I first heard about this film aback in the lat 70's when i check out a book ," the m.g.m. story. It was a huge book. I saw years and years later a bad faded version. That had 4 early Technicolor sequences . One I would learn later was not a part of the film .It was from lost film ,"Red hot rhythm. with Alan hale s.r. doing a song and dance number. This was a version of the movie that was privately owned by Rosetta Duncan. She obviously knew about nitrate and color fading and preserved it in a cool storage. Thanks to her we got this film. The rogue song was stored carelessly. There's only two clips and a faded trailer.Well I learned in that in the early 90's before t.c.m. tn.t.. had this version on. I used to watch T.n.t, how did I miss it? Well T. c. M. had a version in which the last final of the Technicolor musical sequence was edited out as well as the red hot rhythm. The real disturbing part about the version on t.n.T. was that the finale number of the last color sequence was enhanced . They made the chorus girls feathers colorized to blue making that whole final looking like three strip. Making it uneven. This revisionism against history is wrong. This is typical of big corporate greed fearing that some of the audience won't like two color Technicolor , enhancing this to ensure their greedy ratings will be made.m.g.m .u.a did this against Dr, X. and Mystery of the wax museum by the mid 90's out of fear that some of the audience may not understand two strip. I got the d.v.d. version recently . The first color sequence is original. The first finale stays original.But the last of the finale is that enhanced version. I'm disappointed . They did remove red hot rhythm sequence. That wasn't part of the movie to begin with.They should of removed that blue and it would of looked the way it was suppose to look.the way it was made.But m.g.m side of Time Warner is still anti two color cause of greed.The only reason why they didn't enhanced all the sequences cause it was too expensive .In spite of this fault it's still an entertaining film.Which explores the history of Vaudeville , which was dying when this movie was made,in which too struggling sisters, Babe and Casey Hogan, struggle every day.Casey promising her dying mother that she would take care of her young sister.But babe starts to fall for the piano music sheet man , played by Lawrence Gray. but Casey is over protective of her sister. When there store has their show . Casey thinks that the original way of the act stinks. Since Babe is getting nervous, Casey comes in and makes it better. but James ,played by Lawrence, thinks she ruined the show . But it becomes a hit. But Casey and Babe and James are fired. But are rescued by Benny Ruben as the talent manager, puts them on the stage. They are a hit . But James and Casey can't get along.This causes the act too break up and Casey is mad at Babe for marrying James.without all three the individual performers flop.It's when babes get's sick that this united all three. I have gotten a feeling that the original plans for this picture was going to be all Technicolor. But since the Duncan sister weren't known in films and Mayors attitude for color. It was decided just to have 3 sequences only. Lawrence Tibbet was a bigger name than them on the screen. i'm just guessing it. It's still collectible . Warner brother shop dot com and also at amazon.com

Unfortunately, Alexander Gray is not half as engaging in Sam Wood's "It's a Great Life" as he was in "Sally" (1929) in which he romanced Marilyn Miller. Here he is paired with Vivian, the prettier (if less talented) of the Duncan Sisters who turn out to be comedians rather than the single-minded, full-throated singers I always imagined. Rosetta is the real clown of the act, Vivian the straight "guy" who also sings a little. While Gray struggles with his role as Vivian's love interest, Rosetta's romantic partner turns out to be Jed Prouty, who is surprisingly effective, considering he made no less than seven other movie appearances in 1929, including his most well-known role as the stuttering uncle in "Broadway Melody". There are also some effective cameos from the crowds of extras. The first half of the movie is an unalloyed delight. Director Sam Wood certainly gets things off to a really great start. In fact, I nominate it as the best ever opening sequence for a musical. Better still, this M-G-M production, I'm very happy to say, still has its two Technicolor sequences intact (even in the first is printed a little too dark and the second a little too light in the current DVD).

