Give me those good old times when performers on Broadway, in burlesque and vaudeville and concerts of every kind all performed "unplugged", meaning sans microphone. Performers of every kind, from singers, comics, acrobats, male and female impersonators and yes, white folks in black face, and even blacks in darker make-up to look as if they were themselves in black-face. They all scrounged out a living all over the country, and as the popularity of entertainment soared, resorts went up to promote the best of all of these styles, many of them represented here in a musical saga of one creative mind's idea of how that New Jersey seaside escape came to be.Only MGM and 20th Century Fox were known for lavish color musicals, having just recently perfected that technology. But for Republic studios, best known as the top B studio in Hollywood, this was their chance to produce an A picture, that meaning that this had a full ad campaign and most likely was the film that the audience saw in the paper, not knowing what B film would accompany it. Stanley Brown plays the big idea man, said to be the one planning the resort like atmosphere that this was in its heyday, long before it became the Las Vegas of the east, and continuously Disney-fied to bring in the obnoxious tourists that make us ask, "Why do the wrong people travel?"Ruthless Brown's efforts are a problem for long suffering girl, Constance Moore, leaving her in lonely luxury while he plans his next deal. Supporting them are Charley Grapewin as Brown's vaudevillian father and funny man Jerry Colonnna, one of the funnier gimmick comics whose huge mustache and banjo eyes would twinkle by his gimmick of a loud wail. Specialties of every kind aide the engrossing story. No sooner have Moore and Colonna given the audience thrills with "By the Beautiful Sea", Louie Armstrong and a very young Dorothy Dandridge swingin' things up, followed by the fabulous team of Buck and Bubbles, singin', dancin', and clownin'. Hollywood might not have been fully integrated in the golden age, but there were attempts to change that. Gallagher and Shean repeat one of their acts, leading to a scene where Grapewin sees the truth about his overly ambitious son. This covers much of the first decades of the 20th Century, and while it's obvious that it's nothing but a fable, it's one that grabs you and doesn't let go. It's a shame that the charming Constance Moore only made another handful of films, although she made the rounds of classic film star gatherings decades later. I wish I could have seen this years ago, because I would have liked to have told her how much I liked her in these forgotten leading roles rather than having just known her from a few W.C. Fields films.

Just watched this obscure Republic musical on Netflix Streaming. It stars Stanley Brown as Brad Taylor, who-according to this movie-is responsible for making the title city the tourist attraction it became because of things like the Miss America contest and the Apolo Theater (which is actually in New York City but never mind). He stays with his father, Jake (Charley Grapewin who's most familiar as Dorothy's uncle in The Wizard of Oz) and has a romance with singer and eventual wife Marilyn Whitaker (Constance Moore). Because of his constant business meetings, however, their marriage often takes a back seat. One of their few friends is The Professor (Jerry Colonna). I'll stop there and just say that I thought the story threatened to become monotonous with all those back and forth montages between the rising businesses and the failing marriage but picks up considerably whenever the musical interludes or Colonna comes on. I mean, Jerry is always funny every time he appears and the numbers are really well done here whether it's Ms. Moore singing, or Paul Whiteman playing, or Gallagher (actually Jack Kenny, a Chicago native like me) and Sheen doing their self-named ditty, or such talented African-American performers like Louis Armstrong, Dorothy Dandridge, and the dance team of Buck (Ford Washington Lee) and Bubbles (John William Sublett) doing their thing. Speaking of the latter since in a couple of days it will be Black History Month again, the whole Apolo Theater sequence shines when it first has Ms. Dandridge warbling "Harlem on Parade" with Louis Armstrong on trumpet before segueing to Armstrong singing "Ain't Misbehavin'" and then to Buck and Bubbles singing and then taking turns playing piano and tapping to "Rhythm for Sale" before the big finish with all four of them. The best sequence to me, bar none! Other African-American players appear as servants like Lena Torrence and Daisy Lee Mothershed as maids. The latter, incidentally, was from Belcher in my current home state of Louisiana. Anyway, in summation, this Atlantic City movie (not to be confused with the Burt Lancaster-Susan Sarandon one from 1981) is entertaining when the music and Colonna come on, not so much during the story portion. P.S. I always like to cite whenever players from my favorite movie It's a Wonderful Life come on other films or TV shows (which I have been doing quite frequently the last few days) and here, Charles Williams appears as the guy who feeds back to Colonna the "rumor" that Brad Taylor was going to build a livestock on one of his properties.

Ray McCarey directs this Betty Grable-style musical (think CONEY ISLAND) for a surprisingly good Republic flick. The leads are competent, although relatively unknown, but there is an excellent supporting cast, including Charley Grapewin, and the film is eked out with some marvelous vaudeville and performing talent, including Joe Frisco, Al Shean, Louis Armstrong, Paul Whiteman and Buck and Bubbles, a great dancing act.The plot concerns Stanley Brown, who -- in the movie, anyway -- came up with all the ideas that made Atlantic City a major resort in the first half of the 20th Century, but stepped on everyone on the way up. The performances and photography are excellent and serve as a fine backdrop. If you're a fan of old-time vaudeville, definitely worth your time.