Artists & Models (1937)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

Raoul Walsh

Writers:

Walter DeLeon (writer)
Lewis E. Gensler (writer)

Release Date:

13 August 1937 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Musical

Plot Keywords:

Advertising Agency | Model | Advertising | Title Spoken By Character

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Jack Benny	...	Mac Brewster
Ida Lupino	...	Paula Sewell aka Paula Monterey
Richard Arlen	...	Alan Townsend
Gail Patrick	...	Cynthia Wentworth
Ben Blue	...	Jupiter Pluvius
Judy Canova	...	Toots
Charles Adler	...	Member, Yacht Club Boys (as Yacht Club Boys)
James V. Kern	...	Member, Yacht Club Boys (as Yacht Club Boys)
George Kelly	...	Member, Yacht Club Boys (as Yacht Club Boys)
Billy Mann	...	Member, Yacht Club Boys (as Yacht Club Boys)
Cecil Cunningham	...	Stella
Donald Meek	...	Dr. Zimmer
Hedda Hopper	...	Mrs. Townsend
Anne Canova	...	Specialty (as Canova Family)
Martha Raye	...	Specialty

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording) | Mono

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Jack Benny Program: Musicale (#11.18)" (1961)

Soundtrack:

Public Melody No. 1

okay musical

Jack Benny, Ida Lupino, Gail Patrick, Judy Canova and Ben Blue star in "Artists & Models," a 1937 film directed by Rapul Walsh. Benny plays Mac Brewster, the owner of an advertising agency who lands the Townsend Silver Account. Mac has a ball planned, the Artists and Models Ball, and the "Townsend girl," who is to be their model, will be queen of the ball. Mac wants his girlfriend Paula (Lupino) to be the model, but Townsend (Richard Arlen) wants a society girl. Paula takes off for Miami, where Townsend is going, and poses as a society girl. Townsend offers her the job. Mac, meanwhile, has met a bona fide society girl, the beautiful Gail Patrick, who has approached him about helping with a charity. He shows up in Miami with her.

This movie is loaded with musical numbers that, in this writer's opinion, aren't great, with the exception of the last one, a number set in Harlem. That one, featuring Louis Armstrong, would have been better if they'd hired a black woman to sing the lead instead of putting Martha Raye in dark makeup. Ben Blue and Judy Canova are a little bit over the top, and those numbers seem very dated today.

Ida Lupino looks beautiful and always turned in a good performance. When one sees her here as an ingénue, it's easy to appreciate her many accomplishments playing tough-gal roles and her work as a director. Benny is funny, but frankly, he doesn't have great material to work with. Gail Patrick, with her beautiful looks and voice, is her usual classy self. Cecil Cunningham, as Mac's secretary, is a standout with her dry wit.

All in all, not fabulous. I usually don't think of Raoul Walsh and musicals in the same thought process for a reason.