Although designed as a box-office follow-up to the smash hit, Rio Rita, this re-union of Daniels, Wheeler, Woolsey and Lee with writer- director Reed and producer LeBaron, proved not quite the box- office bonanza RKO had anticipated. Nevertheless, considering the enormous amount of money spent on extras, rococo sets and period costumes, an overall loss of $300,000 was not all that disastrous a result. A fair few number of customers crowded through the turnstiles — far more than returned modest profits on far less expensive productions. And what a wonderful film this is! Bebe Daniels never looked more radiant. She's handed not only fascinatingly eye-filling costumes but some really bobby- dazzling songs, including the title number and the breathtaking, rhythmically composed, bizarrely worded "Here's to the Old Days" in which she is supported by a chorus and our two unforgettable clowns, Wheeler and Woolsey. The former also enjoys a song number, "My One Ambition Is You", in which he teams with the lovely Dorothy Lee. Not to be outdone, the cigar-chomping Woolsey shares a Technicolor sequence with a quartet of lovelies in which the brass-buttoned comic raves on about "A Lady Loved a Soldier". Everett Marshall, from the New York Metropolitan Opera, makes as fine a figure of a hero as you could wish as he renders "Mr and Mrs Sippi" and "A Guiding Star". Ralf Harolde is delightfully hissable as the slick villain. Available complete with its Technicolor reel on an excellent Grapevine DVD.

In antebellum New Orleans, two men vie for the affections of a beautiful young girl during Mardi Gras.Very early sound film with silent film star BeBE Daniels.Frankly, I really tired of people drinking the kool aid and having to highlight what they described as "racist" imagery of the film. This is 1930 not 2014. Get over it.Blacula has racist overtones and nobody says a peep.This is an odd film that somehow mixes the circus with the plantation. And the plantation owner has a Jewish accent. In fact a bunch of the actors have odd accents. Not the typical Hollywood accents of the time.The film mixes song and drama and comedy.So is this a good movie? Uh not really. It drags and wheeler and woolsy are not my cup of tea.However what makes the picture interesting are is the last two reels -- first time use of 2 strip technicolor. Its worth watching for that alone.

While I am NOT a bleeding heart, I do find it very odd that very few of the reviews even bother to mention the racist elements in the film. While I would NOT say that you shouldn't watch it (I am a huge believer in Free Speech...period), I think the problematic view of slavery at least deserves a mention!! After all, as the film begins, you see a plantation owner and his son talking about how happy their slaves are--as the human chattel do their "fun" chores and sing. While this might ruffle a few feathers, this is akin to showing a song and dance number at a Soviet gulag! This just reinforced the horrible stereotype of the 1930s that slavery "wasn't THAT bad"! Seemingly child-like slaves who are happy and carefree is just a gross stereotype.The plot involves a circus performer, Dixiana, who has fallen for rich Carl Van Horn--the family who owns the plantation at the beginning of the film. Carl's father is a nice but hen-pecked guy. His mother is a society-conscious old battle-ax--and when she learns of the marriage between her well-connected son and a common circus performer, she blows a gasket and demands the wedding be stopped. Carl is apparently a wiener and caves to his battle-ax mother's whim. All this comes out as Wheeler & Woolsey (who look after Dixiana) have been invited to stay with the Van Horns. As for the duo's behavior during this time at the Van Horns, they mostly kick people in the butt (I am not exaggerating in the least).As for the film, it's a mixed bag. For a 1930 film, the sound is excellent. Many early sound films suffer from varying sound or sound that is simply too soft, as they had still to work out all the ins and outs of the new medium. Unfortunately, the problem is that because of this you can actually hear what's going on!! That's because the two leads warble operatic style songs that make Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy seem like pop singers! In 1930, the public liked this sort of old fashion drivel--now it is a definite chore to get past these god-awful songs. In addition to these two leads, Bert Wheeler and Dorothy Lee also sing a bit--as does Robert Woolsey near the end of the film. The Wheeler/Lee songs are more cute and enjoyable than the rest, though it should also be noted that Ms. Lee sings almost exactly like Betty Boop!! Be ready to hit the fast-forward button when any song occurs! Be forewarned, there are a lot of songs and they are hard on the ears!Newly teamed comics, Wheeler & Woolsey are on hand for comic relief. Like Abbott and Costello, the studio first used them in this role and only later gave them their own starring films. Their sort of humor is what you might expect--Burlesque style skits and not particularly inspired ones. The team is okay here, but have been better and are not enough to salvage the film. I never thought I'd find myself saying that I wanted MORE Wheeler & Woolsey! The overall film is wretched--far worse than any other Wheeler & Woolsey film I have seen (I've seen about 12-15). While many of their early films have singing, none feature as much or at annoying music. This combined with the whole slavery issue make this a tough film to enjoy.

Back in 1930 RKO was like all the other studios, churning out musicals to please an audience hungry for the new rage of talking pictures. 'Dixiana' was meant to cash in on the success of 'Rio Rita', the Ziegfeld show that became a movie in 1929, and used many of the same cast - the lovely Bebe Daniels in the title role (very like Jeanette MacDonald in this), plus comic relief from Wheeler and Woolsey and pretty Dorothy Lee. The big mistake was in casting Met star Everett Marshall as the male lead; an opera singer with an excellent voice but no acting ability whatever.Add to this mix Joseph Cawthorn and Jobyna Howland as Marshall's parents (Ms Howland goes to town with her over-acting!); plus Mr Bojangles in his debut film appearance (a 3 minute solo); and a two-strip Technicolor finale. The musical numbers are fine (mostly for Everett Marshall and Bebe Daniels; although there's a cute song for Bert Wheeler and Dorothy Lee about halfway into the film). I've seen this film described as a 'prehistoric turkey', but I wouldn't put it down that much. It has its high points (the colour sequence looks great and is a hoot) and it is about as complete a restoration as you could ask for. And it is the only Wheeler and Woolsey currently on DVD; we need more of their mad movies commercially available. 'Dixiana' is patchy but it isn't prehistoric!