So few of Alice White's films have survived that it is especially delightful that such an entertaining star vehicle should pop up on home video. This pert, vivacious blond easily carries this film about love and gangsters. At a time when Ruth Chatterton earned her pay by rolling her "R"'s and making you wait for each word, Alice White stands out for her lack of hesitation. As "Goldie", she is caught "riding the rails" by a cop [Robert Elliot, who played ALL the WB/FN cops since Lights Of New York]. He need only ask one question and Goldie comes across with all the straight dope. So impressed is he by her veracity that he buys her a ticket. The plot is thusly advanced rapidly, and the film does its business in under an hour. David Manners is fine, but to see him really act try '31's The Miracle Worker. Director Cline includes a lot of rear projection and Alice does a fine song and dance which prefigures Busby Berkeley by 3 years. If you ever wondered who the Warner Brothers/First National diva was before Bette Davis, Sweet Mama will satisfy more than your curiosity.
5 Reviews
Giving it this and that
AAdaSC3 October 2018
Travelling burlesque chorus girl Alice White (Goldie) has a boyfriend David Manners (Jimmy) who she dotes on. She gets a telegram informing her that he has landed in jail so she jumps on a train to be with him. She has no ticket and gets indebted to policeman Robert Elliott (Mack) who pays for her journey. Alice meets with her boyfriend who has been bailed and who now works for gangster and nightclub owner Kenneth Thomson (Joe). Alice then gets involved in undercover shenanigans that puts both her life and her boyfriend's at risk.
It's an ok film made interesting by the musical number sung by White that is set to a Busby Berkeley type routine. It's ahead of it's time. Alice is also fun to watch as a cute flapper character. The film is nothing great but it does have an interest factor that puts you back in another time-zone. I read that the film had all its musical numbers cut as American audiences were fed up of musicals in 1930. The copy I saw kept the catchy "Giving it this and that".
It's an ok film made interesting by the musical number sung by White that is set to a Busby Berkeley type routine. It's ahead of it's time. Alice is also fun to watch as a cute flapper character. The film is nothing great but it does have an interest factor that puts you back in another time-zone. I read that the film had all its musical numbers cut as American audiences were fed up of musicals in 1930. The copy I saw kept the catchy "Giving it this and that".
Alice Gives It This and That!!
kidboots13 June 2015
Warning: Spoilers
Completely agree with other reviewer, Alice White was so refreshing both in movies and in private life. At a time when actresses were trying so hard to sound like they belonged to the 400, Alice's chirpy naturalistic tone was a balm to the ears. She originally had been a secretary (to Josef von Sternberg) but with her feisty personality she belonged in the movies and the titles
Stranded in Sunnyvale during a storm and Goldie (White) is cracking wise with the best of them. The rest of the girls are giving her heaps because her home town boy Jimmy whom she has put on a pedestal is now in jail!! Her one thought is to be by his side so she leaves the show to catch the next train!! By the time she finds Jimmy he is out of jail but into the frying pan!! He has quit his job at the bank and is taking orders from racketeer Joe Palmer (Kenneth Thomson) - he was sick of having no jack and wants the big dough!! (funny to hear David Manners with his clear, stage diction through these phrases around). Goldie is not impressed and calls him a big bozo!!
When she goes to the police station to repay a loan, the money is found to have been stolen from a bank job and the detective Mack (Robert Elliot, who else) informs Goldie that if she gets a job at Palmer's club and finds out all she can about their operation the charges against Jimmy will be dropped. Yes, only in a 1930 movie could Alice White be seen working under-cover for the police and getting the dope on a bunch of racketeers!! Of course that's just an excuse to deck out cute Alice in feathers and spangles in a big production number. "Giving It This and That" sees Alice at her most adorable, strutting her stuff in front of a chorus line. Who cares if she can't really sing and dance very well - it's cutie pie Alice!! There is some very up to the minute camera work ala Busby Berkley with aerial shots catching chorus girl formations.
Goldie plays along with Palmer's amorous advances - all the time conveying her information back to Mack until things go wrong and she is in danger of being taken for a ride!! David Manners is as usual which means nice back-ground dressing but it is Alice's film all the way and at 55 minutes a very nifty, fast paced movie with Alice at her breezy best.
