It only took the legendary Betty Grable nearly a decade to move up from underage chorus girl to featured player to starlet, and while stardom really wouldn't hit her until 1940, this is the first opportunity for her to get screen focus. As a stage struck wannabe singer, Grable gets an usher's job in a posh movie house, attracts the attention of the film's live show headliner (Charles"Buddy" Rogers) and her chance at singing stardom soon follows. Interjected among the musical interludes are Fibber McGee and Molly as themselves and sardonic sourpuss Ned Sparks and his wisecracking girlfriend, Mary Livingston providing the comedy. Porter Hall as the theater chain owner and Cecil Cunningham as his acidic secretary round out the cast of zany's in this pleasant musical comedy.
While there's nothing standout about the songs, they are amusingly staged, with novelty acts of a large variety popping up. Grable's big number, "Is it Love or Infatuation?", is a homage to "I Only Have Eyes for You" with projections of Grable popping up a la the hundreds of Ruby Keeler's in "Dames". The comic numbers and skits provide mostly smiles rather than laughs, but at least they are not groans. A bit of the bumpkin comedy gets a little hard to take, especially the "sound effects man" whose Donald Duck imitation is annoying rather than cute. The best comedy comes from the grouchy Sparks who was obviously born without smiling muscles and Livingston, while Fibber and Molly are a mixed bag. A lavish staircase wedding sequence is remenant of the "A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody" sequence from "The Great Ziegfeld".
While there's nothing standout about the songs, they are amusingly staged, with novelty acts of a large variety popping up. Grable's big number, "Is it Love or Infatuation?", is a homage to "I Only Have Eyes for You" with projections of Grable popping up a la the hundreds of Ruby Keeler's in "Dames". The comic numbers and skits provide mostly smiles rather than laughs, but at least they are not groans. A bit of the bumpkin comedy gets a little hard to take, especially the "sound effects man" whose Donald Duck imitation is annoying rather than cute. The best comedy comes from the grouchy Sparks who was obviously born without smiling muscles and Livingston, while Fibber and Molly are a mixed bag. A lavish staircase wedding sequence is remenant of the "A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody" sequence from "The Great Ziegfeld".