A foray into the early days of tabloid and sensationalist journalism in Hoover's America.
Lee Tracy delivers a convincing performance as Alvin Roberts, the self-proclaimed inventor of pink journalism, which promotes and feeds on the scandal and reputations of the rich and famous. His rise is meteoric as newspapers realize that rumor and controversy sell.
Less happy is the intersection of this interesting exposition of the intricacies of journalistic populism with romantic and musical comedy, which imposes an improbable happy ending, accompanied by the voice and orchestra of Dick Powell.
If Alvin's use of the radio and its communicative power to broaden his influence is a plausible consequence of the success of his polemical style, the attempt to turn that connection into a musical seems to me to be misplaced and reduces the relevance of the theme.
Lee Tracy delivers a convincing performance as Alvin Roberts, the self-proclaimed inventor of pink journalism, which promotes and feeds on the scandal and reputations of the rich and famous. His rise is meteoric as newspapers realize that rumor and controversy sell.
Less happy is the intersection of this interesting exposition of the intricacies of journalistic populism with romantic and musical comedy, which imposes an improbable happy ending, accompanied by the voice and orchestra of Dick Powell.
If Alvin's use of the radio and its communicative power to broaden his influence is a plausible consequence of the success of his polemical style, the attempt to turn that connection into a musical seems to me to be misplaced and reduces the relevance of the theme.