Highly Recommended.
- "Hot Stuff", "Naughty Baby", "The Naughty Flirt" told viewers what to expect. When talkies came along she was a natural for musicals and she gamely put over song numbers, even though she was not from a "show" background. But she called a spade a spade once too often and by the time Warner Bros. swallowed up First National she was one of the first casualties. In fact David Manners, her co-star in this movie, said in a "Film in Review" interview, he could sense the tension and the feeling that Alice White was on her way out and he felt sorry for her.
Stranded in Sunnyvale during a storm and Goldie (White) is cracking wise with the best of them. The rest of the girls are giving her heaps because her home town boy Jimmy whom she has put on a pedestal is now in jail!! Her one thought is to be by his side so she leaves the show to catch the next train!! By the time she finds Jimmy he is out of jail but into the frying pan!! He has quit his job at the bank and is taking orders from racketeer Joe Palmer (Kenneth Thomson) - he was sick of having no jack and wants the big dough!! (funny to hear David Manners with his clear, stage diction through these phrases around). Goldie is not impressed and calls him a big bozo!!
When she goes to the police station to repay a loan, the money is found to have been stolen from a bank job and the detective Mack (Robert Elliot, who else) informs Goldie that if she gets a job at Palmer's club and finds out all she can about their operation the charges against Jimmy will be dropped. Yes, only in a 1930 movie could Alice White be seen working under-cover for the police and getting the dope on a bunch of racketeers!! Of course that's just an excuse to deck out cute Alice in feathers and spangles in a big production number. "Giving It This and That" sees Alice at her most adorable, strutting her stuff in front of a chorus line. Who cares if she can't really sing and dance very well - it's cutie pie Alice!! There is some very up to the minute camera work ala Busby Berkley with aerial shots catching chorus girl formations.
Goldie plays along with Palmer's amorous advances - all the time conveying her information back to Mack until things go wrong and she is in danger of being taken for a ride!! David Manners is as usual which means nice back-ground dressing but it is Alice's film all the way and at 55 minutes a very nifty, fast paced movie with Alice at her breezy best.
Highly Recommended.
It's hard to believe this was made by a proper studio
1930s_Time_Machine5 July 2023
We first meet Goldie stranded with a travelling troupe of bad actors - they certainly cast them well - they're terrible! Fortunately we only have to endure them for five minutes but they do serve a purpose in making Alice White look like a good actress.
That's not meant to sound nasty, Alice White is so utterly adorable that although she's a pretty awful actress you want all the stars to align for her or for some miracle to happen to make her seem better than she actually is. It can't be just because she's so amazingly pretty, it's certainly not her acting ability but there's something magical about her which makes her so endearing. She's got real star quality, you can't put your finger on why she's so adorable, she just is!
This film however is a stinker. In 1930, Warner Brothers / First National were still doggedly using their beloved Vitaphone system despite realising that competitor systems were better. Vitaphone was a cumbersome system which severely limited the movement and imaginative use of the camera, it kept the actors still, confining them to where the microphones were and made it impossible to edit or re-shoot. Warner's output consequently in 1930 was looking very dated compared with what the other studios were producing. Over at Paramount for example, Rouben Mamoulian made his musical drama APPLAUSE at the same time as this yet his movie is as watchable now as anything made today. This picture suffers horribly with all these problems. It looks awful.
It's not however just the crippling production techniques which hamper this. The story is absurd, the dialogue is completely unrealistic and the direction is shocking. Edward Cline, director of silent slapsticks seems out of his depth. None of his characters are remotely believable, you can't engage with any of them or be interested in the plodding plot. With a running time of less than an hour you'd think this would be fast-moving but no, it's really boring. You'd think therefore that this rubbish must be unwatchable. It would be were it not for one thing - Alice White, she is just so mesmerising!
That's not meant to sound nasty, Alice White is so utterly adorable that although she's a pretty awful actress you want all the stars to align for her or for some miracle to happen to make her seem better than she actually is. It can't be just because she's so amazingly pretty, it's certainly not her acting ability but there's something magical about her which makes her so endearing. She's got real star quality, you can't put your finger on why she's so adorable, she just is!
