scantier clad here, often in faux nude outfits!) complete with Berkley's most famous chorine, Toby Wing, with a running bit part. The movie has a rather strange attitude with it's sympathy at times as well as several characters obstructing justice. The talented director Mitchell Leisen would later make several notable films but this early effort is not particularly memorable and without that reefer ode would have been long forgotten.
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COCKTAILS FOR TWO...
Added 1/8/2003
And whacky tobaccy!! A bizarre, thoroughly fascinating excursion into 1934. This uniquely obscure and eccentric film isn't exactly a classic: but it probably merits cult status! Made just after the repeal of Prohibition (December 5, 1933) it legitimately sings the praises of being able to drink like "civilized ladies and men" in the standard by Sam Coslow entitled COCKTAILS FOR TWO. This movie also has an eclectic cast: Victor McLaglen, Jack Oakie, Gail Patrick, Kitty Carlisle, Jessie Ralph, Dorothy Stickney and that beautiful, elusive starlet - Toby Wing (one remembers her scene where she giggles, somehow). Duke Ellington & His Famous Orchestra provide the musical numbers which also includes SWEET MARIHAUNA, LULL ME TO SLEEP (!). Based upon the play by Earl Carroll and Rufus King, the plotline is obvious: just sit back and become mesmorized watching this high camp done in inimitable style!
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murder at the vanities
Added 4/27/2001
Murder at the Vanities is an interesting and enjoyable musical mystery. The music runs the gamut from the familiar "Cocktails for Two" to the wierd "Sweet Marijuana" (this IS 1934!) to Duke Ellington jazzing up Lizst. Jack Oakie ends up with the cute Toby Wing at the end. The only downer is the European male star Carl Brisson seems miscast. Overall, this is a lot of fun.
5 out of 6 people found this helpful.
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