Whoopee! (1930)
When movie-makers of the late 1920s discovered they could add sound to their celluloid masterpieces, it brought about a whole new genre - the musical. Yep, if it wasn't for them, The Greatest Showman may never have seen the light. Films could now feature song and dance numbers, and one name that became synonymous with such films was Busby Berkeley. He choreographed elaborate productions, and made a trademark of the top shot kaleidoscopic-effect dances that became a familiar feature in movies of the era.
Whoopee! was the first movie featuring Berkeley's dance numbers. It was also the movie that made a star of Eddie Cantor. The plot centres on Sally Morgan (Eleanor Hunt) who is due to marry sheriff Bob Wells (Jack Rutherford). However, Sally is in love with Wanenis (Paul Gregory), a Native American character, which of course was a problematic situation to be in back then. Rather than going through with the wedding to sheriff Bob Wells, Sally convinces the sensitive and hypochondriac local farmhand Henry Williams (Cantor) to help her escape. Henry Williams has his own admirer - the nurse Mary Custer (Ethel Shutta). Mary believes that Henry has eloped with Sally, and hilarity ensues as the seemingly jilted Mary, and the definitely jilted Bob Wells, attempt to hunt down the couple.
Cantor jokes and sings his way through the movie. His quips come thick and fast, similar in a way to the style of Groucho Marx. Such lines like, "Even when I go to sleep at night I've got to keep my glasses on. So I can recognise the people I dream about," would probably have had 30s audiences rolling in the aisles of the movie theatre. He also warbles and rolls his eyes through memorable "hits" such as "Making' Whoopee" and "My Baby Just Cares for Me". A cavalcade of other songs appear in the film. Wanenis sings a cheesy number to his beloved Sally, and there are plenty of other musical moments scattered throughout the film.
Of course, the main attraction are the actual dance numbers, and it is impressive how clever some of these actually are. That Berkeley bloke has potential - I'm pretty certain he'll be around for a while to come. The dances feature the Goldwyn Girls. Samuel Goldwyn produced the film, so I'm assuming that these were his in-house dancers, ready to put on a show at his whim. Among the Goldwyn Girls in Whoopee! were future stars such as Betty Grable and Paulette Goddard. I haven't got a clue who they are in this film, but they're in it somewhere.
The plot itself is relatively thin, the humour is dated, but is still good enough to raise a chuckle or two. Also dated is Eddie Cantor in a blackface scene because, well, it was a time of different attitudes and standards. The way the scene begins is actually quite witty. Sheriff Bob Wells and his heavies come close to locating Henry in a kitchen. Henry hides in a stove as they enter. Wells instructs his grunts not to let a white man get by them. An explosion in the kitchen blackens Cantor's face, and he casually exits the stove and walks right by them. But he stays in disguise for a while longer. And Sally's response to Henry addressing her - "How dare you speak to me?" - shows the real attitudes of the time. Although that sort of carry-on didn't push moral boundaries back then, something that may have done is a scene towards the end with a stream of women entering the set in rather risqué costumes. Oo-er. Still, it gives the film a bonus point because I'm shallow.
Whoopee! is also notable for another reason. It's in colour! Well, some colours. It was filmed in two-colour Technicolor, which made greens appear as green, and gave everything else a pinkish-reddish hue. What more could one ask for? Songs, dancing, jokes, some of the colours of the rainbow, casual racism and semi-nude ladies on horseback! It has everything.
Overall Whoopee is generally entertaining. It doesn't overstay its welcome, although it does feel more like a filmed stage show than a fully cinematic musical. But, as with a lot of films in the early talkies phase, they were still finding their feet, and those feet were a-dancing and a-tapping. That line sounded better in my head.