This remake was produced seven years after PANAMA FLO, on the eve of U. S. involvement in the second world war. One wonders why RKO execs chose to remake this particular property, when there were countless other vehicles they could have adapted for up-and-coming star Lucille Ball. She is hardly a stand-in for Helen Twelvetrees...their performance styles are not at all alike.
Also the studio had Allan Lane under contract, and why the bosses thought he was a substitute for Charles Bickford is anyone's guess. It probably seems obvious to you the reader that I was less enthralled with the remake than its cinematic forebear, though I don't take issue with either Miss Ball or Mr. Lane. I wouldn't go so far as to say they're miscast, but I don't think this type of dramatic story is best suited to their unique talents.
During this same year Lucille Ball appeared in the B-action flick FIVE CAME BACK. For some reason, the studio wanted to push her as a dramatic leading lady. But she is better at comedic situations, and so is Allan Lane. It is not surprising that Garrett Fort's script from the 1932 version was rewritten by Michael Kanin (brother of Garson), who added sarcasm and wisecracks.
Story-wise, the key differences compared to the original are as follows...the villain, previously played by Robert Armstrong, now has less screen time. Donald Briggs, the actor who plays him now, is fifth-billed; and his deviousness is shown almost immediately. Ball doesn't see him off in the beginning when he smooth talks her...instead, she hides in the back of the plane and they travel to some rendezvous point. She learns he is involved in gun smuggling, related to the encroaching war in Europe.
He has her blindfolded and returned to the saloon. The smuggling subplot is not developed too much, except to clue the audience in on the guy's obvious villainy and to foster the idea that our leading lady doesn't deserve a heel like him.
The second main difference is that Sadie the proprietress is renamed Lenore and she does not get away with the scheme to bilk the oilman out of his bankroll. She is arrested, along with Pearl the other hostess. In addition to this, Lenore loses her saloon. Clearly the production code office wanted her punished! We are also told that Ball's character, unlike Twelvetrees' character, does not live with the other girls which suggests she has a better reputation than they do.
When Ball goes to stay with Lane at his plantation along the Amazon, she uses Lane's room, and he sleeps on the couch. However, she soon moves into a separate room. When she grabs one of his guns for protection she just aims it, and he gets the message. She does not fire at him, like Miss Twelvetrees fired at Mr. Bickford. Because of these changes, the remake is a lot more scrubbed up.
There is soft music playing in the background during scenes where dialogue occurs between the leads; in the original there was no real soundtrack except for when they turned on the record player. This version is shinier, and the sets are a bit elaborate, which indicates the money RKO made on those profitable Astaire-Rogers musicals had been wisely reinvested.
Another important deviation comes in the form of the native girl. She has been renamed Cheema and is played by Steffi Duna (wife of Dennis O'Keefe). She is turned into a stereotype and does heinous things. For example, she tries to poison Ball on two separate occasions out of jealousy; and she is the one who fires the fatal shot that kills the aviator. I guess this was done so Allan Lane's character could be completely blameless and an acceptable partner for Lucille Ball's character at the end.
The remake runs ten minutes shorter, probably because much of the stuff with the aviator was cut. When he shows up at the plantation, he wastes no time finding the oil lease papers. Then he is shot dead about a minute later. Gone is much of the smoldering passion and the triangle between the oilman, saloon girl and aviator. Most of the scenes at the plantation involve the evil machinations of the native girl as well as a new character named Elisha (Abner Biberman) who assists Lane.
My guess is that people watching PANAMA LADY without having seen PANAMA FLO will find it passable diverting entertainment. But it really is not as good as the original. The biggest issue I had was the updated modern lingo and how Kanin took pains to explain too many things to the audience. In the first picture, we are trusted to make inferences and draw our own conclusions about why these two people wind up together...in the remake it is all carefully laid out so that we do not miss the morally correct reasons their union is acceptable.
Also the studio had Allan Lane under contract, and why the bosses thought he was a substitute for Charles Bickford is anyone's guess. It probably seems obvious to you the reader that I was less enthralled with the remake than its cinematic forebear, though I don't take issue with either Miss Ball or Mr. Lane. I wouldn't go so far as to say they're miscast, but I don't think this type of dramatic story is best suited to their unique talents.
During this same year Lucille Ball appeared in the B-action flick FIVE CAME BACK. For some reason, the studio wanted to push her as a dramatic leading lady. But she is better at comedic situations, and so is Allan Lane. It is not surprising that Garrett Fort's script from the 1932 version was rewritten by Michael Kanin (brother of Garson), who added sarcasm and wisecracks.
Story-wise, the key differences compared to the original are as follows...the villain, previously played by Robert Armstrong, now has less screen time. Donald Briggs, the actor who plays him now, is fifth-billed; and his deviousness is shown almost immediately. Ball doesn't see him off in the beginning when he smooth talks her...instead, she hides in the back of the plane and they travel to some rendezvous point. She learns he is involved in gun smuggling, related to the encroaching war in Europe.
He has her blindfolded and returned to the saloon. The smuggling subplot is not developed too much, except to clue the audience in on the guy's obvious villainy and to foster the idea that our leading lady doesn't deserve a heel like him.
The second main difference is that Sadie the proprietress is renamed Lenore and she does not get away with the scheme to bilk the oilman out of his bankroll. She is arrested, along with Pearl the other hostess. In addition to this, Lenore loses her saloon. Clearly the production code office wanted her punished! We are also told that Ball's character, unlike Twelvetrees' character, does not live with the other girls which suggests she has a better reputation than they do.
When Ball goes to stay with Lane at his plantation along the Amazon, she uses Lane's room, and he sleeps on the couch. However, she soon moves into a separate room. When she grabs one of his guns for protection she just aims it, and he gets the message. She does not fire at him, like Miss Twelvetrees fired at Mr. Bickford. Because of these changes, the remake is a lot more scrubbed up.
There is soft music playing in the background during scenes where dialogue occurs between the leads; in the original there was no real soundtrack except for when they turned on the record player. This version is shinier, and the sets are a bit elaborate, which indicates the money RKO made on those profitable Astaire-Rogers musicals had been wisely reinvested.
Another important deviation comes in the form of the native girl. She has been renamed Cheema and is played by Steffi Duna (wife of Dennis O'Keefe). She is turned into a stereotype and does heinous things. For example, she tries to poison Ball on two separate occasions out of jealousy; and she is the one who fires the fatal shot that kills the aviator. I guess this was done so Allan Lane's character could be completely blameless and an acceptable partner for Lucille Ball's character at the end.
The remake runs ten minutes shorter, probably because much of the stuff with the aviator was cut. When he shows up at the plantation, he wastes no time finding the oil lease papers. Then he is shot dead about a minute later. Gone is much of the smoldering passion and the triangle between the oilman, saloon girl and aviator. Most of the scenes at the plantation involve the evil machinations of the native girl as well as a new character named Elisha (Abner Biberman) who assists Lane.
My guess is that people watching PANAMA LADY without having seen PANAMA FLO will find it passable diverting entertainment. But it really is not as good as the original. The biggest issue I had was the updated modern lingo and how Kanin took pains to explain too many things to the audience. In the first picture, we are trusted to make inferences and draw our own conclusions about why these two people wind up together...in the remake it is all carefully laid out so that we do not miss the morally correct reasons their union is acceptable.