TheLittleSongbird As clichéd as this sounds, while there are better film musicals out there than 'You Can't Have Everything' there are also much worse as well. 'You Can't Have Everything' is patchy but also enormously enjoyable.While it is said often that people don't see musicals for stories, or shouldn't expect too much from them, the story here is unlikely and over-stretched, sometimes going overboard with the silliness. Not everybody in the cast come off as well as they could. There is too much of the Ritz Brothers, and a few of their scenes do go on for too long and bog down the film. Their material is also a mixed bag, sometimes entertaining and sometimes too noisy and tiresome.Tony Martin is too stiff and mannered in his role, never looking very comfortable, but he does undeniably sing gloriously (he always did in his films but rarely came off well as an actor). Charles Winninger is rather subdued in an under-utilised and blandly written role, though he does get one very funny line. Violinist/radio personality David Rubinoff plays beautifully but didn't really see the point to him being there personally.However, Alice Faye is just delightful, having so much energy but also giving a lot of substance to her acting. Don Ameche is a very charming and witty partner, and Gypsy Rose Lee's hoot of a performance comes very close to stealing the show. Louis Prima is tremendously exuberant, and Tip, Tap and Toe have an electrifying tap dance routine that is choreographically 'You Can't Have Everything's' highlight. Phyllis Brooks and Wally Vernon give snappy support and Arthur Treacher is amusing.'You Can't Have Everything' also looks very pleasing, very nicely shot and well designed. The songs are both sparkling and gorgeously romantic, especially the title song, "Please Pardon Us We're in Love", "Danger Love at Work" and "Afraid to Dream". Norman Taurog directs efficiently, with his one fault being that he could have done more to reign in the Ritz Brothers, and the script sparkles with wit and energy. Two of the best lines coming from Gypsy Rose Lee, but Ameche's quip likening exercise to going to the funerals of his athletic friends is a scream.On the whole, so much to enjoy but patchy. 7/10 Bethany Cox

weezeralfalfa Alice Faye and Don Ameche were both rather young Fox contract players, both with acting and singing talent. So, it made sense to put them together as the stars of a musical comedy. This was the first of 6 films they made together over the next 5 years, 5 of them musical comedies, although Tyrone Power would usurp Ameche as Alice's main romantic interest in two of them. In terms of music and star power, no doubt the most famous of this series was the Irving Berlin-scored "Alexander's Ragtime Band". As with the often quoted summation of the appeal of the Astaire & Ginger musical team, Ameche gave the Hell's kitchen-bred Alice class, and Alice gave Ameche additional sex appeal. Of course, it was actually more complex than that. Alice was then the more famous to movie goers, having costarred in two Shirley Temple films the previous year, where she got to sing solo or with Shirley. The team of Harry Revel and Mack Gordon composed most of the songs for those films, as well as the present one. While not as memorable as many of Berlin's songs, they are certainly generally adequate in the context of the screenplay. Beginning in 1940, when Harry Warren moved from Warner to Fox, Mack would write the lyrics to some more enduring songs, including Alice's best remembered song: " You'll Never Know", and a number of Glen Miller's hits.Here, we have additional musical and comedic talent in the supporting players. The Ritz Brothers were signed by Fox for the last years of the '30s, and usually were first or second -billed. They permeate this whole film. most viewers today, including me, don't find them terribly amusing. However, as some others have noted, they are at their most tolerable in this film. Who else could carry a musical comedy production about long underwear? They aren't the only featured male trio. The African American gymnastic dance team of Tip, Tap, and Toe are featured in one number. They were one of several AA groups of 2, 3 or 4 gymnastic dancers featured in the occasional musical, long before Michael Jackson. The Nicholas Brothers, no doubt, were featured in the most films. The Four Step Brothers were also impressive in their performances in Universal's "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" (see on You Tube).Gypsy Rose Lee, in one of her few film appearances, is another major character, cast as 'the other woman', trying to hold onto Ameche in the face of his obvious infatuation with Alice's character. Blond Phyllis Brooks takes on the thankless role of Alice's unpleasantly snooty established stage rival. Phyllis comes across as much more appealing in the contemporary Shirley Temple-starring "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm", where she was allowed to show that she could sing as well as Alice, and be appealingly sexy, even if she was again 'the other woman'.Veteran vaudeville and film character actor Charles Winninger is given a subdued straight role as the Broadway producer of musicals, and associate of Ameche, not allowing him to exhibit his comedic talent seen in some other films of the '30s and '40s(example: "Pot of Gold"). Noted violin player David Rubinoff is given several opportunities to show his talent. Tony Martin, Alice's new husband, shows off his considerable singing talent in several numbers, albeit without commensurate acting talent. Band leader and singer Louis Prima also gets several chances to strut his stuff. Stiff Arthur Treacher does his usual British butler role. He is probably best remembered for his contributing roles in several Shirley Temple films. The film begins with Alice entering a NYC Italian restaurant, ordering several plates of spaghetti, then announcing that she has no money, and strangely requesting that the waiter call a policeman to arrest her. Why?? The nearby tipsy Ameche offers to pay her bill. She refuses, but it's discovered she has singing talent, in rendering the (so-so) title song. Ameche inquires why she can't get a job as a singer.She replies her ambition is to be a playwright of serious dramas, being a descendant of Edgar Allen Poe. Ameche arranges with Winninger to pay for the rights to Alice's poor play "North Winds", to help further his hoped-for romantic relationship with her, never mind that he already has a serious girlfriend and maybe wife in Gypsy. Gradually, he warms her up to the idea that she could make an excellent lead play actress and singer. However, she backslides periodically, especially when she discovers who he really is, and that her serious drama has been totally redone as a musical comedy. However, as expected, all are smiles at the end, after Winninger points out that, with this success, her future serious plays are more likely to be accepted.The musical productions and fashion walk portions of the film would certainly have benefited by being filmed in 3 strip Technicolor, just recently commercialized. The women are sometimes decked out with outrageously huge ornate headpieces.After the Ritz Brothers' "Long Underwear" production, Tony Martin later warbles the romantic "The Loveliness of You", with accompanying fashion walk. Alice later follows with the jazzy "Danger, Love at Work". Ameche, and later Martin, follow with the romantic "Afraid to Dream", then Alice, with the swing-styled "Please Pardon Us, We're in Love". Martin dominates the romantic singing, and the Ritz brothers the comedy in the final big production: no great shakes. Presently available on a minimalist DVD.

