I love your opinions, Bruce, even when they're so contrary to mine. Mind you, I've only ever watched the movie right through once, with my children .. like a lot of musicals, I flip from song to to song and I find the finale, once the custard pie stuff is over, very moving. Sort of pre-Lennon...
Hal Roach is still so terribly underrated. The Custard Pie sequence here is one of his best efforts. And it's one of the only times I've accepted colourisation.
This one is on its way .. winging across the Pacific as I write. Can't wait.