marcslope Based on a 1919 Broadway musical hit, and transferred reasonably faithfully to the screen, with much underscoring from the Harry Tierney-Joseph McCarthy original. But only three songs remain, leaving acres of unprepossessing light comedy about a shanty-Irish colleen who lucks into modeling and is courted by friendly rich boys Ray Milland and Alan Marshal. The plotting here goes far awry. Alan Marshal spends the whole movie lusting after Anna Neagle, only to declare in the last reel he really loves Marsha Hunt, only because the screenwriters are desperate to have Neagle end up with Milland. Some nice things happen: a whole reel in Technicolor, to show off Neagle's Alice Blue Gown, and one of Billie Burke's best society-flibbertigibbet turns, and Roland Young exuding wry bemusement. And Neagle has a lovely solo dance near the end, about absolutely nothing. But one does spend an awful lot of time wishing they'd get on with it, and wondering where the stage score went.

ciocio-2 OK--must confess that I have not seen the entire movie; only saw the last 40 minutes or so, and look forward to getting to see the whole thing soon (which is why I didn't vote yet, though what I saw of it would rate an eight or nine). It is one of those sweet, charming (without cloying--it has some wit to it) movies RKO did so well (Ginger Rogers' 5th AVENUE GIRL is another I recently saw--thank goodness for Turner Classic Movies). Towards the end of this movie, Ray Milland's character discovers Anna Neagle's Irene dancing by herself, lost in thought and emotion. He and we watch, unperceived by Irene, and the dance was an unexpected delight. While the choreography could have used more variation (certain moves are repeated too much, and some of them have her shoulders up more than is ideal), Anna N. proves herself a graceful, expressive dancer; I hope to see more of her dancing, if it exists in films. The beginning of the dance also uses subtle slow-motion to good effect, which it occurred to me I haven't seen often, if at all, in musicals from this era. I wonder why that wasn't used more, as it would seem to be a relatively easy effect to employ. Anyway, I recommend IRENE, and look forward to taking my own recommendation to see the rest of it soon.

mark.waltz Anna Neagle was never one of my favorites. She was one of those oh-so-ladylike actresses that you just couldn't picture doing things us mere mortals do every day without thinking. However, in the early 40's, the British actress was Americanized for three musical films based upon old Broadway shows. "Irene" was the first of the three (followed by remakes of "No No Nanette" and "Sunny"), and by far the most charming. As the oh-so-Irish Irene O'Dare, Neagle becomes a superstar overnight when she shows up at a Long Island party wearing an old gown of her grandmother's (that salty old favorite May Robson) that has eyes all aglow. Dashing Ray Milland and her dizzy mother (Billie Burke) are instantly taken with her, and she is soon a celebrity. They believe her to be related to European blue-bloods, not realizing she is a simple working girl. Only Milland and his business partner (Roland Young as "Madame Lucy", the apparent designer of the "Alice Blue Gown") know the truth.I was familiar with the score thanks to a recording of the 1973 revival with Debbie Reynolds; most of the songs are either cut or given minor arrangements, with the exception of "Alice Blue Gown" which is turned into a cute production number filled with a variety of different races wearing the outfit. Hattie Noel and the Dandridge sisters are given the bulk of the production number, while Neagle earlier sang it to her grandmother and sisters. Neagle's singing voice, while not bad, is no Jeanette MacDonald; It is hard to believe that she was one of Britain's most popular musical stars. Her acting, however, is pretty good, and she is most convincing as an Irish lass. Milland is handsome and quite charming; He is the perfect leading man. Billie Burke and Roland Young (reunited from the "Topper" series as well as several others) are good as well, and May Robson is always a delight. (The Broadway musical for those who are interested featured Monte Markham in the Milland role, and Ruth Warrick, Billy DeWolfe, and Patsy Kelly in the Burke, Young, and Robson roles respectively).RKO went all out for the production design of the film, giving it a marvelous art deco look. It is equal in design to any of the Astaire/Rogers musicals, and just as charming. The only thing I disliked was the lack of music; I wanted a production number of the rousing title song which gets more attention as background music than as a musical number. Still, as a comedy with music, "Irene" is very well done, and being taken from that point of view makes it a film worth viewing.

Arthur Hausner The music and dance of this musical comedy are well integrated with the story so I never got the feeling it stemmed from a 1919 show; the writers must have modified it considerably to avoid the "bursting-into-song" syndrome that was prevalent at the time, and which always bothers me. The actors are fun to watch, and some of the songs, headed by "Alice Blue Gown" are very memorable. I got a big kick out of the spoof of the Alice-Blue-Gown rage that was sweeping the country. It comes in the form of a movie called "Rex Gordon's Moviebone News" (a take-off on Movietone News, for those who are too young to know) which all the principals watch in a packed movie theater. In that film, we are treated with very heavy-set Hattie Noel in her Alice Blue Gown strutting her stuff, while other black actors and actresses, some in similar gowns, sing and dance. Three of the singers were The Dandridge Sisters, which included Dorothy Dandridge, a very pleasant surprise. The whole sequence was a pleasure to watch, despite the little screen time given to the Sisters.