I don't usually rate films from this era as low as a 5, and I more often rate 21st century movies a 5 or lower. I am not saying all 21st century stuff is bad. Movies that have come out in the 21st century that I loved and thought were great included "Black swan", "Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind", "The pianist", "Girl with a dragon tattoo", "The Aviator", and "The curious case of Benjamin Buttons". I also thought the Harry Potter films were great.Generally speaking though in my opinion, old times were better, in films and in real life. My list of great films I love from The Golden Age of Hollywood is pages long. I am not saying old times were perfect, nothing is. "Varsity show" was definitely not perfect. It was one of Busby's "slump films", which were three films he made during a bad spot during his life (the bad spot was Busby having accidentally killed someone in a car wreck and he was initially tried for murder). His three slump films were "Hollywood hotel", "Varsity show", and "Gold diggers Paris". Those three films lacked the magic of his usual wonder and had some characters in them which were more weird and stupid acting than what was in Busby's normal greatness. The opening scenes I saw a familiar face in the late 1930s college crowd. A funny looking long toothed man who I had seen an older version of as a weird TV repair man in 1962 Twilight zone episode "Whats in the box". The man who voiced Whinny the pooh in the 1960s cartoon Whinny the pooh. He was about 19 here and was one of the students among others such as Johnnie Davis and pretty Rosemary Lane. Rosemary was pretty and nice, and was joined by Dick Powell who is been in almost every 1930s Busby Berkeley film. But Powell lost his touch a little here compared to his earlier stuff. "Gold diggers 37" was the first film where Powell wasn't as great as before (his first number of that film "speakin of the weather. Lighning flash!" did not have the same magic that his songs from "Gold diggers 33", "Gold diggers 35", "Dames", etc. had), although "Gold diggers 37" did have one wonderful song with the magic like in the previous films, which was the song at the party "Let's get our heads together" (even that song had one bad little spot that didn't fit with the magic of the rest of the song, and that was when two weird guys at the bar sung a line of the song in weird voices. That one tiny moment was unfortunately a preview of what was gonna happen a bit more during Busby's slump films which included "Varsity show"). "Lets get our heads together" in "Gold diggers 37" was the last wonderful piece of Busby magic until he bounced back again (due to his murder trials being acquitted) and made the wonderful Judy Garland films, starting with "Babes in arms" in 1939. Powell here in "Varsity show" was eloped with Rosemary. She was cute and nice, but she wasn't as totally amazing and heavenly wonderful like Powell's earlier partners Ruby Keeler and Gloria Stewart. Ruby was an angel, especially "I only have eyes for you", "Like a waterfall", "Pettin in the park", etc., and Gloria was an angel in "Gold diggers 35's" "The words are in my heart"."Varsity show" wasn't absolutely terrible. It was just a slump film which lacked the magic from Busby's better times, which fortunately was the higher percentage of his career. There one really miserable guy, who was a slump film style character. First, he yelled at all the kids to get out of the theater and then they just sat down and laughed. And then he got the police, but when they got there they just sat down and enjoyed the show. Then the miserable guy got the swat team, but they only joined the police to watch. Then he got the military armed forces, then the governor. They all did the same while this miserable guy's mounting frustration grew while no one else shared it. Most people knew that shows in the 1930s were nice to watch. This film was, I will call it mediocre.

