Ross Alexander was one of those unfortunates of life. He was good at the acting business and was given roles that would normally had gone to Dick Powell if he wasn't so busy. The trouble was that he was gay, and because of that in the 1930's, he took to the drink. He made "Ready and Willing" with Ruby Keeler in 1937 and then shot himself. His last picture doesn't stand out all that much as the story of "putting on a show" seemed to be a continuing serial throughout the '30's - but, he is quite good in it and delivers the main song "Too Marvelous for Words" first as a recitation and then in song - a couple of times - and his warbling is quite pleasing. Even though he was the leading man in this picture you can tell what the Warner Bros thought of him as his name is fifth on the list.
Ruby Keeler comes in as the love interest although that isn't clear at the start. She doesn't get to do all that much in the way of dancing about as in this picture as she is there for her acting ability. The plot maneuvers itself all over the place - there is mistaken identity, the putting on of a show, ineffectual fiancés, old ham actresses, actresses coming over from England, movie moguls, lyricists continually writing songs, Italians getting bamboozled and threatening landladies. Still, all this allows us to enjoy a few assorted character actors. Why there is even a short outing for two vaudevillians - Shaw and Lee in amongst E. E. Clive as a dimwitted Knight of the Realm, Barnett Parker as the quintessential English waiter, May Boley as the requisite fat landlady, the Romanian Adrian Rosley imitating Henry Armetta's typical Italian, Louise Fazenda as a ham actress who gets her Shakespeare all mixed up and Hugh O'Connell as whatever it is he is supposed to be. Without these characters doing their stuff the picture would have fallen quite flat.
As Ruby Keeler wasn't asked to sing, we are entreated to Wini Shaw coming in and doing that for her by way of a twist in the plot. She doesn't have all that much to do but her singing voice is a welcome addition. Also in lead roles we have Allen Jenkins as a theatrical agent, lowering the tone as per usual, Carol Hughes as Ruby Keeler's friend and Lee Dixon as Ross Alexander's theatrical partner. Also showing up briefly is Jane Wyman.
They don't make pictures like this anymore because everybody has now become too sophisticated and serious. Such a pity because it is pictures like these which are total frothy nonsense that I find highly entertaining and marvelous for taking one's mind away from the awful goings on in the world. It's fun and it's quite obvious from the finished product that everyone was having a rollicking good time making it.
