Take a major studio studio (MGM) celebrated for its musicals. Take a top director (Woody Van Dyke) known for his breezy direction of films like THE THIN MAN, SAN FRANCISCO and NAUGHTY MARIETTA, among many others. Take a handsome singing star (Nelson Eddy) who was the studio's biggest matinee idol at the time, getting more fan mail than Clark Gable. Take a charming young tap-dancing star (Eleanor Powell). Take a score by Cole Porter written especially for the picture, including `In the Still of the Night.' Add some popular supporting actors like Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, and Edna May Oliver, and, for those few who find a professional sneezer amusing, Billy Gilbert.
Take all these elements, spend a small fortune on sets and costumes, and turn out a picture which is among the worst ever made. It's inexplicable. The full-throated Eddy has been turned into a crooner, playing the world's oldest (36) West Point Cadet. Powell's dancing is sprightly but the big centerpiece number, danced on a series of huge drums, can only be called bizarre, Poor Frank Morgan is forced to do most of his performing with a ventriloquist's dummy. There are one or two cute scenes---Powell and Eddy obviously like each other---but mainly this picture is simply awful. What a waste.