Frank Cullen Director Norman Taurog has a witty script and the top musical performers on the Fox lot to direct, and he delivers. The plot is all too familiar and implausible, but the dialogue sparks it. Leads Alice Faye and Don Ameche are at their most charming and natural, and Faye has a couple of solid hit songs. Too bad Ameche wasn't as lucky. The Ritz Brothers have integrated roles in the plot, ample screen time and deliver several excellent numbers. Tip, Tap & Toe wow with a fine eccentric tap number just before the production number (a clinker) at the end of the film. Character comedian Charles Winninger is somewhat wasted in a largely straight role, but Gypsy Rose Lee (billed under her real name, Louise Hovick, gets a break as a playing the snarky "other woman." Tony Martin has fine pipes but comes off a bit smarmy and mannered in his numbers, and Rubinoff on screen is proof why he was better on radio. Phyllis Brooks and Wally Vernon also deliver snappy bits. Definitely one of the better of 20th Century Zanuck's musicals, although he can't resist his cheesily costumed chorus cuties whose talents are best on display without moving or talking. One chorine with a platter on her head traipsed pigeon-toed down a staircase in a Tony Martin number--at first I thought she was Harry Ritz. I'll watch this film again just to see the Ritz Brothers and Tip, Tap & Toe.

Kalaman "You Can't Have Everything" is a splendidly tuneful, enormously entertaining Fox musical, directed by Norman Taurog, starring Alice Faye, Don Ameche, Charles Winninger, and, of course, the Ritz Brothers. This is one of three splendid & spirited musicals Alice Faye made at Fox in 1937. The other two are "On the Avenue" and "Wake Up and Live".Faye, sweet and vulnerable, plays an impoverished playwright named Judith Poe Wells, a descendant of Edgar Allan Poe, who writes plays livid with social significance and realism. She is convinced that it is her sacred duty to live up to the talent her family inherits. As the film opens, Judith accidentally meets a handsome Broadway insider named George Macrae (Ameche) in a Romano Italian restaurant when she fails to pay her plate of spaghetti. Macrae falls in love with Judith and persuades her to turn her into a showbiz sensation. But Judith is not interested in musical comedies or what she calls "usual George Macrae tripe". Rather, she wants serious dramas that depict life's struggles and harshness. Much to Judith's dismay, Macrae nevertheless tells his boss Sam Gordon (Winninger) about her play "North Winds" ("a play about the vital problems that confront womanhood in the frozen north") and ways of turning it into a musical comedy. Macrae's former girl Lulu (Gypsy Rose Lee) shows up and spoils the show by revealing something about Macrae's past and one night while he was drunk. The Ritz Brothers, for once, are immensely enjoyable as their perform their remarkable comic acts and musical numbers. Their acts are perfectly integrated with the story. It was really a hoot to watch them. Also the film features a fantastic dance specialty by Tip, Tap, Toe, which anticipate those by Nicholas Brothers in the later Fox musicals.Among the musical highlights, my absolute favorites are Faye's poignant rendition of the title tune (which kind of reminded me of her unforgettable "You'll Never Know" number in the classic 1943 musical "Hello, Frisco, Hello"), and the lively "Danger, Love at Work". But that's not all. Also look for "Afraid to Dream" and "Please Pardon Us We are in Love".Don't miss "You Can't Have Everything" if you love all-time classic musicals.