Definitely created because of the popularity of "Hollywood Revue" and "Show of Shows" at MGM and Warner Brothers in the United States, this musical variety show is fascinating, if dated in a very creepy way, filled with some wonderful early two-strip Technicolor sequences yet mixed because of very dated comedy routine and a few musical numbers that are pretty tactless. But there are others that are terrific, a few ahead of their time because they resemble the type of musical numbers that would become very popular after the rise of Astaire and Rodgers and Powell and Keeler a few years after this. It is fascinating too that one of the directors was none other than Alfred Hitchcock, certainly out of his element reputation wise, and I doubt that anybody could determine which sequences he was in control of. There's a bit too much Shakespeare spoofing, based on the fact that several of the Bard's plays had their talkie film debuts with little sequences in the Hollywood studio reviews as well as a critically maligned version of "Taming of the Shrew".
For fans of British cinema, the presence of a few of the popular entertainers of their movies will be fascinating, with Cecily Courtneidge definitely doing a bit of the type of acts that the popular Winnie Lightner had done in "Show of Shows", absolutely outrageous and wonderful. Will Haye goes overboard with his sketch focusing on Scottish stereotypes, and a black face group raises eyebrows even if their tap dancing is superb and the sequences are wonderfully filmed. This has one of the best early talkie credit sequences, one I'll always remember, and the camera does move around a lot more than other films made in 1930. So it's definitely a curiosity with some very high strong points, but it's the weak moments (particularly the really lame sketches) that ruin it overall. As a reflection of the British musical theater of the time, however, it is historically very important, although most younger audiences will be bored stiff with it.
For fans of British cinema, the presence of a few of the popular entertainers of their movies will be fascinating, with Cecily Courtneidge definitely doing a bit of the type of acts that the popular Winnie Lightner had done in "Show of Shows", absolutely outrageous and wonderful. Will Haye goes overboard with his sketch focusing on Scottish stereotypes, and a black face group raises eyebrows even if their tap dancing is superb and the sequences are wonderfully filmed. This has one of the best early talkie credit sequences, one I'll always remember, and the camera does move around a lot more than other films made in 1930. So it's definitely a curiosity with some very high strong points, but it's the weak moments (particularly the really lame sketches) that ruin it overall. As a reflection of the British musical theater of the time, however, it is historically very important, although most younger audiences will be bored stiff with it.