Top of the Town

Universal Pictures underwent a big management change around 1936, kicking out the Laemmles who had founded the studio and replacing them with a newer set of geniuses who, in an attempt to outdo their competitors like MGM and Fox, came up with this embarrassingly over-the-top, very silly B&W extravaganza few have seen and for a reason.. The plot, if you can call it that,, is just an excuse to sting together any number of mostly mediocre speciality numbers and tunes sung by two imported performers from Broadway-the gifted but sadly unphotogenic Gertrude Nielsen and the little annoying dynamo Ella Logan, who would go to star in the original production of Finian's Rainbow. (Here she just chews the scenery.) The new bosses also decided to gild their lilly by borrowing some personalities from other studios-Hugh Herbert, Gregory Ratoff, and.even Misha Auer doing Hamlet accompanied by a minstrel choir in blackface. And if that isn't enough to offend, they also added a second-rate vaudeville trio, The Three Sailors, a poor imitation of the Ritz Brothers mixed with the Stooges. There's even an absurd love story: the wacky heiress and the ambitious bandleader. She, Doris Nolan, attractive and likable but no Carol Lombard, and he, George Murphy, doing his best in a thankless role that Dick Powell had done better many times before. The film ends with a lavish production number on a gigantic set with a symphony orchestra orchestra conducted by Henry Armetta competing with Murphy's modest swing band. Guess who wins? Hundreds of bored society swells in tuxedos and evening gowns get up to let down their long hair and dance. That's entertainment? Ralph Murray is the credited director of what in one man's opinion may be one of the worst musicals ever made. But others may disagree.