Dorathen Better Late Then Never

Gutsycurene Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

Griff Lees Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

atlasmb Released in 1929, On With the Show was filmed during the transitional period when silent films became talkies. Some films seemed little more than a collection of vaudeville acts strung together (a tradition that lasted, to some extent, even through the forties). Much of the acting is over the top and overly broad, because silent film stars were directed that way and vaudeville/stage performers have to play to the last seat in the theater. It is precisely the fact that OWTS captures that transitional period that makes it so interesting and so entertaining.The film is basically a presentation of a stage musical, similar to Showboat, with some backstage scenes involving characters in the stage show. In its attempt at authenticity, the camera often films too broadly, sometimes including the entire proscenium arch.The sets for the play with the film are beautiful, even when viewed in B&W. The play is a lavish production, sometimes reminiscent of a Busby Berkley production. The action includes a motorcycle, mounted horsemen and dogs running across the stage.In the dance numbers, we see plenty of minstrel-like troupers dancing in rows. The actual dances they perform are rather amateurish by today's standards. Only the black tap dancers display superior talents and demonstrate that tap dancing has not changed so much, fundamentally, over the years. It was already a mature art form.A few performances had little to do with the stage play, if anything. But that seems true to the times. Most notable is Ethel Waters. who performs two enjoyable numbers that highlight her vocal talents.Joe E. Brown is a lot of fun to watch. His comedic timing is precise in this film. He also performs a specialty dance that shows him to be a real athlete.Three actresses play significant parts in the story. It is interesting to note their backgrounds.Betty Compson plays Nita, the actress who portrays the Phantom Girl in the musical. Betty had a strong background in Vaudeville, where she started out as a teen violinist. She appeared in 9 films release in 1929.Sally O'Neill plays the part of Kitty, the coat check girl who saves the play by going on stage. Sally also had a solid vaudeville background and appeared in 8 films released in 1929.Louise Fazenda plays an actress whose sole contribution to the play is a wild, offstage laugh. Louise had a background in silent films, but made the transition to talkies. She appeared in 10 films released in 1929.I found much of the music enjoyable. Some had silly lyrics, which was common. Consider the lyrics "Drink your julep with your two lips"--fun to hear.In the end, OWTS is very dated and that is why it is such a hoot to watch. It captures many bits of the era's humor and preserves actual pieces of vaudeville.