The screenplay is rather like a poor man's precursor to MGM's "Babes on Broadway", that would be released a few years later. That's not to say this film is bad. Universal also filmed their version of a school group trying to take their annual musical play to Broadway, in "Mr. Big", starring Don O'Connor. It's about time to put on the annual varsity Show at Winfield College. But stodgy old Professor Biddle, as the producer, resists suggestions that the show be modernized. At the suggestion of the 2 janitors, the student leaders go to NYC to see alumnus Chuck Daly(Dick Powell), who has been producing Broadway shows. At first, he's not interested, as he has an offer from Hollywood. Eventually, he gives in, hoping that his Hollywood offer will still be intact a few weeks later. However, the faculty refuse to let him take over from Prof. Biddle as the producer/director. Now, his Hollywood offer has been withdrawn, and he's broke, so he and his manager, Mr. Williams(Ted Healy), head back to their home base in NYC, telling the kids they're going to Hollywood. The kids eventually figure out this deception, so pack up and head for NYC, where they take over a theater apparently owned or rented by Mr. Williams. They refuse to leave until their show is seen, but Mr. Williams insists they need to fork over $4500. before. He calls the police to force them out, but the police are transfixed by the first part of their show and settle down in seats to watch the rest. More police are called, with the same result. Finally, the national guard is called. As they storm in, Fred Waring has his orchestra play "Pack Up Your Troubles......", which helps calm them down, as they too become interested in the progressing play. The show continues to completion, with a major musical production at the end, ending with an embrace between Daly(Powell), and co-ed Babs( Rosemary Lane).The screenplay is energized throughout with the natural enthusiasm of a mass of college-aged(actually mostly older)adults.... Ted Healy(Mr. Williams), provides some laughs periodically, especially relating to the defense of his theater against the horde of thespians who have taken it over....Walter Catlett is also amusing as the stodgy Pro. Biddle. He reminds me of a cross between Ed Wynn and silent film comedy star Harold Lloyd. ...Mabel Todd, in her first Hollywood film, plays a goofy dumb blond, who takes a liking to Mr. Williams. She would return to play a similar character in "Hollywood Hotel" and "Gold Diggers of 1937", also released in 1937. Some find her attempts at humor more irritating than funny. She had a relatively brief Hollywood career, never rising above a supporting player.Most of the new songs were composed by the team of Richard Whiting and Johnny Mercer. They were well dispersed throughout the screen play. None would now be considered "keepers", although most were pleasantly serviceable. Half a dozen songs are listed at this site that apparently were included in a 120 min, version, rather than the 80 min. version I saw. Probably, it was decided 120 min. was too long. We have the African American team of Ford Lee and John Sublett in a piano and tap dance performance, the first to "You've Got Something There", later to "Love is On the Air Tonight" Singers included sisters Priscilla and Rosemary Lane, who performed separately, in this, their Hollywood debut. Rosemary would again serve as the leading lady in the subsequent "Hollywood Hotel", and "Gold Diggers of 1937", also released in 1937. The visually rather spectacular finale musical production includes a variety of songs, both reprisals of new songs, and traditional college football fight songs. The marching around, while making various patterns, is classic Busby Berkeley choreography. Quite lengthy, but not quite in the same league as some of Busby's most interesting dance productions. The dancers began as a triangle, moving forward. They would end the show as a triangle moving backwards, away from the audience.Presently available as part of the Busby Berkeley Collection.

This movie probably won't appeal to anyone under the age of 50 - the generation gap is too great. College boys in shirts and ties, girls in saddle shoes and calf-length skirts, and riding around in 'jalopies' with topical slogans on them - not today. And the cast of this picture contains some of the oldest college kids ever seen on campus. But, if you are of a certain age, it all works.There is a great deal of energy in each scene, which is how it would be on a college campus, and there are some very tuneful songs to be found, although most of them forgotten. The most durable is probably "She's Working Her Way Through College", but several others were written by Richard Whiting and Johnny Mercer. In addition, here is a chance to see Buck and Bubbles, a legendary song and dance team. They differed from the Nicholas Brothers, who were strictly dancers. Buck and Bubbles both sang, both danced and both played the piano, hence a more talented team.The story is unimportant, about Dick Powell returning to his alma mater to help put on a show, but the cast is good and the pace is brisk. Two of the Lane sisters are the female leads opposite Powell and comic relief is done in heavy-handed fashion by Ted Healy. There is also lots of able support, and there is a great finale provided by none other than Busby Berkeley. There is lots to like in "Varsity Show", a better-than-average musical of its kind.

No need to repeat details exhaustively provided by other reviewers. I caught the 80-minute truncated version on TCM and it's a shame despite the lively cast and Berkeley's big production number. Comparing the playlist with what's on screen, most of the musical numbers that survived the edit appear condensed into the closing medley of songs—hardly a fair representation. And what's left intact is musically pleasant but hardly memorable. Generally, the same can be said of the truncated movie as a whole.(In passing—note the rebellious college students impatient with the stodgy musical tastes of their elders. Seems like musical rebellion among the young extends further back than the 1950's and Elvis. More obscurely-- note how the kids at one juncture perform a brief sit-down strike to make their point. The year is 1937, the same period as the historic General Motors Sitdown Strike of 1936-37. Looks to me like a topical reference even in a movie piece of fluff.)