The Plot. Popular New York band leader Terry Rooney (Cagney) is offered a lucrative film contract out in Hollywood. Rooney and his soon-to-be wife pack up and head for California. Upon arriving, they meet Mr. Regan, the head of the studio, who believes that Rooney's true lack of desire for stardom is arrogance on the band leader's part. When his first film is huge success and a hit for the studio, Regan tries to hide the truth from Rooney. Feeling a need to get away from Hollywood, Rooney takes his wife on a South Seas honeymoon cruise, only to return to the real truth of his fame.This was made on the tail end of the 30s before Hollywood started to unravel. It's well done. Lot's of 'mo humor that wouldn't never be allowed today.Too bad this film wasn't made pre-code so there could be some bra- less babes dancing around.The film starts to drag after a while and needs a pick me up.

This is the film that supposedly sank fledgling Grand National Films after an only three-year existence. Supposedly costing $900,000, the failure of this film sealed the studio's fate. While this is an enjoyable film with pleasant songs and attractive players, I find it hard to believe that cost assessment. The settings are attractive, but not lavish, and aside from James Cagney, there are really no box-office champs here that would require a hefty salary. Evelyn Daw was charming and a very good singer in this, and she supposedly made just one other film before yawing into oblivion. She deserved a better chance at success. There are some familiar faces among the supporting cast such as William Frawley and Gene Lockhart. Phillip Ahn has a surprisingly non-stereotypical role as Cagney's man-Friday, and Mona Barrie is good as a temperamental co-star for Cagney. The print on my DVD is clear and in pretty good shape. A good example of cinema from the mid-to-late '30s.

Dancing "Big Apple" band leader James Cagney (as Terry Rooney) heads for Hollywood to make his "Galore Pictures" debut. After his down-to-earth attitude is mistaken for arrogance, Mr. Cagney leaves tinsel-town thinking he's a failed actor, and marries singing sweetheart Evelyn Daw (as Rita Wyatt). Meanwhile, Cagney's debut makes him the country's newest movie star. Publicist William Frawley (as Hank Meyers) and studio chief Gene Lockhart (as B.O. Regan) hope to cash in, but with the now married Cagney as a more appealing single man.Mr. Frawley demonstrates some "Fred Mertz" mannerisms, and Mr. Lockhart apes a certain studio mogul.On "leave" from Warner Bros., and with multi-"talent to burn," Cagney more than proves his worth. Jack Warner wisely made him "an offer he couldn't refuse," and Cagney re-signed before another studio - MGM, the references to Gable, Montgomery, and Taylor would suggest - got too interested. His hoofer role reached its fruition with Cagney's magnificent "Yankee Doodle Dandy" (1942). "Something to Sing About" is a tuneful title; of the songs written by director Victor Schertzinger, "Right or Wrong" was the biggest minor hit, for swing singer Mildred Bailey.****** Something to Sing About (9/30/37) Victor Schertzinger ~ James Cagney, Evelyn Daw, William Frawley, Gene Lockhart

The plot of this film is fairly ordinary--bandleader/hoofer goes to Hollywood and becomes a star, studio wants to play up his credentials as a lover so they put the kibosh on announcing his marriage and cook up an on-set romance for the papers, the strain threatens his marriage. If it were with any other cast, that might have been the end of it. But with Cagney in the starring role, the movie just pops. The man had star quality positively oozing out of him, which had been evident from his earliest bit roles, in films like "A Handful of Clouds."This was Cagney's second and last film with Grand National studios, where he'd taken refuge during a contract dispute with Warner Brothers. The first film had cast him in standard dramatic fare, but this one reunited him with his NY dance coach, Harland Dixon, who staged the dances for the film. Cagney's dancing is even more spirited than in "Yankee Doodle Dandy"--at one point, where other dancers might kick their heels, he kicks his knees! According to a NY Times article cited in the AFI Catalog, Cagney practiced his steps with Fred Astaire before filming.What's most striking to me, though, in this film is Cagney's incomparably naturalistic acting. One scene in particular, where Cagney phones his fiancée back in New York while sitting in the dark in his Hollywood apartment, and listens to her sing a new song, is as moving and realistic as anything I've seen.Many scenes will evoke more famous moments from later films--Cagney dancing on piano keys, like Tom Hanks and Robert Loggia in "Big," or Cagney working on his pear-shaped tones, like Gene Kelly in "Singin' in the Rain." Cagney gives them all his unique brand of liveliness. There is also an almost anachronistic recognition of the degradation Hollywood visited on minorities, in the person of Philip Ahn, who plays Cagney's manservant, Ito.Evelyn Daw, as Cagney's fiancée, was a discovery of the director, Schertzinger, and this was her first film. She's got a cute little smile, but her voice is absolutely wrong for the sort of band Cagney is supposed to be leading. She does well enough, though, and holds her own with William Frawley as Cagney's sympathetic press agent and Gene Lockhart as the studio boss. The only real sour note is sounded by Mona Barrie, as the Hungarian star set up as Cagney's love interest by the studio press machine. She's neither attractive nor talented, and one has to wonder why she was supposed to be such a big star.This movie is out on DVD, unlike all too many of Cagney's early efforts, and it's worth checking out for a side of Cagney seen entirely too seldom.