Paramount on Parade (1930)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Directors:

Dorothy Arzner
Otto Brower

Writer:

Joseph L. Mankiewicz (writer)

Release Date:

22 April 1930 (USA)

Genre:

Musical

Plot:

A musical revue that basically has Paramount stars and contract-players doing things some had never done on screen...

Plot Keywords:

Partially Lost Film | Sherlock Holmes | Two Strip Technicolor | Beautiful Woman

Cast

Maurice Chevalier	...	Himself / Apache (Origin of the Apache) / Paris Park Gendarme (In a Park in Paris) / Chimney Sweep (Finale)
Richard Arlen	...	Hunter (Dream Girl)
Jean Arthur	...	Sweetheart (Dream Girl / In a Hospital)
William Austin	...	Partygoer (Impulses)
George Bancroft	...	Mug (Impulses)
Clara Bow	...	Herself (True to the Navy)
Evelyn Brent	...	Bedroom Apache Dancer (Origin of the Apache)
Mary Brian	...	Sweetheart (Dream Girl)
Clive Brook	...	Sherlock Holmes (Murder Will Out)
Virginia Bruce	...	Chorus Girl
Nancy Carroll	...	Herself (Dance Mad)
Ruth Chatterton	...	Floozie (The Montmartre Girl)
Gary Cooper	...	Hunter (Dream Girl)
Leon Errol	...	Himself / Master of Ceremonies / (In a Hospital)
Stuart Erwin	...	Marine (The Montmartre Girl)

Runtime:

USA:102 min (original version) | USA:77 min (existing print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Jeanette MacDonald's participation in Nino Martini's Song of the Gondolier musical number was cut from the USA version before it was released, but may survive in the Spanish version of the film.

Movie Connections:

References True to the Navy (1930)

Soundtrack:

What Did Cleopatra Say

Clara Bow, Maurice Chevalier & Nancy Carroll Are Winners

Well much of this Paramount landmark talkie is missing but what remains is entertaining and it's fun to see the old stars in their primes. Copying MGM's Hollywood Revue of 1929, which earned a best picture Oscar nomination and was a smash, Paramount on Parade has a lot of talent but the film seems cheesy compared to the MGM revue. However, this served as the talkie debut of a lot of stars on the Paramount lot. Among the major names: Clara Bow, Maurice Chevalier, Kay Francis, William Powell, Jean Arthur, Gary Cooper, Nancy Carroll, Ruth Chatterton, Fay Wray, Fredric March, Lillian Roth, Buddy Rogers. And also Jack Oakie, Mitzi Green, Leon Errol, Harry Green, Stu Erwin, Cecil Cunningham, Warner Oland, Eugene Palette, Clive Brook, Skeets Gallagher, Al Norman, Mary Brian, Zelma O'Neal, Helen Kane, George Bancroft, Mischa Auer, etc.

Most of the skits are duds but the musical numbers of funny and snappy, especially Chevalier in "Sweeping Away the Clouds," Helen Kane in a "Poop-a-Doop" classroom number, 8-year-old Mitzi Green doing impressions, Clara Bow in her splashy Navy number, Nancy Carroll quite good in her "shoe" dance, and Jack Oakie and Zelma O'Neal in their gym number.

Where the MGM film had unity via a master of ceremony (Jack Benny) this film seems like a bunch of "shorts" strung together but maybe that's because of the missing material.

Most at ease among the many big stars are Clara Bow and Maurice Chevalier who are energetic, snappy, and not afraid of the mike..... Worth a look.