You've heard of the Andrews Sisters. Old movie fans certainly remember the Boswell Sisters, and maybe even the Duncan Sisters. Now meet the Swanee Sisters, three old friends who pretend to be siblings in order to get a radio contract with the help of egocentric band leader George Raft. It takes starving and suffering for them to rise to the top, but when they do, fame is the name of the game, and they are winners almost instantly. But with the workaholic Raft dominating all of their free time, they don't have an opportunity to enjoy their new found success, although it is obvious that it is love at first sight between Raft and one of the trio, the sweet, quiet Frances Langford who really is in the mood for love and more anxious to settle down in marital bliss than to find fame like her partners Alice Faye and Patsy Kelly.
Some of my fondest memories of the wonderful musical revue "Sugar Babies" were the two songs that stand out in this Paramount movie musical. Ann Miller made her entrance gloriously while singing "I Feel a Song Coming On", and later had a moving solo of "I'm in the Mood For Love". These two songs with music by Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields and George Oppenheimer have become standards, although it took a while for "I'm in the Mood For Love" to get the attention that it deserved. It is here sung by Frances Langford while dialog by co-stars George Raft, Alice Faye and Patsy Kelly rudely interrupted it for the audience to enjoy the song thoroughly. Faye got the chance to sing another song utilized in "Sugar Babies" with "I'm Shooting High" in the following year's "King of Burlesque".
But "I Feel a Song Coming On" gets a glorious treatment, a big rousing musical production number where black singer James Miller takes over halfway through and literally makes it his own. His booming voice helps the audience get over the fact that he's surrounded by chorus girls in bandannas and an obvious Southern setting with a painting of a field seemingly of watermelon in the background and Mississippi Steamboats adding to the atmosphere. What makes this all the more stunning is the fact that he is singing this while white band leader George Raft plays, a rare occurrence on film in 1935, making me believe that this segment might have been trimmed out in Southern showings, or possibly the film not showing there at all in smaller communities.
The film has a very amusing amateur radio show contest, with the Radio Rogues providing some spot-on imitations, one of them doing Dick Powell amazingly well. The fact that this imitator sang "Don't Say Goodnight" (from Warner Brothers' "Wonder Bar") and that this is a Paramount film is all the more interesting. The radio amateur show also features a very amusing performance of Florence Gill singing "Luigi Arditi" as a chicken clucking. Ms. Gill would do voice overs in many animated cartoons as a chicken, but to see her here is a real treat. For those who adored Charlotte Arren doing the same song a la Fanny Brice and Beatrice Lillie in "Broadway Melody of 1940", this is even more thrilling.
As far as the three ladies are concerned, they all do very well, but it is interestingly the only major leading role in an "A" film where the focus is on Ms. Langford, with Alice Faye and Patsy Kelly providing adept support without the benefit of a romantic storyline. Most of her other appearances in films were supporting roles, guest appearances, or leads in "B" films. Alice gets to show what she would look like as a brunette, and in spite of her beauty as a blonde, it ain't pretty. There's a very funny bit with Kelly wearing a man's hat and an obnoxious piano mover making an obvious lesbian reference concerning her. As far as movie musicals go, this ain't earth shattering, but you'll have an awfully good time and might even find yourself singing along.
Some of my fondest memories of the wonderful musical revue "Sugar Babies" were the two songs that stand out in this Paramount movie musical. Ann Miller made her entrance gloriously while singing "I Feel a Song Coming On", and later had a moving solo of "I'm in the Mood For Love". These two songs with music by Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields and George Oppenheimer have become standards, although it took a while for "I'm in the Mood For Love" to get the attention that it deserved. It is here sung by Frances Langford while dialog by co-stars George Raft, Alice Faye and Patsy Kelly rudely interrupted it for the audience to enjoy the song thoroughly. Faye got the chance to sing another song utilized in "Sugar Babies" with "I'm Shooting High" in the following year's "King of Burlesque".
But "I Feel a Song Coming On" gets a glorious treatment, a big rousing musical production number where black singer James Miller takes over halfway through and literally makes it his own. His booming voice helps the audience get over the fact that he's surrounded by chorus girls in bandannas and an obvious Southern setting with a painting of a field seemingly of watermelon in the background and Mississippi Steamboats adding to the atmosphere. What makes this all the more stunning is the fact that he is singing this while white band leader George Raft plays, a rare occurrence on film in 1935, making me believe that this segment might have been trimmed out in Southern showings, or possibly the film not showing there at all in smaller communities.
The film has a very amusing amateur radio show contest, with the Radio Rogues providing some spot-on imitations, one of them doing Dick Powell amazingly well. The fact that this imitator sang "Don't Say Goodnight" (from Warner Brothers' "Wonder Bar") and that this is a Paramount film is all the more interesting. The radio amateur show also features a very amusing performance of Florence Gill singing "Luigi Arditi" as a chicken clucking. Ms. Gill would do voice overs in many animated cartoons as a chicken, but to see her here is a real treat. For those who adored Charlotte Arren doing the same song a la Fanny Brice and Beatrice Lillie in "Broadway Melody of 1940", this is even more thrilling.
As far as the three ladies are concerned, they all do very well, but it is interestingly the only major leading role in an "A" film where the focus is on Ms. Langford, with Alice Faye and Patsy Kelly providing adept support without the benefit of a romantic storyline. Most of her other appearances in films were supporting roles, guest appearances, or leads in "B" films. Alice gets to show what she would look like as a brunette, and in spite of her beauty as a blonde, it ain't pretty. There's a very funny bit with Kelly wearing a man's hat and an obnoxious piano mover making an obvious lesbian reference concerning her. As far as movie musicals go, this ain't earth shattering, but you'll have an awfully good time and might even find yourself singing along.