Out of the Blue

I was surprised to see a Jessie Matthews movie in which she was second billed. Still, Gene Gerrard was director and co-star and it was her first talkie -- she had been in a couple of silents when she was about fifteen.

Jessie is the stay-at-home daughter of a decayed and decaying Stately Home of England, in love with Gene Gerrard's voice on the radio. Of course, he shows up, engaged to her sister, Kay Hammond -- no one is quite sure how. Of course they fall in love over a song. When her father shows him the gate, like he does to Fred Groves, who wants to develop the property, she blows up, tired of endless aristocratic poverty and goes to work for a living.

It's developed from a stage play and while it's clear that the show was about Miss Matthews' character, Mr. Gerrard is given all the canned witticisms and stage bits. The result is a decent light comedy with a couple of musical interludes that clearly spotlight Miss Matthews for the film. Plus a brief bit by Binnie Barnes as a Spanish senorita.