This film however is a stinker. In 1930, Warner Brothers / First National were still doggedly using their beloved Vitaphone system despite realising that competitor systems were better. Vitaphone was a cumbersome system which severely limited the movement and imaginative use of the camera, it kept the actors still, confining them to where the microphones were and made it impossible to edit or re-shoot. Warner's output consequently in 1930 was looking very dated compared with what the other studios were producing. Over at Paramount for example, Rouben Mamoulian made his musical drama APPLAUSE at the same time as this yet his movie is as watchable now as anything made today. This picture suffers horribly with all these problems. It looks awful.
It's not however just the crippling production techniques which hamper this. The story is absurd, the dialogue is completely unrealistic and the direction is shocking. Edward Cline, director of silent slapsticks seems out of his depth. None of his characters are remotely believable, you can't engage with any of them or be interested in the plodding plot. With a running time of less than an hour you'd think this would be fast-moving but no, it's really boring. You'd think therefore that this rubbish must be unwatchable. It would be were it not for one thing - Alice White, she is just so mesmerising!
Too Many Dumb Characters
view_and_review4 February 2024
Warning: Spoilers
I have very little tolerance for stupidity and Goldie (Alice White) was as daft as they come. She left her theater troupe when she got a telegram that her sweetheart Jimmy (David Manners) was in jail. It was a panic move that would've yielded the same results as a phone call.
When she got to New York she found that Jimmy was no longer in jail and he had a new gig working for Joe Palmer (Kenneth Thomson), a gangster. Jimmy was just as dumb as Goldie. This fool took a job as a gangster's assistant without a real clue as to why he was getting paid so much and what he'd have to do in such a position.
Joe Palmer, the gangster, was no sharp tack either. He'd given Jimmy some money that he got from a bank robbery. Jimmy gave that money to Goldie who in turn gave it to a detective to pay him back for train fare. The cop recognized the serial numbers (who recognizes serial numbers???) and knew where the money came from. Goldie then, instead of keeping her trap shut, went into singing mode all the while thinking she was helping Jimmy.
"I got the money from Jimmy, he works for Joe Palmer, etc." It didn't occur to her that the cop was interrogating her and that she just may have been incriminating her sweetheart.
The cop threatened to lock up Jimmy unless she helped him. She was to get a job at Joe's nightclub and gather as much intel as she could. Any person who values their own life would've told the cop to go fly a kite and get someone else to be his mole.
I already told you she wasn't smart, so you can guess that she did it.
Goldie went above and beyond. She got real tight with Joe. She cozied up to Joe, right in front of Jimmy, in order to get the dirt on him for the police. It was as dangerous as it was asinine. She was close to getting herself killed except Jimmy put on his cape and saved her.
"Sweet Mama" was a forgettable movie. When all of the characters are that brain dead it's hard to like.
Free on YouTube.
When she got to New York she found that Jimmy was no longer in jail and he had a new gig working for Joe Palmer (Kenneth Thomson), a gangster. Jimmy was just as dumb as Goldie. This fool took a job as a gangster's assistant without a real clue as to why he was getting paid so much and what he'd have to do in such a position.
Joe Palmer, the gangster, was no sharp tack either. He'd given Jimmy some money that he got from a bank robbery. Jimmy gave that money to Goldie who in turn gave it to a detective to pay him back for train fare. The cop recognized the serial numbers (who recognizes serial numbers???) and knew where the money came from. Goldie then, instead of keeping her trap shut, went into singing mode all the while thinking she was helping Jimmy.
"I got the money from Jimmy, he works for Joe Palmer, etc." It didn't occur to her that the cop was interrogating her and that she just may have been incriminating her sweetheart.
The cop threatened to lock up Jimmy unless she helped him. She was to get a job at Joe's nightclub and gather as much intel as she could. Any person who values their own life would've told the cop to go fly a kite and get someone else to be his mole.
I already told you she wasn't smart, so you can guess that she did it.
Goldie went above and beyond. She got real tight with Joe. She cozied up to Joe, right in front of Jimmy, in order to get the dirt on him for the police. It was as dangerous as it was asinine. She was close to getting herself killed except Jimmy put on his cape and saved her.
"Sweet Mama" was a forgettable movie. When all of the characters are that brain dead it's hard to like.
Free on YouTube.
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