Palm Springs (1936)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Aubrey Scotto

Writers:

Myles Connolly (story)
Joseph Fields (writer)

Release Date:

5 June 1936 (USA)

Plot:

A notorious gambler who is short of money want his daughter to marry a British young man, who has plenty of money...

Cast

Frances Langford	...	Joan Smyth
Guy Standing	...	Captain Smyth
Ernest Cossart	...	Starkey
Smith Ballew	...	Slim
Spring Byington	...	Aunt Letty
David Niven	...	George Britell
E.E. Clive	...	Morgan
Sterling Holloway	...	Oscar
Grady Sutton	...	Bud
Sarah Edwards	...	Miss Pinchon
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Lois Wilde

Also Known As:

Palm Springs Affair (UK)

Runtime:

72 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Palmdale, California, USA

Company:

Walter Wanger Productions

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.

Soundtrack:

The Hills of Old Wyoming

The Cowboy and the Lady

PALM SPRINGS (Paramount, 1936), directed by Aubrey Scotto, features brunette vocalist Frances Langford in her third Paramount musical assignment, and the first to offer her top-billing. Lightweight "B" musical stars her as Joan Smith (pronounced Smyth), a popular girl and expert horse rider expelled from boarding school for gambling. She then comes to Palm Springs to accompany her rich widowed father, Captain Smith (Sir Guy Standing) and his servant, Stocky (Ernest Cossart), only to learn that Dad has gambled away all his funds. Later, she meets two young men and must choose between marrying a wealthy one (David Niven) help her father financially, or a poor cowboy horse-breeder named Slim (Smith Ballew).

The movie itself is predictable but not bad. However, the reprising of the same songs becomes tiresome after awhile. The songs by Leo Robin and Ralph Rainger include: "Will I Ever Know?" (sung by Langford); the lively "I Don't Want to Make History" (sung by Langford and co-eds); "The Hills of Old Wyoming" (a western ballad sung by Smith Ballew and cowboys); "I Don't Want to Make History" (briefly reprized by Langford); "The Hills of Old Wyoming" (reprized by Ballew and Langford); "Will I Ever Know?" (reprized by Langford) and "The Hills of Old Wyoming" (one last time) before the fadeout.

For those wondering who Smith Ballew is, he was a radio singer who later starred in several Saturday matinée westerns, but never achieved the popularity as Gene Autry or Roy Rogers. He is, however, tall enough to physically resemble Randolph Scott. One scene finds Langford telling Ballew, "Kiss me, you fool cowboy." And Spring Byington and Sterling Holloway in smaller roles make their humorous moments count.

PALM SPRINGS which hasn't been shown on commercial television since the mid to late 1970s (notably New York City's WPIX, Channel 11, prior to 1972, and Newark, New Jersey's WTVG, Channel 68, where it was televised between 1976 and 1978) is virtually forgotten today, but in spite of a predictable plot in western setting, particularly during it's second half, the movie gets by with the help of Langford's pleasing personality and smooth vocalizing. (*1/2)