Customer Reviews

Tin Pan Alley [VHS]

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

Saw the movie a long time ago. "America I Love You." What a great song.

If you enjoy Hollywood musicals of the period (1940) this one delivers the whole package. Beautiful girls, great music and a hokey love story.
It is around the time of World War 1 and a couple of struggling songwriters played by John Payne and Jack Oakie pursue success and a pair of sisters with a song and dance act, played by Betty Grable and Alice Faye. All were at or close to their best for this one.
Pop in the video, get some munchies, turn down the lights and tune out your troubles, if only for an hour and a half and enjoy.

Come on Fox the year is 2007 and most people are watching movies on DVD not VHS!!! How many times do we customers have to remind you that we would like to see your movies but, we cant because we dont have a VCR!!!!!! How bout it ??? DVDs are NOW...VCR is the past !!!!

Much has been said regarding this classic Alice Faye film. Most of her movies are
available, sometimes with difficulty in UK. Why should this brilliant and
enjoyable musical adventure not be distributed on DVD. The film may have been made
when technology was developing but we now have the real media to really see this.
Please make it available in this post-dinosaur age.

And what a sister! Alice Faye and Betty Grable were made for each other as a musical comedy act, together or separately in given scenes. Alice, as the dominant sister, got most of the good single numbers, but Betty got a chance to show her stuff with "honeysuckle rose". I can't believe they were never again paired(although they were supposed to be, in "The Dolly Sisters" But, it was too late, as Alice decided to retire just then). John Payne and Jack Oakie were another great buddy pair, Oakie providing a perfect comedic balance to Payne's serious demeanor as a pair of struggling tunesmiths. Oakie does an impromptu rendition of a classic George M. Cohan war moral booster, composed about the time the story takes place, at the beginning of WWI. This duo would appear in several other Faye films, either separately or together. Payne would also serve as a usually successful rival for Betty's heart in several other films. Too bad Oakie was never considered romantic material for the leading ladies. He was certainly charming enough. He could have teamed up with Betty while Payne was romancing or sulking with Alice. The Nicholas brothers were yet another talented pair, though they only appeared in their dance spectacular in "The Sheik of Araby" extravaganza. Breaking the color barrier, they appeared in a number of top musicals of this era, including "Sun Valley Serenade" and the all African American cast in "Stormy Weather", where they performed perhaps their most famous routine. Rotund veteran comedian Billy Gilbert seemed bored with his harem and other diversions until Alice and Betty appeared in his harem, when he joined them in a memorable song and dance rendition of the title song from "The Sheik of Araby" scene. All in all, a great vaudevillian mix of song and dance, comedy and romantic drama. My main regret is that this wasn't filmed in technicolor. Few films were then, and the studios didn't always pick the right ones for this luxury treatment. It's about time a DVD version of this classic musical comedy was made available, and I dare not hope for a colorized version!