Reaching for the Moon (1930)

Wall Street wizard, Larry Day, new to the ways of love, is coached by his valet. He follows Vivian Benton on an ocean liner, where cocktails, laced with a "love potion," work their magic. ... See full summary »

Director:

Edmund Goulding

Writers:

Irving Berlin (based on a story: with music), Edmund Goulding,

Stars:

Douglas Fairbanks, Bebe Daniels, Edward Everett Horton

Cast

Complete credited 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

Storyline

Wall Street wizard, Larry Day, new to the ways of love, is coached by his valet. He follows Vivian Benton on an ocean liner, where cocktails, laced with a "love potion," work their magic. He then loses his fortune in the market crash and feels he has also lost his girl...

---

Plot Keywords:

valet | ocean liner | cocktail | southhampton england | bankruptcy | 

---

Taglines:

What excitement! What novelty! What modern day splendor. Fairbanks in a three-mile-a-minute comedy-drama.

---

Genres:

Comedy | Music | Romance

---

Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 February 1931 (USA)

Also Known As:

Lucky Break

Filming Locations:

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

Company Credits

Production Co:

Joseph M. Schenck Productions, Feature Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min 74 min (shortened) 91 min (original release) 66 min (Ontario)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.20 : 1

Did You Know?

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.

---

Connections

Featured in Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1920s: The Dawn of the Hollywood Musical (2008)

---

Soundtracks

"Reaching for the Moon"
(uncredited)
Written by Irving Berlin
(heard instrumentally over the opening credits, as background music for a love scene, then briefly at the end)

User Reviews

An Ancient Curiosity

Reaching for the Moon will never make anyone's list of top ten films, but it is valuable piece of Hollywood History because it contains one of Douglas Fairbanks's few sound films and it is the solo debut of Bing Crosby.

Joe Schenck who was a partner of Fairbanks in United Artists got Irving Berlin to write an original score for this film and to do the screenplay. Fairbanks is a wizard of Wall Street who falls head over heels for aviatrix Bebe Daniels and chases after her on an ocean liner to England. Along for the ride is Edward Everett Horton who plays his butler/sidekick.

During production it was decided to scrap Berlin's score with only one song remaining, When the Folks High Up Do a Mean Low Down. Bing Crosby sang a chorus of it and then passed it over to Bebe Daniels and bit player June McCloy. At the time of the filming Crosby was appearing at the Cocoanut Grove at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles with his Rhythm Boy trio.

Fairbanks was 48 when this was made and the athleticism that characterized his best silent films was a bit annoying here. But that's what his public expected of him. His role is the kind of part that Cary Grant could later play in his sleep.

Bebe Daniels is pretty much forgotten today. But she was a beautiful woman and had a great singing voice. If people remember her at all it was as Dorothy Brock who breaks her ankle in 42 Street and allows Ruby Keeler to walk on stage a youngster and come back a star. Soon after 42nd Street, Daniels left the U.S. with her husband Ben Lyon for Great Britain where as expatriates they became very big stars there.

Nothing fabulous about Reaching for the Moon, but it's a curiosity and a bit of history rolled in one.