(1934)
Directed by Mitchel Leisen
Written by Carey Wilson, Joseph Gollomb, Earl Carroll
Starring Jack Oakie, Carl Brisson, Kitty Carlisle, Victor McLaglen, Duke Ellington, Gertrude Michael, Gail Patrick
IMDB Entry
During the early days of the 20th century, the Broadway musical slowly evolved. One aspect was the musical revues of the teens and twenties. The Ziegfeld Follies is probably the best known these days, but another series of them was Earl Carroll's Vanities. While Ziegfeld strived to be high class, Carroll didn't care about that. In 1933, he tried with a book musical and the result was filmed as Murder at the Vanities.
Jack Ellery (Jack Oakie) is the producer of one of Carroll's shows, starring the couple of Eric Lander (Carl Brisson) and Ann Ware (Kitty Carlisle). The two of them plan to mary after the show, but Rita Ross (Gertrude Michael) is jealous, having been with Eric some time before and still believing he loves her. There are various attempts on Ann's life, and when a woman private investigator (Gail Patrick) is found dead on the catwalk, Ellery calls in a cop, Bill Murdock (Victor McLaughlin) to keep from getting worse. Of course, things get worse, and Rita ends up dead.
The murder mystery is pretty routine.* but the musical elements are delightful.
First of all, this movie introduced the song "Cocktails for Two," first as a duet, then as a full production number. I knew the song primarily through Spike Jones's version, one of the funniest songs ever performed. I kept expecting to hear the sound effects that made it so memorable.
And one sign that this is a pre-code film is a short number called "Sweet Marijuana." In her memoirs, Kitty Carlisle said she had no idea what marijuana was at the time, thinking it a musical instrument. It also wasn't illegal until a few years later.
The third element was the production number "Ebony Rhapsody," which starts out as a classic version of Liszt's Second Hungarian Rhapsody. But slowly, Duke Ellington and members of his band and group of Black dancers replace the original and turn it into jazz. It's a nice use of the song. The ending, though, is a bit problematic as someone pretends to shoot all the Black people down with a machine gun.
As for the leads, I've always liked Jack Oakie for his breezy charm. He's only known these days for his role as fake Mussolini in The Great Dictator, but also shows up in the underrated Million Dollar Legs. Victor McLaughlin earned an Oscar the next year for his dramatic turn in The Informer, and becomeon of John Ford's stock company,
I mostly remember Kitty Carlisle for her appearances as a panelist on game shows, but she did star with the Marx Brothers in A Night at the Opera. Other names of note in the cast include Gail Patrick,** Charles (Ming the Merciless) Middleton, and Donald Meek***
Carroll's Vanities were always a bit more risque than Ziegfeld's Follies. Many of the chorus in the movie had appeared on Broadway, and did appear nearly nude in the film. Lucille Ball, Ann Sheridan, and Alan Ladd has roles in the chorus.
Director Mitchell Leisen started out a set designer, but moved to directing in the 1930s and was known for his keen eye for composition.
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*Indeed, it only works because it is contrived so that the person who can clear up everything is always ignored when they try to alert people.
**Later the producer of Perry Mason.
***His name described his character. He shows up as the whiskey drummer in Stagecoach.
