Screen Chronology: 1935 to 1939
Compiled by John Kenrick
- **** - Sensational
- *** - Good entertainment
- ** - Beats a finger in the eye
- * - You'd rather mow a lawn
- (NO stars) - Run for your life
Many of these films are hardly ever screened, and in some cases no complete prints survive. I include comments only on those I have seen.
1935
- All the King's Horses
- Big Broadcast of 1936, The ** - All-star specialties don't do much to enliven a nonsensical plot involving a troubled radio station.
- Broadway Gondolier
- Broadway Hostess
- Broadway Melody of 1936 *** - Dancer Eleanor Powell woos producer Robert Taylor. Great numbers, some stylish MGM fun.
- Coronado
- Curly Top
- Dizzy Dames
- Every Night at Eight
- Folies Bergère
- George White's 1935 Scandals
- Girl Friend, The
- Go Into Your Dance
- Goin' to Town
- Gold Diggers of 1935
- Harmony Lane
- Here Comes the Band
- Here's to Romance
- Hooray for Love
- I Dream Too Much
- I Live For Love
- In Caliente
- In Person
- Lottery Lover
- Love Me Forever
- Love In Bloom
- Metropolitan
- Millions in the Air
- Mississippi
- Music Is Magic
- Naughty Marietta **** - Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy are paired for the first time in this tale of a French noblewoman fleeing an unwanted marriage in colonial New Orleans. Frank Morgan dithers, Elsa Lancaster jeers, and the Victor Herbert score still has appeal.
- Night at the Opera, A **** - The Marx Brothers unleash their special brand of mayhem on a transatlantic liner and an opera company, with hilarious results. The songs aren't much, but the comedy (including the classic overcrowded stateroom scene) is timeless.
- Night is Young, The
- Old Homestead, The
- Old Man Rhythm
- Paris In Spring
- Reckless
- Redheads on Parade
- Roberta **** - Jerome Kern's score is the highlight of this stage hit about romance in a Parisian fashion house. Astaire and Rogers steal it in supporting roles.
- Rumba
- Ship Cafe
- Shipmates Forever
- Stars Over Broadway
- Stolen Harmony
- Sweet Adeline
- Sweet Surrender
- Thanks a Million
- This Is the Life
- To Best the Band
- Top Hat **** - Astaire and Rogers in the definitive romantic musical comedy, set in a glorious art deco vision of Venice. Glorious Irving Berlin score and some of the most unforgettable dance duets ever filmed.
- Two For Tonight
- Under the Pampas Moon
1936
- Anything Goes ** - Merman and a few Porter songs (heavily bowlderized) are intact, but this 1934 stage hit is heavily revamped to serve as a vehicle for Bing Crosby. The results are surprisingly bland.
- Banjo On My Knee
- Big Broadcast of 1937, The
- Bohemian Girl, The
- Born to Dance *** - Eleanor Powell dances up a storm, and Jimmy Stewart offers his endearingly bad rendition Cole Porter's "Easy to Love."
- Broadway Melody of 1936 *** - Jack Benny plays a columnist out to ruin producer Robert Taylor. Eleanor Powel dances up a storm, and there's a hit-filled Freed-Brown score.
- Cain and Mabel
- Can This Be Dixie?
- Captain January
- Colleen
- College Holiday
- Collegiate
- Dancing Feet
- Dancing Pirate, The
- Dimples
- Follow the Fleet **** - Nautical magic as Astaire and Rogers do their thing with the US Navy, assisted by a fine Irving Berlin score. Includes "Let's Face the Music and Dance."
- Follow Your Heart
- Frankie and Johnny
- Gay Desperado, The
- Gay Love
- Give Us This Night
- Go West Young Man
- Great Ziegfeld, The **** - Oscar-winning story of Broadway's most famous producer is a bit long, but it includes some excellent musical sequences and a powerful performance by Luise Rainer as Anna Held.
- Green Pastures, The
- Happy-Go-Lucky
- Hats Off
- Hearts Divided
- Hi, Gaucho!
- King of Burlesque
- King Steps Out, The
- Klondike Annie
- Laughing Irish Eyes
- Let's Sing Again
- Murder at the Cabaret
- Music Goes Round, The
- Paddy O'Day
- Palm Springs
- Pigskin Parade
- Poor Little Rich Girl
- Rainbow On the River
- Rose of the Rancho
- Rose-Marie *** - Opera star Jeanette MacDonald falls for Canadian Mountie Nelson Eddy. Campy fun includes "Indian Love Call" ("When I'm calling you-oo-oo-oo") and the classic final scene.
