Reaching for the Moon (1930)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Edmund Goulding

Writers:

Irving Berlin (story)
Edmund Goulding (written by)

Release Date:

21 February 1931 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Music | Romance

Plot:

Wall Street wizard, Larry Day, new to the ways of love, is coached by his valet. He follows Vivian Benton on an ocean liner...

Plot Keywords:

Valet | Ocean Liner | Cocktail | Southhampton England | Bankruptcy

Cast

Douglas Fairbanks	...	Larry Day
Bebe Daniels	...	Vivien Benton
Edward Everett Horton	...	Roger, the Valet
Claud Allister	...	Sir Horace Partington Chelmsford
Jack Mulhall	...	Jimmy Carrington
Walter Walker	...	James Benton
June MacCloy	...	Kitty, Aero Girl With Long Earrings
Helen Jerome Eddy	...	Larry's Secretary
Bing Crosby	...	Bing

Runtime:

USA:74 min (shortened version) (songs deleted) | USA:91 min (original release) | Canada:66 min (Ontario)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:G (Ontario) | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

United Artists Studios - 7200 Santa Monica Boulevard, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Joseph M. Schenck Productions

Trivia:

Bing Crosby's first released appearance on film as a solo performer.

Quotes:

Roger: There's a vast difference, sir, between the art of making money and the art of making... a lady.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Wind at My Back: A Ghost of a Chance (#2.10)" (1997)

Soundtrack:

WHEN THE FOLKS HIGH-UP DO THE MEAN LOW-DOWN

Merely five minutes of music, but a SUPERB five minutes

While this film was apparently issued as a musical, there is really only a single musical performance in the entire 66-minute version that I saw, lasting only about 4 or 5 minutes. The original issue apparently had more in it, and considering that it was Irving Berlin material, it's a great pity that more of it didn't remain.

That being said, however, the single production number that does come along, 45 minutes into the film, is easily worth the price of admission. Not only is it the earliest extant film version of a Bing Crosby performance (and I swear he was wearing a toupee, even then!), but his solo piece was wonderfully supported by a second from Bebe Daniels, and yet a third, from a sultry-voiced woman who is no longer recalled, and all of it given life by a jazzy dance troupe — not as performers, but as actual dancers. It projects the storied Jazz Age with marvelous resonance, and is a joy to watch.