Product Details

• Actors: Alice Faye, Betty Grable, Jack Oakie, John Payne, Allen Jenkins
• Format: Black & White, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Fox Home Entertainme
• VHS Release Date: July 19, 1994
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6303128815
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #170,559 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ALICE FAYE AND BETTY GRABLE, November 20, 2001

By 

"scotsladdie" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tin Pan Alley [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Songwriters Jack Oakie and John Payne are broken and are about to be evicted from their lodgings; at the last minute, they convince a sister act singing duo - Katie and Lily Blane - (Alice and Betty) to introduce their new song. The gals almost lose their jobs but the song is a success. Katie then helps the boys enter the song publishing business by purchasing a tune from Elisha Cook, Jr. (as Joe Cadd) which also becomes a hit.........Highlights of TIN PAN ALLEY include the somewhat censored SHEIK OF ARABY production number, which featured a somewhat scantily clad Faye and Grable, with the rotund Billy Gilbert as the sheik. Also memorable in the movie, is the scene near the end when Jack Oakie falls into the London harbour, resulting in the composition of that perennial cornball gem K-K-K KATY. Other songs include ON MOONLIGHT BAY & HONEYSUCKLE ROSE. The picture doesn't depend on music alone to put it over; it has deep human appeal, fine comedy and romantic interludes, and tied together by a lavish production. The old times and places are recreated rather realistically. The film won an AA for best scoring (Alfred Newman). It was remade as I'LL GET BY with June Haver, Gloria DeHaven and William Lundigan by FOX in 1951.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a great film! Payne, Oakie and Faye Shine!!!, October 21, 2001

By 

Jay Carollo (Marshalltown, IA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tin Pan Alley [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Set in the heart of the song publishing business is TIN PAN ALLEY, Payne and Oakie are hard luck song publishers trying to get a foothold in the business. They get Faye and equally beautiful Betty Grable to sneak one of theirs into a vaudeville show and the romance and songs keep rolling along. Specialty acts Roberts Brothers and those ever-so-sweet Brain Sisters only add to this picture. Highlight songs include a tear-jerking presentation of America, I Love You and K-K-Katy. A delight throught it's end, great supporting cast make this a film you will rewind and watch again and again.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining and predictable but superbly done, September 13, 2005

By 

Douglas M - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Tin Pan Alley [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Alice Faye wryly observed in later years than many of her films had the same plot, with minor variations. This film is one of those, this time set in Tin Pan Alley and using the song publishing business as the framework. The film was planned as a follow up to "Alexander's Ragtime Band" but Tyrone Power and Don Ameche were unavailable.

John Payne and Jack Oakie play song publishers and Faye and Betty Grable play a sister act who put over their songs. Faye falls for Payne who takes her for granted and after the usual plot devices and the intervention of World War 1, a predictable conclusion is reached.

What makes "Tin Pan Alley" more enjoyable than many of the subsequent imitations is Walter Lang's dynamic direction. The pace is rapid and he expertly alternates comedy, drama and musical numbers, never pausing for too long for the cliches to take over. Oakie is amusing and Payne is animated and believable, in fact as good as he ever was. Alice Faye seemed to bring out a genuine warmth in him which other actresses could not. Betty Grable's presence is the main variation to the formula plot and she is spunky and entertaining. A feud was reported between her and Faye but that was just publicity and the two maintained a lifelong friendship.

There is an amusing joke throughout the film concerning Oakie's attempt to put lyics to the song "K-K-Katy" and the musical numbers, with magnificent Oscar winning arrangements and sound, are terrific. Just listen to "You Say the Sweetest Things Baby" and Faye's rousing version of "America I Love You" - stunning. "The Sheik of Araby" number was subjected to the censor's scissors for the revealing costumes but a restored version of the original number can be viewed in the Hidden Hollywood series. The black and white photography is first rate too.

Let's hope that a restored version with the cuts reinstated appears on DVD.