The Warner Archives got this one right. The last time this film was shown in its entirety on TCM back in the 1990's, the color finale was still lost. After it was found, the restored film was never shown on TCM to my knowledge, but the discovered color finale was often shown on Turner Classic Movies under its "One Reel Wonder" series between films. The Warner Archives DVD-R release restores the color finale to the film itself, so we get to see it as it was supposed to be seen and was seen in 1929.The story involves sisters Babe and Casey Hogan, (Vivian and Rosetta Duncan), salesgirls at a department store, which is ruled somewhat like a banana republic in that store employees are required to assemble and sing the store song each morning. The girls have been orphaned since Babe was a child, and Casey is the older sister. Thus Casey is accustomed to looking after sister Babe and deflecting the advances of Jimmy Dean (Lawrence Grey), who has a strong romantic interest in younger sister Babe. This was the Duncan Sisters' only sound film, and they come across oddly on camera. Vivien is somewhat like a husky Anita Page, and Rosetta reminds me in voice and actions of Lucille Ball, although Rosetta does not have Lucy's delicacy of features.Pieces of this story looks like it inspired Singing in the Rain. For example, there is a show by and for the department store employees about half way into the film that includes a fashion show. A song is sung by a male tenor as each girl steps down a staircase to present the latest in flapper fashions - much like the Beautiful Girl number in Singin in the Rain. Also, Babe gets deathly ill towards the end of the film and goes unconscious, allowing a couple of over the top musical numbers that are the highlight of the movie - "The Hoosier Hop" and the recently found finale "Sailing on a Sunbeam". These numbers are supposed to be Babe's hallucinations as she lies unconscious. These numbers rather reminded me of the long "Broadway Melody" number in Singin in the Rain, with its wild colors and big sets in that film within a film.Recommended for those who enjoy the early sound films.

What a treat! Early talkie musical starring Broadway and Vaudeville stars, the Duncan Sisters. They sang, danced, and did comedy. This film is sort of a knock-off of THE Broadway MELODY. The Duncan Sisters were wanted for that film but were on the road, so the producers copied them in hiring Bessie Love and Anita Page. Later that year MGM snagged the Duncan Sisters for this film.They play sisters who work in a department store along with handsome Jimmy (Lawrence Gray). When smart-alec Casey (Rosetta Duncan) gets fired, they all quit and launch a career in "the show business." Jimmy is sweet on Babe (Vivian Duncan) which infuriates Casey.Anyway, they form an act built around Jimmy's songs. He plays piano while the girls sing and dance. They are a hit, but there is constant friction between Casey and Jimmy. The couple gets married and Casey goes berserk, breaking up the act. Casey goes solo, while the couple tries to make it alone. They all flop. Some time after, Babe gets really sick and Jimmy is forced to track down Casey and bring her back home.While the plot is creaky and the acting is not always very good, the musical numbers are vintage gold. "I'm Following You," which was a big hit, is sung several times. There is also a great comic version of "Tell Me Pretty Maiden," which was the theme song of FLORODORA GIRL, the terrific Marion Davies film which also starred Lawrence Gray. "The Hoosier Hop" is also solid and done in 2-strip Technicolor. Another color sequence is a fashion parade that goes comically wrong.Gray is charming and handsome and it's hard to figure why he wasn't a bigger success in talkies. He also has a great singing voice. Benny Rubin and Jed Prouty co-star.Of the sisters: Rosetta is the shorter one and the broad comic. She kept reminding me of Patsy Kelly and Beryl Mercer. Vivian was "the pretty one" and has an OK soprano voice. They duet on several songs and are quite effective. They both are passable dancers and comics. They were big stage stars but didn't do all that well in films. Their only other feature together was TOPSY AND EVA, based on their smash hit stage musical. They also did a few shorts.I liked them and thought they were both talented and personable. Maybe they could have found a niche in films. Rosetta was on the verge of a comeback on TV (WILD BILL HICKCOK) when she was killed in a car accident. Vivian apparently retired and lived to be 90.IT'S A GREAT LIFE is creaky and stagy but what a treat to see these big stars on film.