Three young women get fired from their jobs, have no money or place to stay, and attempt to get on their feet again by entering a radio competition. They carry a nice tune, but after losing to 'Tops' Cardona (George Raft) and his orchestra, they join up with Tops and follow his somewhat stern direction in the hopes of advancing their careers.The three women are played by Alice Faye, Frances Langford, and Patsy Kelly, and while I enjoyed Kelly's pluck and Langford's singing, I have to say, the film was a little lacking in star power to put it over the top. Alice Faye is a bit like Jean Harlow lite, and Raft is not as effective here as in films like Scarface, though I did like the little bit of cool dancing he did while conducting at one point. Along those lines, in this film we get some banter, but it's banter-lite, most likely because the Hays Code was enforced as of the previous year.The plot is somewhat thin, but the film moves along pretty well in its 80 minutes. There are some cute amateur acts including an old woman who sings like a chicken, and it was nice to see African-American singer James Miller belt out "I Feel a Song Coming On". The real highlight, though, was Langford performing "I'm in the Mood for Love", and while the song has been covered countless times over the years, this was its first appearance. As a whole, the film is reasonably entertaining, though not very memorable.

Alice Faye, Frances Langford and Patsy Kelly lose their jobs and can't afford to pay the rent. They enter an amateur contest at a local radio station as a singing trio, but lose to a big band lead by George Raft when Langford passes out mid-song due to lack of food. Raft asks them to join his band, and they become famous, which throws obstacles in the way of a romance between Raft and Langford. An engaging enough little trifle which is largely an excuse to include a lot of musical numbers, the highlight of which is a lady doing a song as a chicken.

...thus I'll give this one a six out of ten. If the plot had been more original it could merit an eight.Three girls (Alice Faye, Frances Langford, Patsy Kelly) work together in an office and get fired for using the boss' Dictaphone to make a record. They can't find any other jobs - this is still the Depression you know - and quickly run out of food and then out of rent money. Locked out of their own apartment, sitting on the rooming house steps, they see a sign advertising one hundred dollars for the winner of a radio contest. That will get them back into their room and buy food so off they go.The contest is hilarious, there is a very bad but dramatic trio, a bad singer in the operatic style, and even a woman singing while clucking like a chicken. Walter Catlett as the master of ceremonies is tailor made for the part. He's quite polite to all of the contestants right up to the time when he "gongs them" and cuts short their acts. Then in comes George Raft, as Tops Cordona with his orchestra consisting of pipe fitters, bricklayers, and carpenters. Tops is the conductor. They turn out to be quite good. Next, the girls are up, but Susan (Frances Langford) passes out from lack of food. They probably would have won, but with the act unfinished, the prize goes to Cordona and his band.Later the girls and Tops decide to team up - he names them "The Swanee Sisters" and has them fake southern accents. He promises that they will make lots of money and have lots of fun. He is half right. It turns out that Tops is a PR guy and salesman extraordinaire, as well as a good band leader. The problem is, he has the girls and the band going from show to show to the point that they have no time for fun. So, with an invitation to a swanky Park Avenue party, the girls run out on Tops, who has to do that night's show all alone. How does this all work out? Watch and find out. I'll just say that the girls find out that the upper crust is crustier than they imagined, and Tops finds out he is not tops without the girls doing vocals. The real conflict here is that Langford's character, Susan, is crazy for Tops, but all he seems to see in her is a singer for his band. That is the drama behind the film - there really is no other real conflict.With Alice Faye loaned out from Fox for her great musical presence and voice, and Patsy Kelly loaned from Hal Roach for her wisecracking abilities, this film has plenty of talent, plus it is rich in the atmosphere of old time radio. But if you see Raft as the headliner and expect some kind of crime drama or mystery, look elsewhere. What particularly surprised me was that the director of this film was Raoul Walsh, of whom Jack Warner once joked "Raoul's idea of a tender love scene is to burn down a whorehouse." Walsh adamantly believed the three greatest virtues of film were "action, action, and then action." So to look at those action films he made at WB from 1939 through 1949 and then look at this film, you would hardly recognize them as the product of the same director.Recommended for the music and the nostalgia of it all.

Three adorable but out of work and homeless women try to win $100 in amateur contest on the radio, but when Susan (Frances Langford) passes out from lack of food, the prize goes to supremely confident and good-looking band leader Tops (George Raft). Once he really hears them sing, however, he brings them on board with his band. And by working them day and night brings them success with their own radio program. But his hyper-strict rules have Dixie (Alice Faye) and Daphne (Patsy Kelly) chafing for some freedom. Though Susan has quietly fallen for Tops, she goes along with the girls' scheme to buck his authority and possibly ruin his show.Sure it's not much of a plot, but this is a good-natured showcase for a host of talents and great wisecracks from Patsy Kelly. The girls are fun, Faye and particularly Langford get great solos. Langford makes "I'm in the Mood for Love" a standard. Raft, besides looking cool, gets to do a little dancing. Harry Barris has some rousing if brief little vocal ditties. And truly marvelous is uncredited singer James Miller, who takes over in the middle of the extended "I Feel a Song Coming On" number.If you're a fan of old-time radio you'll recognize all the corny exchanges and weird acts on the "gong show" radio program and maybe try to sing like a chicken yourself.