- Rhythm On the Range
- San Francisco *** - Singer Jeanette MacDonald woos club owner Clark Gable (with an assist from Father Spencer Tracy). Great earthquake sequence and classic title tune add up to a delightfully corny finale.
- Show Boat **** - Superb screen version of the stage classic, with Broadway legends Helen Morgan and Paul Robeson recreating their signature roles. Restored prints include Irene Dunne's in an astoundingly offensive blackface sequence.
- Sing Baby, Sing
- Sing Me a Love Song
- Singing Kid, The
- Sitting On the Moon
- Song and Dance Man, The
- Stage Struck
- Stowaway
- Strike Me Pink ** - Meager Eddie Cantor vehicle boosted somewhat by a young Ethel Merman.
- Swing Time **** - Dance team in love, frustrated by misunderstandings. Astaire and Rodgers at their best, with a luscious Kern-Fields score -- as wonderful as it gets!
- Three Cheers For Love
- Three Smart Girls
- Under Your Spell
- Walking On Air
- With Love and Kisses
1937
- Ali Baba Goes to Town
- Artists & Models
- Blossoms On Broadway
- Broadway Melody of 1938 *** - Skip the plot and relish Eleanor Powell's dancing, Sophie Tucker's kvelling, and Judy Garland's legend-making "Dear Mr. Gable."
- Champagne Waltz
- Damsel in Distress, A **** - Fred Astaire woos British noblewoman Joan Fontaine, with comic assist from Burns & Allen and a fantastic Gershwin score. A total winner!
- Day at the Races, A
- Double Or Nothing
- 52nd Street
- Firefly, The
- Gold Diggers of 1937 ** - Generally weak Busby Berkeley musical boasts "Plenty of Money and You."
- High, Wide, and Handsome ** - Some scholars rave over this basically dull tale of oil riggers in love. The Kern-Hammerstein score includes "The Folks Who Live On the Hill."
- Hitting A New High
- Hollywood Hotel ** - Silly talent contest plot, but a grand score includes "Hooray for Hollywood."
- Holy Terror, The
- I'll Take Romance
- Life Begins in College
- Life of the Party, The * - Turns by Anne Miller and others cannot save this incoherent farce about a young man keeping an inheritance. Warning: radio comic Joe Penner is beyond annoying here.
- Make a Wish
- Manhattan Merry Go Round
- Maytime **** - Eddy and MacDonald as ill-fated lovers in the 19th Century opera world. One of the team's finest, with John Barrymore shamelessly hammy as the bad guy.
- Mountain Music
- Music For Madame
- New Faces of 1937
- On The Avenue
- One Hundred Men and a Girl
- One In a Million
- Ready, Willing and Able
- Rhythm In the Clouds
- Rosalie *** - West Point cadet Nelson Eddy sings and princess Eleanor Powell dances up a storm. Mindless fun, with Cole Porter's "In the Still of the Night" and the amazingly lavish title tune.
- Shall We Dance? **** - Astaire and Rogers fall in love while pretending to be married, all set to a Gershwin score. Dee-licious!
- Sing and Be Happy
- Singing Marine, The
- Something to Sing About
- Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs **** - The first of Disney's full-length animated musicals remains a timeless treasure for audiences of all ages.
- Swing High, Swing Low
- Swing It Professor
- Swing While You're Able
- Talent Scout
- That Girl From Paris
- Thin Ice
- This Way Please
- Thoroughbreds Don't Cry
- Thrill of a Lifetime
- 23 1/2 Hours Leave
- Varsity Show *** - Dick Powell as a Broadway producer staging a show at his old college. Enjoyable revue-like line up of songs and routines.
- Vogues
- Wake Up and Live
- Waikiki Wedding
- When You're In Love
- You Can't Have Everything
- You're a Sweetheart
1938
- Alexander’s Ragtime Band **** - Bandleader Tyrone Power romances singer Alice Faye in this cavalcade of Irving Berlin tunes. With Ethel Merman on hand to belt a few, its all great entertainment.
