Robert Baumann I would not go so far as to call this a musical, although some might because Dick Powell does do some singing in it. To my way of thinking a musical is simply where the music dominates the telling of a story. That is not so in this case. It is a romantic comedy with a song or two in it. It has the old fashioned boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy marries girl theme in it. The concept of s-e-x is 1934 style, with the two parties barely able to kiss one another until deep in the relationship. If you don't need special effects to tell a story, then you will like this one. The actors all speak like stage trained personnel with emphatic speech typical of the period. Many fine character actors in the cast including Frank McHugh and Allan Jenkins. It is just a classical and entertaining film comedy the way America used to do it. I loved it.

mark.waltz Forget the usual musical Warner Brothers leading ladies of the 1930's who surrounded crooner Dick Powell with tap dances, huge eyes and wisecracks. There's no Ruby, Joan or Ginger around, just the non-singing Josephine Hutchinson playing the most frequently dramatized of screwball heroines: the slumming heroine. Running out on her family's lavish New Year's Eve party, she ends up in a night club where she befriends real people, unaware of who she really is, ultimately finding love with handsome Powell. It's a reverse of Powell's 1933 "Gold Diggers" plot to where he played a struggling songwriter who was really a rich kid from Boston. To connect Powell's part in that with Hutchinson's in this, they both share the same last name (Bradford), and an easy going attitude in spite of being heirs to huge fortunes. A super duper cast of supporting players surround them, including John Halliday and Marjorie Gateson as Hutchinson's socialite parents, Ruth Donnelly as her maid and Allen Jenkins as her chauffeur who run into her on one of her outings, and Mary Treen, Frank McHugh and Dorothy Dare as Powell's pals. "Pop Goes Your Heart" stands out among Powell's songs. This is a gem among forgotten jewels, and is worthy of higher recognition.

Dunham16 This singing romance assigns the main songs to Dick Powell who clocks in and assigns the men at a window washing franchise assisted by Dorothy Dare as a secretary and a less well known 1930's personality Frank McHugh As a window washer. Other familiar names from popular 1930's films currently available on DVD include Jane Darwell as the inquisitive landlady and Allan Jenkins as the chauffeur in love with the ladies maid. Roy Del Ruth splices plot twists from several familiar movie sources including the society girl trying to convince a working class gent she is poor and out of work, a well heeled wet rag using the traditions of society to wed the society girl in an arranged marriage, an understanding father trying to fend off a gorgon mother, hi jinks at a 1930's skating rink, a party in an apartment complex causing physical damage to the rented apartment, faithful house staff covering up the escapades of a family member and songs popping out of nowhere on a restaurant table and on a window ledge. Roy Del Ruth provides snappy dialogue, fascinating photography and editing including camera hi jinks along the exterior of a tall office building and well over an hour and a half of pure cinematic delight. Other than you've seen most of this before in different 1930's movies a perfect film.

atlasmb "Happiness Ahead" is a title that might lure a citizen into a movie theater during the depression. Dick Powell and Josephine Hutchinson are the couple paired to provide the happiness in this story about an heiress (natch!) who falls for a working stiff.The story is very basic. Fortunately, Powell (as Bob Lane) has a nifty singing voice, so the script can allow him to vocalize at regular intervals. The happy couple base their relationship on the misunderstanding that Hutchinson (as Joan Bradford)is also a member of the working class--a misunderstanding that she promotes, and that drives the tension of this story, though things are not that tense. Lightheartedness is the order of the day.Frank McHugh plays Bob's sidekick, whose antics are like a tame version of Curly Howard's--typical for his work. John Halliday plays the aristocratic father of Joan with a light touch that is appealing.You can guess what happens to the two lovebirds in the end. The film is a pleasant diversion.