It isn't jazz and it isn't heaven - just an unpretentious programmer with a very boring theme song ("Someone"), in fact sweet Sally O'Neil is the only reason to watch this one. She was a "kid" discovery (15) of Marshall Neilan who gave her her chance in "Mike" and she went from strength to strength starring opposite Buster Keaton in "Battling Butler" and also alongside Joan Crawford and Constance Bennett in "Sally, Irene and Mary". Although not star material she was a perfect leading lady with a lot of sweetness and charm (sort of like Maureen O'Sullivan) and there was no reason to doubt that she would have had a reasonable career in the movies. But after a flurry of roles (8) (her voice was quite okay) in 1929, by 1931 she was reduced to a very supporting role as a maid in "Murder By the Clock" (with Lilyan Tashman as leading lady everyone else was in the shade). Through no fault of her own she was just one of the many who found themselves by the wayside after the onrush of the talkies. Her leading man was John Mack Brown who proved with his performance in this just why, by 1930, he had not been able to break through the elusive star barrier. Plus, in this movie, he had some "crazy eyes" happening.
He plays Barry, a struggling song writer trying to make good plugging this boring song that everyone who hears it claim is the best song they have ever heard. The little gal Ruth (O'Neil) from next door works for a song publisher and she believes once her bosses hear it they will be falling over themselves to publish it - and they are!!! Obviously they haven't heard many good songs lately!!! When Barry and Ruth borrow a room with a piano to fine tune the song they accidentally flick a switch which sees them on the air - so they now have a rival firm, Parker Pianos, bidding for this song.
Sally O'Neil is sweet and sassy and seems right at home playing peppy Ruth, she even gets a few wisecracks - "revoice your English kid - we're going to sell it to them" and "he's been on the make for months, yeah, on the make, on the make". Clyde Cook, complete with his Australian accent, plays Mr. Langley the landlord. Viewing this movie it is hard to understand why Sally fell to oblivion so fast. Maybe she was so entrenched (in fan's eyes) in the flapper era (interesting to see in this movie, made before the stock market crash, the little short skirts (well, just above the knee) that she wore) that audiences felt she was too perky to deal with life's realities.
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