So You Want to Go to a Night Club (1954) User Reviews

Mrs. McDoakes is amazingly patient in this one!

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 30 October 2017]

This is the second of eight Joe McDoakes shorts in which Jane Frazee played the missus. Why the usual Phyllis Coates wasn't in these eight, I have no idea. But this Mrs. McDoakes is amazingly patient, as Joe sure gave her reasons to wanna clobber him!

Mrs. McDoakes wants to go out to a night club, but Joe is a drip about the whole thing. Finally he agrees to take her but only wants to be really cheap and he complains how he doesn't want to dance! But, when his co-worker Homer arrives with a hot blonde, suddenly Joe spends money like it grows on trees and is very solicitous to this lady. Oddly, Mrs. McDoakes didn't seem too upset by this. However, his big spending creates a problem...they cannot afford the bill!

This one is pretty funny and enjoyable...and worth seeing. Nothing brilliant but plenty of what you've come to expect from the series.

Funny Entry in the McDoakes Series

[Michael_Elliott · 29 December 2010]

So You Want to Go to a Nightclub (1954)

*** (out of 4)

Funny and at times clever entry in the series has Alice demanding that Joe take her to a night club even though he's tired and doesn't want to go. Once at the club Joe runs into a friend and his beautiful woman and decides to impress them by picking up the tab, which he doesn't have the money to cover. This entry doesn't have the biggest laughs but there are enough good ones to make it worth sitting through. The film really comes alive during the final minutes once it's clear that Joe doesn't have the money to pay and he must figure out a way to get away without paying. That's when a conga dance starts up and what follows was very clever and you can't help but smile at how the film plays out. Joi Lansing, who would go onto appear in some ultra low-budget stuff like HILLBILLYS IN A HAUNTED HOUSE and BIGFOOT, appears as the blonde and actually gets a few nice laughs. Jane Frazee is once again back as Alice and it's rather clear that she doesn't have the same charm as Phyllis Coates who had played the part up to the previous entry. George O'Hanlon once again delivers the goods as McDoakes and certainly keeps the film moving with his funny performance.

Grass Always Looks Greener...............

[redryan64 · 10/10 · 25 February 2016]

...........OR, HELL KNOWS not the fury of a Woman Scorned!

WELL, THIS WAS a fine, little surprise! We're in the middle of our weeks long MC DOAKES Marathon; that being we've decided to run the board and do a review of all the installments. This series is one long known to us, but little viewed. We saw one as a kid back at the old Ogden Theatre, 63rd Street & Marshfield, on the Southwest side of Chicago. It left some great impression on me little Baby Boomer Generation mind.

AFTER YEARS PASSED and the only contact we had with the series came from books and periodicals as rendered by guys like Leonard Maltin. But then came modern miracles; such as Cable TV and video formats VHS and DVD. It was Heaven. All episodes are available to own!

BUT, WE DIGRESS! Getting back to this short, we really can't say enough about it! It may be their best effort; being that it hits all the marks, had a really 1st Class appearance, sported a great little cast and pushed the MC DOAKSIAN envelope further than it had been.

TO PUT THINGS in the proverbial nutshell, Joe wants to relax, stretching out in the sofa, reading the newspaper. Enter Alice (Jane Frazee), who desires an evening out. Joe protests his fatigued condition. They "compromise." They go to a nightclub.

ATTEMPTING TO TAKE the economical road, the pair get a less than luxurious table location. Mainly due to Joe's anemic 'tip' to Head Waiter (Phil Van Zandt), they are directly in front of the bandstand, seemingly in mid dance floor territory.

WELL THE FRUGAL outing suddenly gets kicked into high gear when friend and neighbor, Homer (Del Moore) and his knockout date (Joi Lansing) stop and stay at the Mc Doakes' table. Joe's about face features excessive attention to the younger woman and their check rises accordingly.

SO, YOU GET the drift. As is the usual custom, our Joe winds up behind the old 8 Ball, where he remained as we got to the fade-out gag.

IT HAS MUCH to recommend it, mainly due to great and realistic night club set; most likely borrowed from a feature film being done concurrently at Warner Brothers. The club scenes are amply supplied and filled with a great number of supporting players and extras.

AS FOR THE appearance by Del Moore as Homer, this was his first shot at portraying the neighbor/pal. He is the third actor to fill the role.