QUEEN HIGH is a nice example of what musicals were like before the Busby Berkeley days at Warners and the Astaire/Rogers series at RKO. The story is silly but mildly amusing, the songs pleasant and catchy, and the cast, including Frank Morgan (Wizard of Oz), Charlie Ruggles (Bringing Up Baby) and Ginger Rogers (Top Hat), is exceptionally strong. We even get the first screen appearance of Eleanor Powell, though to me at least she's quite unrecognizable dancing on a table during the film's bounciest number. On the negative side of the ledger, the camera is static, the plot structure clunky, and the film stock has deteriorated badly. Morgan and Ruggles are already their established personas while Rogers is still in her 'Betty Boop' flapper phase, but cute as a bug anyway. She's known as Astaire's partner but actually covers a wider swath of musical history than practically anybody: an early musical here, the two greatest Berkeley efforts, 42ND STREET and GOLD DIGGERS OF 1933, the Astaire RKO pictures of course, and even an early 'modern' musical, LADY IN THE DARK, and the classic MGM effort with Fred, BARKLEYS OF Broadway. And on stage both HELLO DOLLY and MAME. Amazing when you think about it.

In the 1952 comedy "Monkey Business", Charles Coburn told secretary Marilyn Monroe, "Go find somebody to type this!". Ginger Rogers played the wife of Cary Grant in that, but only 22 years before, she played a "stenog" even dumber than Monroe in one of her very first films, hired by uncle Frank Morgan in this comedy with songs that makes it seem like an overlong short. It reeks of bad office politics gone rancid as Rogers is made a pawn between partners Morgan and Charlie Ruggles who can't stand each other while finding romance with a songwriter she met on the subway.This was made around the same time that Rogers got a big Broadway break in "Girl Crazy", but like that show, she was second fiddle (even as the leading lady) thanks to a newcomer named Ethel Merman. Rogers isn't at fault here. She is directed as if in Helen Kane's shoes (who was also at Paramount and a bigger star), but unfortunately, what works for one poop-poop-de-doop song stylist doesn't work with Rogers. Even as one of the biggest gold diggers of 1933, she didn't make your skin crawl, but that is exactly what happens here, making it obvious that her future success in movie musicals wasn't instantly assured.Some old movies do score highly with Gracie Allen type dumbbells being smarter than their leading men, but Rogers is over the top and unbelievable in her idiocy. A few musical numbers thrown in for good measure prove to be bad inches. After only 35 minutes, I was ready to cash it in. A huge fan of Rogers, Morgan and Ruggles, I found this totally tedious. Wheeler and Woolsey did much better with virtually the same plot in one of their lesser movies ("On Again, Off Again") than the Morgan/Ruggles feud here. Ruggles did better as a boss with a dumbbell secretary, asking Jane Wyman in "The Doughgirls" (of all people) if she took dictation verbatim, only to have her respond, "No I do it word for word!".According to her autobiography, Ginger Rogers once reached out to Judy Garland in an effort to help her get through some hard times, but sadly in this movie, even the future "Wizard of Oz" couldn't help this turkey.

... and not think very hard. The title brings forth images of perhaps the world's first film about high school angst with Ginger Rogers as the queen of her senior class? Not at all. Instead "queen high" is a card term that has to do with a bet that feuding partners in a garter company have made at the encouragement of ... their lawyer? The bet will have the winner running the business alone for one year and the loser being the winner's manservant during that same time. Wouldn't a simple split of the assets be easier? Well, yes, but not nearly as much fun as this early screwball comedy.Frank Morgan and Charles Ruggles play the feuding captains of industry and play off of one another like a high-class version of Edmund Lowe and Victor McLaglen in their buddy movies. Paramount always cast Ruggles as the drunk in his early films, but here they let him play it sober and it suits him. The fact that the business is a garter manufacturer gives an excuse for lots of scantily clad young ladies to wander in and out of scenes modeling the concern's latest products.Complicating matters for the feuding business partners is that Ruggles' character's nephew (Stanley Smith) and Morgan's character's niece (Ginger Rogers) have fallen in love. They mainly handle the musical scenes which are quite charming. Ginger Rogers was still going through her flapper persona phase in 1930 and her singing is pretty good and adds to the fun.The plot resolution is rather abrupt and not very satisfying, but the journey getting there is lots of fun. Highly recommended.

This is a great comedy with a few songs, which pop up at just the right moment. Unlike many 1929-1930 musicals, the songs usually pertain to the action and fit right in. None of the melodies are intrusive: they fit right in and are played in the score.... which is better than most 1929-1930 films. Music is used for effect in several key comedy scenes. Also, this should be labeled one of the earliest screwball comedies. Ruggels and Morgan are great in their roles, and a VERY young Ginger Rogers is great as a cute flapper. You can also catch Elanor Powell dancing in one scene very briefly.It is a shame that this movie is not widely available, as I enjoyed it more than most musicals of the 1929-1930 cycle.