- Artists and Models Abroad
- Big Broadcast of 1938, The ** - All star casting can't redeem this ragtag collection of songs and skits. Bob Hope and Shirley Ross introduce "Thanks For the Memory."
- Breaking the Ice
- Carefree *** - Psychiatrist Astaire falls in love with patient Rogers, set to an Irving Berlin score. Not this team's best, but still loads of fun. Highlight: "Change Partners."
- Cocoanut Grove
- College Swing
- Cowboy From Brooklyn * - Dick Powell as a singing radio cowboy? Yikes.
- Doctor Rhythm
- Every Day's a Holiday
- Everybody Sing
- Fisherman's Wharj
- Freshman Year
- Garden of the Moon
- Girl of the Golden West, The
- Give Me a Sailor
- Going Places
- Gold Diggers in Paris
- Goldwyn Follies, The ** - The last score from composer George Gershwin is the main attraction in this otherwise silly revue. Semi-plot concerns a producer taking advice from a clueless movie fan. As if.
- Great Waltz, The *** - Based on the life of Waltz king Johann Strauss, with amazing coloratura by Miliza Korjus and a memorable non-singing performance by Luise Rainer. Mindless but lavish, this is surprisingly enjoyable and well worth watching.
- Happy Landing
- Hawaii Calls
- Hold That Co-Ed
- Hollywood Hotel *** - Berkeley's last for Warners, with some great numbers enlivening shenanigans in a drive-in diner.
- In Old Chicago *** - Brothers Tyrone Power and Don Ameche yearn for singer Alice Faye while Chicago burns.
- Josette
- Joy of Living
- Just Around the Corner
- Kentucky Moonshine
- Lady Objects, The
- Let Freedom Ring
- Listen Darling
- Little Miss Broadway ** - Shirley Temple energizes Edna May Oliver's theatrical boarding house -- so-so.
- Love and Hisses
- Love Finds Andy Hardy
- Mad About Music **** - Deanna Durbin is a lonely schoolgirl in one of her most entertaining films.
- My Lucky Star
- Outside of Paradise
- Paris Honeymoon
- Radio City Revels
- Rascals
- Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm
- Romance In The Dark
- Sally, Irene and Mary
- Sing You Sinners
- St. Louis Blues
- Start Cheering
- Straight, Place and Show
- Sweethearts **** - Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald are married stage stars in their wittiest vehicle. If you want to see what all the fuss was about, this film is their surprise winner.
- Swing Sister, Swing
- Swing Your Lady
- Thanks For Everything
- That Certain Age
- Three Musketeers * - This boorish Ritz Brothers embarrassment is no relation to the Friml operetta.
- Three Smart Girls Grow Up
- Tropic Holiday
1939
- At the Circus
- Babes In Arms **** - Mickey Rooney & Judy Garland put on a show to help out their struggling vaudevillian families. A breezy delight, with great musical sequences..
- Balalika
- Broadway Serenade
- East Side of Heaven
- Everything's On Ice
- First Love
- Great Victor Herbert, The
- Gulliver's Travels *** - RKO's attempt at an animated feature can't beat Disney, but offers enjoyable version of Swift's classic tale,
- Hawaiian Nights
- Honolulu
- Ice Follies of 1939
- Man About Town
- Naughty But Nice
- On Your Toes ** - All the songs are removed from Rodgers & Hart's stage hit, leaving only the "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue" Ballet.
- Rose of Washington Square *** - Alice Faye stars in this tear jerker obviously based on Fanny Brice's infamous marriage to Nick Arnstein. Al Jolson is wasted in a supporting role.
- Second Fiddle
- Some Like It Hot - No relation to the Billy Wilder masterpiece; Bob Hope considered this his worst film.
- Star Maker, The
- Story of Vernon and Irene Castle, The **** Astaire & Rogers sparkle in their last RKO musical, a loving tribute to America's first important dance couple.
- Swanee River ** - Dona Ameche stars as songwriter Stephen Foster. Passable story, assisted by strong musical numbers.
- That's Right, You're Wrong
- They Shall Have Music
- Three Smart Girls Grow Up
- Underpup, The
- Way Down South
- Wizard of Oz, The **** - Judy Garland and a spectacular supporting cast in one of Hollywood's finest achievements. Gorgeous, heartwarming and thoroughly magical.