Fluentiama Perfect cast and a good story

Protraph Lack of good storyline.

VeteranLight I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Matho The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

JohnHowardReid I saw this picture on first release. My memory told me that it was rather ponderous and heavy-handed. On the whole, I would have said, "The Best Things In Life" offered no more than moderate or even mediocre entertainment.Now that I have seen the film again, I find that my memory assessment is largely correct. Particularly so far as the last half of the movie is concerned. There the story becomes hopelessly bogged down in an all-friends-together-once-more and dear-old-pals-through- thick-and-thin atmosphere of ridiculous sentimentality. And needless to say the on and off romance between MacRae and North finally wins out. Yes, all these sequences are rather heavy going, the only light touch provided by the somewhat uncomplimentary portrait of Winfield Sheehan (the Fox producer whom Zanuck sacked when he took over as production chief), played with amiable aggressiveness by Larry Keating.What's more all the production numbers and almost all the good songs are in the first half too. The only decent one left for the second is "Sonny Boy", which starts life as a splendid joke but peters out somewhat in the half-strength hands of Norman Brooks' sadly diluted Al Jolson impersonation. Director Curtiz was actually working at Warner Brothers when Sonny Boy was in production, but he fails to make anything of the sequence. Maybe because he regarded Lloyd Bacon as a bum director anyway and wanted to show up his deficiencies? In any event, he disappointingly puts all the Hollywood episodes across as a nothing. On the other hand, Curtiz skilfully conveys the bustle and vitality of back-stage life, his fluid camera movement, allied with fine art direction and costumes, giving the movie an agreeably in-period flavor. The songs are lively and pleasant. Borgnine is surprisingly agile in song and dance, while his full-bodied acting imparts plenty of dramatic zing, especially in such sequences as his confrontations with gravelly-voiced gangster Murvyn Vye. The support players are great too. Roxanne Arlen provides a rather delightful Barbara Nichols imitation, while Tommy Noonan and Tony Galento are equally adept at comic relief, the first as a harassed stage director, the latter as a pocket- frisking crim. Nice to see Julie Van Zandt (her only film so far as I know) in a sizable role as Sheree North's competition. As for Miss North herself, she puts across her usual Marilyn Monroe imitation — very noticeably in "The Birth of the Blues" number where she is made up and hair styled as an MM dead ringer.The production numbers staged by Rod Alexander are undoubtedly the most appealing aspects of the movie. Not only do they take full advantage of John De Cuir's eye-catchingly smokey sets, but they feature the equally visual Sheree and company (including the energetic Jacques d'Amboise) prancing around in some vivid costumes. Alas, there are some dreary scenes of domestic bliss with Dan Dailey, Phyllis Avery and their two kids, but fortunately we don't have to contend with them for too long. All the same about twenty minutes of judicious cutting would make all the difference between middling entertainment and the most pleasantly lively. The film editing throughout is very smooth. It's obvious that the production numbers were shot by a second unit as they're photographed in an altogether different style: far glossier and sharper than the rather fuzzy, blotting-paper texture of the rest of the movie. And thank goodness for that fabulous 20th Century-Fox sound (heard to special advantage in "The Birth of the Blues" and "Black Bottom" production numbers).

MartinHafer I have no idea how accurate this bio-pic is about the musical writing team of Lew Brown (Ernest Borgnine), Buddy De Silva (Gordon MacRae) and Ray Henderson (Dan Dailey) is, I have no idea as information about these guys' personal lives is scant on the internet. However, I strongly believe it's mostly fiction because that was the norm for films like this in Hollywood during this time. Besides, I find it very hard to believe Lew Brown could be this angry all the time! He did die from a heart attack...so who knows? Not surprisingly, the film only focuses on a small portion of their lives--from the time they teamed up in the 1920s through their time in Hollywood and Broadway.Much of the film is your typical 1950s musical--with some incredibly irrelevant and artsy dance numbers that are dream sequences (sort of like shorter versions of the HUGE one in "An American in Paris") and some traditional song/dance numbers. In between, there is story...but often this takes a back seat to the songs.Did I like it? Not much. It's reasonably well made and the trio wrote some very familiar tunes that are sometimes enjoyable. But Borgnine's one-note performance wasn't enjoyable and the other characters seemed underdeveloped...though not as badly as Borgnine's. MacRae had a nice voice and was a heel. Dailey played the piano and was bland. I really wish they'd eliminated a few songs and focused much more on the story...but that is personal taste and the 1950s musicals often were more music than story. Compared to these other musicals, this one is just okay...and the Jolson sequences are, not surprisingly, dated. Seeing a guy who's obviously not Jolson and hiding it by ALWAYS having him in black-face was kind of silly...and tacky.

calvinnme I thought the chemistry among the three leads - Gordon McRae as Buddy De Sylva, Dan Dailey as Ray Henderson, and Ernest Borgnine as Lew Brown - was absolutely perfect even if not necessarily true. Probably the hardest thing to take at first is the excessively caustic nature of Borgnine's portrayal of Lew Brown until you get to know a little more about Lew, his background, and his friends and then things begin to make sense. There's a good contrast of personalities here - De Sylva civilized but selfish versus the street-wise loud and rude Brown who'd put it all on the line for a friend. Henderson's gentle family man play-for-keeps style versus De Sylva's flavor-of-the-month attitude towards women. I don't know if any of this was true, but as cinema I liked it.Knowing something about the early talkie musicals and the composers behind them, some things did bother me. At one point the film has the three going out to Hollywood to work on the 1929 early talkie musical "Sunnyside Up". This was largely a homespun little film in the tradition of the early Fox musicals with even a harpsichord number included. Instead, what we see on the set is an elaborate fan-dance like number with a man in a tuxedo singing "If I Had a Talking Picture of You" accompanied by dancing girls with long red boas. This is not how I remember Charles Farrell singing this one. In fact, if there is one big complaint I have is that the songs are pure 20's but the choreography and tempo of the numbers are like something out of an MGM musical ballet with Gene Kelly that would have been popular at the time of the film's release - 1956.The key to enjoying this film is to focus on the beautiful music, good performances, and the pleasant nature of the story. Do that and I think you'll like it. I don't think this was ever intended to be a serious biopic.

jotix100 It's hard to believe Michael Curtiz directed this film. Mr. Curtiz, one of the most distinguished directors of the American cinema, doesn't bring anything new to this tired 20th Century Fox movie.Maybe the three men at the center of the movie, the great song writing team of De Sylva, Brown and Henderson were too bland to merit a film that celebrated their lives. They made their mark in the theater in the early part of the 20th century, but as it plays on the screen, this musical feels dull and out of place. Some of the trio's best songs are heard in the movie. Songs like Birth of the Blues, which Gordon MacRae sings with panache. Also they wrote that sappy Al Jolson's standard, Sunny Boy, which is sung by the star in black face.Perhaps the casting was the wrong choice for this movie. Gordon MacRae doesn't show any spark as Buddy DeSylva. Dan Dailey is also an enigma, the way he plays Ray Henderson. Ernest Borgnine is the only one that shows some life in his interpretation of Lew Brown. Sheree North is the good Kitty Kane, who played in most of the shows this trio wrote.