Sitting Pretty (1933)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Harry Joe Brown

Writers:

Lou Breslow (writer)
Jack McGowan (writer)

Release Date:

24 November 1933 (USA)

Genre:

Musical

Tagline:

Just a couple of song writers with a baby grand...and a grand baby...

Plot:

Jack Oakie and Jack Haley are songwriters are enroute from New York to Hollywood to make their fame and fortune; Ginger Rogers...

Plot Keywords:

Songwriter | Hollywood | Beautiful Woman

Cast

Jack Oakie	...	Chick Parker
Jack Haley	...	Pete Pendleton
Ginger Rogers	...	Dorothy
Gregory Ratoff	...	Tannenbaum
Thelma Todd	...	Gloria Duval
Lew Cody	...	Jules Clark
Jerry Tucker	...	Buzz
Helen Pickens	...	Member of the 'Pickens Sisters' trio
Jane Pickens	...	Member of the 'Pickens Sisters' trio
Patti Pickens	...	Member of the 'Pickens Sisters' trio

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved

Filming Locations:

Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in What's the Matter with Helen? (1971)

Soundtrack:

Many Moons Ago

A pair of Jacks are busted

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Jack Oakie was a very funny comedian within his narrow range. He usually played a blowhard of slightly below-average intelligence, with a high opinion of his own prowess but who lacked the ability to deliver the goods. (It's a shame that Oakie never got a crack at the role he was born to play: Aubrey Piper in George Kelly's 'The Show-Off'.) For some reason, Oakie was cast several times as a songwriter: in 'June Moon', 'Tin Pan Alley' and here in 'Sitting Pretty', a semi-musical.

Jack Oakie (music) and Jack Haley (lyrics) play a would-be songwriting team; Haley has no illusions about his own talent, but he thinks Oakie's a genius... and Oakie agrees. Why is it that movies about songwriters always make a bigger deal of the composer than the lyricist? Anyway, the magnum opus of this pair of Jacks is a pity of a ditty called 'I Wanna Meander with Miranda', which gives you some idea of their career aspirations.

These guys live in New York City, which in 1933 was probably the best place for songwriters to live. They stupidly decide they'd have a better chance of selling their songs if they moved to Hollywood. Lacking the dough to buy tickets on the Super Chief, they decide to hitch-hike all the way to La-La Land. Alleged hilarity ensues. Along the way, they pick up vivacious young Ginger Rogers, who can sing and dance a treat. See where this is heading?

SPOILERS COMING. Part of the problem with 'Sitting Pretty' is that the songs written by the two Jacks - meaning, of course, the songs written by Paramount's music department, and attributed to these fictional characters - are *intentionally* bad, but never quite reach the level of camp humour. Then, when the two Jacks write a genuinely impressive song - 'Did You Ever See a Dream Walking?' - we have difficulty believing that these no-hopers could ever achieve such a masterpiece. Ginger Rogers is a knockout in a sequined outfit, while Arthur Jarrett (who?) warbles in falsetto.

Jack Haley is in the best singing voice of his career here, although he has some trouble with lyrics ... made worse because he's playing the man who allegedly wrote them. He sings one song quite well but can't seem to remember whether it's about Lazy Lowdown Liza or Lowdown Lazy Liza. Oakie does a very convincing job of faking his piano-playing.

There's some humour along the way to the (obvious) payoff, but most of it is predictable or contrived or both. Lew Cody is very good as a drunken Hollywood director, and Thelma Todd is briefly impressive as a conniving actress. The final gag (in which Ginger explains why she can't marry Haley) is weak. I'll rate this movie just 7 out of 10.