In "Gold Diggers of 1933", New Yorkers were seen marching in breadlines to the tune of "My Forgotten Man". A list of Broadway theaters showed them to be mostly dark. But in this light-hearted musical, set just after the 1929 crash, there is none of that. Stockbroker S.Z. Sakall watches his niece's millions disappear into the red, not realizing that she (Doris Day) has just agreed to give $25,000 to Broadway producer boyfriend Billy DeWolfe and star in the show. Sakall quickly makes a deal with her-he will give her the money if she will not say "yes" to everything for 48 hours. Easy enough, but Sakall has every intention of making sure she doesn't win the bet. Secretary Eve Arden is assigned to spend the next 48 hours with her, and when Doris brings the entire cast of the show home to their Long Island estate, Sakall uses every opportunity to get her to utter the forbidden word. During all of this, Day realizes the truth about the vile DeWolfe and falls in love with the handsome leading man, Gordon MacRae.
This is not the plot of the 1925 musical "No No Nanette". That was the story of a bible salesman and his wife's efforts to keep an eye on their 18 year old niece Nanette, while she is scheming to flee to Atlantic City for a weekend. The only reference to that show (other than song and character names) is the assumption that the musical DeWolfe is producing is indeed that version of "No No Nanette". Several songs from the musical (which can be heard on the cast recording of the 1971 Broadway revival) are heard, and include "Tea For Two", "I Want to Be Happy", "Call of the Sea", and "No No Nanette". Other songs by other composers from the period of 1925-1935 are heard, including "Do Do Do" (from Gershin's "Oh, Kay!"), "Crazy Rhythm", and "I Only Have Eyes For You" (from Warner's 1934 film "Dames").
What you have is an early 50's version of what the depression must have been all about, which is funny considering that most of the creative team of this film were around during that time. Other than the fur coat and flapper dress worn by the children in the opening scene (which leads to the flashback telling of the story), the characters are not made up to look like what photos and films of the depression era showed them to be. The hairstyles are more late 40's than early 30's, and the outfits appear to be closer to post depression era. No matter, the film still remains extremely entertaining, with Day a lovely heroine, MacRae and Gene Nelson delightful as the juveniles, energetically singing and dancing along with Doris who proves herself to be a capable hoofer, proving that her dreams of dancing had not ended when she had a horrible car crash years before, breaking her leg.
Eve Arden gives her usually funny sarcastic performance. "Mine is not to reason why. Mine is but to do and dial", she says as Doris asks her to make a phone call. DeWolfe is funny in a sequence showing hopeful backers what the chorus girls will be doing, but overdoes it a bit in the Charleston scene. Patrice Wymore plays the stereotypically demanding Bebe Daniels type leading lady. (Ironically the part in "No No Nanette" that she lands ends up being the role that Helen Gallagher won the Tony Award as Best Actress in a Musical for, while Day is more appropriately presented in the role of the young Nanette.) Bill Goodwin makes the most out of a smaller part as Sakall's financial adviser who ends up in a brief romantic subplot with Arden.
I rank this high because there is a lot of humor and joy to be found throughout. It may not be as lavish as the musicals done over at MGM (where sometimes the musicals seemed a bit "overdone"), and the scenes onstage actually appear to fit in a Broadway theater. The "Nanette" sequence at the end is a delightful mini-movie of what the original production in 1925 may have looked like, although that was not during the depression. The film opens and closes with scenes set apparently in 1950 with Sakall discovering his great niece and nephew mocking the fashions and music of the late 1920's, giving them a lecture and a story of how wrong they were about an era they knew nothing about. This leads to a very funny conclusion with DeWolfe getting in the last word as one final reprise of the title song is sung by the romantic leads. It will bring a huge smile to your face just as it did to mine when I heard all of the great Vincent Youmans songs sung in a professional regional production of "No No Nanette" that shows that old fashioned entertainment is still the best kind.
This is not the plot of the 1925 musical "No No Nanette". That was the story of a bible salesman and his wife's efforts to keep an eye on their 18 year old niece Nanette, while she is scheming to flee to Atlantic City for a weekend. The only reference to that show (other than song and character names) is the assumption that the musical DeWolfe is producing is indeed that version of "No No Nanette". Several songs from the musical (which can be heard on the cast recording of the 1971 Broadway revival) are heard, and include "Tea For Two", "I Want to Be Happy", "Call of the Sea", and "No No Nanette". Other songs by other composers from the period of 1925-1935 are heard, including "Do Do Do" (from Gershin's "Oh, Kay!"), "Crazy Rhythm", and "I Only Have Eyes For You" (from Warner's 1934 film "Dames").
What you have is an early 50's version of what the depression must have been all about, which is funny considering that most of the creative team of this film were around during that time. Other than the fur coat and flapper dress worn by the children in the opening scene (which leads to the flashback telling of the story), the characters are not made up to look like what photos and films of the depression era showed them to be. The hairstyles are more late 40's than early 30's, and the outfits appear to be closer to post depression era. No matter, the film still remains extremely entertaining, with Day a lovely heroine, MacRae and Gene Nelson delightful as the juveniles, energetically singing and dancing along with Doris who proves herself to be a capable hoofer, proving that her dreams of dancing had not ended when she had a horrible car crash years before, breaking her leg.
Eve Arden gives her usually funny sarcastic performance. "Mine is not to reason why. Mine is but to do and dial", she says as Doris asks her to make a phone call. DeWolfe is funny in a sequence showing hopeful backers what the chorus girls will be doing, but overdoes it a bit in the Charleston scene. Patrice Wymore plays the stereotypically demanding Bebe Daniels type leading lady. (Ironically the part in "No No Nanette" that she lands ends up being the role that Helen Gallagher won the Tony Award as Best Actress in a Musical for, while Day is more appropriately presented in the role of the young Nanette.) Bill Goodwin makes the most out of a smaller part as Sakall's financial adviser who ends up in a brief romantic subplot with Arden.
I rank this high because there is a lot of humor and joy to be found throughout. It may not be as lavish as the musicals done over at MGM (where sometimes the musicals seemed a bit "overdone"), and the scenes onstage actually appear to fit in a Broadway theater. The "Nanette" sequence at the end is a delightful mini-movie of what the original production in 1925 may have looked like, although that was not during the depression. The film opens and closes with scenes set apparently in 1950 with Sakall discovering his great niece and nephew mocking the fashions and music of the late 1920's, giving them a lecture and a story of how wrong they were about an era they knew nothing about. This leads to a very funny conclusion with DeWolfe getting in the last word as one final reprise of the title song is sung by the romantic leads. It will bring a huge smile to your face just as it did to mine when I heard all of the great Vincent Youmans songs sung in a professional regional production of "No No Nanette" that shows that old fashioned entertainment is still the best kind.