MartinHafer A shipload of supposedly rich and connected folks runs aground in a strange kingdom populated with Hawaiians and white folks who have been dyed dark which are led by a ditsy American white lady who wears evening wear and a tiara. Supposedly these are Zulus--but the film and the island where it's set have nothing to do with South Africans. One anachronism after another occurs in this 'primitive' land--including natives who pack Thomson machine guns! Most of what happens on the island is a lot of nonsense."Down to Their Last Yacht" is a very unusual musical comedy for many reasons. First, it has no stars to anchor the movie--just various supporting players who didn't have the charisma and range to helm the project. So, while Mary Boland, Ned Sparks and Polly Moran COULD have been funny (they all have had some nice roles in support in other film comedies), there they have no one to act against and they simply are out of their league. Second, for a comedy, it seems to have an amazingly small amount of laughs. While the situations could have been funny, nothing was done to exploit the humorous aspects of the plot. Third, the music...UGGHH! Not only are the songs poor, but the voices are dreadful--and very dated. Considering that IMDb says the movie needed retakes, I assume that even in 1934 it was pretty bad and the studio was trying, in vain, to salvage the project. It all makes you wonder WHAT the folks at RKO were thinking when they made this film!! A real clunker!

ptb-8 This 70 minute film made at huge expense at RK0 was their entry into the scatterbrain comedies of the early 30s like DUCK SOUP and MILLION DOLLAR LEGS. Madcap social anarchy mixed with silly kingdoms and sprinkled with songs. KING KELLY OF THE USA and HIPS HIPS HOORAY also fall into this format of two separate halves of a film making up the 60-70 minute running time. In this catastrophe comedy the first 30 minutes aboard the yacht of the title are quite terrific with two truly divine songs set in art deco splendor akin to an Astaire Rogers film: 'Funny little World' especially is worth listening (and watching) over and over. 'The little finger on your hand' is a lilting wistful song and equally memorable and well staged. However..... it all runs aground on some dirt puddle island and complete 'wackiness' takes over. The second half is simply terrible with the shipwrecked socialites living and working like natives while the Polynesians wear silks and top hats and get ordered around by a deranged 'queen' Mary Boland. The film completely falls apart, as if two completely different films were made and wedged together. However the production values are spectacular. I truly love the first half on the yacht. I truly gasp in sheer embarrassment at the second half. as one friend said to me after we lurched thru it: "you sure have shown me some silly films, but that was the silliest"............And not fun either. Apparently it cost half a million dollars in 1934... an epic disaster financially for such a support film.

75groucho As noted in other comments for this film, this one starts out looking like a typical 1930s screwball comedy about high society but changes course quickly. The story takes several sharp left turns into becoming a musical farce set in a Polynesian island kingdom. Of particular delight is Mary Boland's shabby-glamorous queen and her manservant in tattered livery. The two romantic leads are undistinguished, particularly the male. But any film with Ned Sparks deserves some credit, and the musical numbers aren't as tedious as many others of the period were. It's a curious affair, made all the more startling by the film's rapid pacing, but I feel I must say that other comments make "Down To Their Last Yacht" sound like something from the avant-garde. In truth it's no more 'out there' than W.C. Fields' "Million Dollar Legs" or some of Wheeler & Woolsey's more absurdist work. Not a classic, but certainly worth watching if you come across it.

zpzjones This may be a programmer from RKO but I saw ambition especially in the production values. And some of the music and songs are by Max Steiner. But I'm a Mary Boland fan. She's wonderful in any thing she appears in usually as Charlie Ruggles wife henpecking him. Well poor Charlie is not in this. Mary is the Queen of her own island visited by some down on their luck socialites from the mainland. These people played by Sidney Blackmer, Sidney Fox and her mother played by Marjorie Gateson decide to lease their yacht for a cruise. On board are the zany likes of Polly Moran, Irene Franklin and Sterling Holloway. Captain of the yacht on this cruise is Ned Sparks who, it seems, 'deliberately' runs the yacht aground on Mary's island. Hmmm! it almost turns out that goofy Sparks was working for Mary as Mary's plan was to find herself a husband from the mainland. Spoiler! She ends up with one of them but I won't say. When the castaways find out that they were purposely trapped on the island they try to get away only to be prevented by Mary's islander posse.But apart from the societal hijinks the movie comes and goes and doesn't overstay it's welcome. It was a wise diversion to add musical numbers in this. They are excellently sung by singers who are native Pacific islanders. And it elevates the movie from being a typical programmer or time waster. Comically the socialites who came in on the yacht join in the chorus at the close of the movie and you know what? They're not half bad. Some will recognize Sterling Holloway in an early performance having trouble playing his Saxophone in the yacht's orchestra.