kidboots Sally O'Neil couldn't sing or dance but that didn't stop Warner's giving her a leading role in this Technicolored song and dance fest. It was the very first all talking, all singing, all dancing, all Technicolored movie produced at Warners, who had dazzled audiences with "The Jazz Singer" in 1927. All color movies were never going to work in those early sound days, apart from the fact that colours didn't photograph true (blues tended to turn green and people's faces photographed pink), Technicolor needed lighting ten times as bright as black and white photography, so the heat in the studio was always intense. "On With the Show" was going to be the first of many Warner's films filmed in colour but aside from the problems mentioned, by the end of 1930 musicals were on their way out so only a few films were made. Now only Technicolor fragments remain - the finale from "Gold Diggers of Broadway" and "Wild Rose" from "Sally" etc. For years "On With the Show" was famous for being the film that "42nd Street" (1933) took it's plot from but it is clear that the only thing they have in common is the "eager newcomer saves show" cliché. Still in May of 1929 audiences would have been dazzled not only by the singing and dancing but by the glorious colour as well. The plot revolves around the off stage dramas and the musical numbers of "The Phantom Sweetheart", a play beset by financial worries and stuck in a one horse town - tonight it is Broadway or bust!!!Kitty (Sally O'Neil) a ticket seller, believes she could be "Broadway Bound" if only she was given a chance to prove herself. Jimmy (William Bakewell) the Head Usher and her sweetheart agrees. Meanwhile the cast are more concerned about their unpaid wages than "putting on a show" - most vocal is Harold (Arthur Lake) the whiney voiced juvenile, whose offstage bickering with his partner Joe (Joe E. Brown) is a running gag throughout the movie.The musical show starts out with a rousing ensemble number "Welcome Home" -highlight is a group of spirited tap dancers. Next temperamental star Nita French (Betty Compson) "in the flesh, baby, in the flesh" sings "Let Me Have My Dreams" - it is sang constantly throughout the film. Ethel Waters is then announced by Sarah (Louise Fazenda is a standout with her wicked laugh) and Ethel's performance is timeless. She sings the magnificent "Am I Blue" and later on the wonderfully saucy "Birmingham Bertha" ("I'm a real Simple Simon, wouldn't you know - I gave him a diamond and all of my dough"!!!). The wonderful John W. Bubbles from Buck and Bubbles is the cheeky dancer. He originated the role of Sportin' Life in the 1935 production of "Porgy and Bess" and even gave tap lessons to Fred Astaire. But those two timeless classics are interspersed with some not-so-great ones - like "Lift Your Juleps to Your Two Lips", another hearty ensemble piece in which Harold as the "leading juvenile" doesn't sing or dance but stands around posturing while Joe E. Brown, who is not very funny in this film, does an eccentric dance. Jimmy suggest that maybe he can rob the box-office, that way the cast will get their wages - later on there is a real robbery and of course Jimmy is the chief suspect. The big production number is "In The Land of Let's Pretend" - it would have looked spectacular in Technicolor. It's an extremely "talkie" film and seems quite long. It is densely plotted and there are so many speeches in the last third of the film - everything has to be explained - obviously they didn't think the audience could figure it out for themselves.When the studios found out Betty Compson was an accomplished musician her career was given a new lease of life in these singy, dancey days. Arthur Lake had the most irritating voice in films - it's hard to believe that he lasted long enough to be given his dream role of "Dagwood" at the end of the thirties. The Fairbanks Twins also provide some humour as a pair of high stepping chorus girls.Highly Recommended for Ethel Waters.

Ron Oliver Desperate for Broadway, the traveling troupe of The Phantom Sweetheart must always go ON WITH THE SHOW!Here is another very early talkie musical, full of excitement for the new medium, but bloated by too much talk, unexciting songs sung by the chorus with mostly unintelligible lyrics and an overlong running time. The plot deals with the usual frustrations & jealousies that most backstage musicals seem to find requisite.The cast includes William Bakewell as the head usher eager to get his sweetheart, box-office girl Sally O'Neill, her chance at the Great White Way. Betty Compson plays the temperamental star and Arthur Lake the whiny young male lead. Louise Fazenda is the company's eccentric comedienne, who is given little to do but laugh at inappropriate moments.The film does have some compensations. Rubber faced Joe E. Brown is cast as the company's brash comic and, as always, he is funny simply to look at. Best of all, the incomparable Ethel Waters is brought in to sing a couple of songs, including 'Am I Blue?' Miss Waters has no connection with the rest of the story whatsoever, but just enjoying her for a few minutes is pure pleasure.

Cinebug OK, so it's the old story about what goes on backstage in the production of a Broadway musical----even to the cliché of the star getting sick and the understudy taking her place and becoming a big star. Many critics see this as the inspiration for 42nd STREET, but this film has the period charm that only the transitional talkie musicals could have. Part of it is quite stagebound-----including musical numbers as you probably would have seen them on the Broadway stage in the 1920's, so if you don't care for very early musicals, you'd better pass on this one. This was the film that introduced the song "Am I Blue" sung by a very young Ethel Waters, and followed by the even better "Birmingham Bertha" with black dancer John Bubbles. You should be warned that there are black dancers in the cast who wear some outrageous politically incorrect costumes---including one number where their costumes have watermelon stripes on them! And seeing Joe E. Brown as a mean comedian who constantly argues with Arthur Lake (better known as Dagwood Bumstead in the BLONDIE Series) will be something of a revelation to his fans. The film was made in the early two-strip Technicolor process, which unfortunately has yet to be found, but is still quite enjoyable in B & W. Remember, although this is a very charming transitional talkie musical, modern audiences will only see it as a horribly dated antique.