Mr. Carroll, per wiki, “produced and directed numerous Broadway musicals, including eleven editions of Earl Carroll’s Vanities, Earl Carroll’s Sketch Book and Murder at the Vanities, which was also made into a film starring Carl Brisson, Victor McLaglen and Jack Oakie. Known as “the troubadour of the nude”, Carroll was famous for his productions featuring the most lightly clad showgirls on Broadway. Damon Runyon, in his short story “The Brain Goes Home” has the narrator remark, “Well, Mr. Earl Carroll feels sorry for Cynthia, so he puts her in the ‘Vanities’ and lets her walk around raw, and The Brain sees her, and the next thing anybody knows she is riding in a big foreign automobile the size of a rum chaser, and is chucking a terrible swell.” In 1922, he built the first Earl Carroll Theatre in New York, which was demolished and rebuilt on a grander scale in 1931. He built a second theatre on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, California, in 1938.
There’s your context. This ain’t The Follies.
The film, directed by Mitchell Leisen, allows Victor McLaglen, who earlier Paramount attempted to add to the Marx Brothers, but he failed at comedy, as part of a new duo with Jack Oakie (who played straight man to Chapin).
It didn’t work.
Carl Brisson was a Danish actor who had appeared in the Hitchcock directed The Ring and The Manxman, appears as the singing love interest to Kitty Carlisle, which makes this a rarity of being a murder mystery, comedy, musical.
The main interest here is that it’s pre-code.
You’ll find Lucille Ball. Alan Ladd, Dennis O’Keefe and Ann Sheridan popping up in bits.
Notes tell us that it’s a new 2k master, presumably derived from a safety fine grain, and it looks quite nice. Some wear and tear, but nothing problematic. It appears very much like a 35 print derived from a well-used negative.
Grain is there, but never a problem. Black levels and shadow detail are fine, especially for an unrestored project. Shot by Leo Tover.
A fun film that’s quite different from the Paramount norm of the era.
Image – 3.25
Audio – 3.5 (Monaural)
Pass / Fail – Pass
Plays nicely with projectors – Yes
Recommended
RAH
Robert has been known in the film industry for his unmatched skill and passion in film preservation. Growing up around photography, his first home theater experience began at age ten with 16mm. Years later he was running 35 and 70mm at home.
His restoration projects have breathed new life into classic films like Lawrence of Arabia, Vertigo, My Fair Lady, Spartacus, and The Godfather series. Beyond his restoration work, he has also shared his expertise through publications, contributing to the academic discourse on film restoration. The Academy Film Archive houses the Robert A. Harris Collection, a testament to his significant contributions to film preservation.
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