Plot Summary - WWII Technicolor musical set in the lively Barbary Coast music halls of the last turn-of-the-century. Alice Faye plays Trudy Evans, honky tonk singer who performs in a foursome with her fellow, Johnny (John Payne), and their two sidekick pals (June Havoc and Jack Oakie). After getting fired for performing their "new act", the four start giving free performances on the street in front of all the honky tonks, prompting bribes from the owners to stop - and leading Johnny into enough cash to open his own club, the "Grizzly Bear" (featuring "Girls - Girly Girls - Shapely Girls" with "food wine liquors unsurpassed"). Soon successful Johnny owns a string of music halls, including a Rollerdrome, and Trudy is famous on the Barbary Coast for her vocals (and beauty, I would guess!). But ambitions to get himself to wealthy Nob Hill leads Johnny into a relationship with another woman, Nob Hill society gal Bernice Croft, aggressive pursuer of Johnny and soon down on her luck. Troubles for Johnny, but more success for Trudy to come.
Review - Full of colorful, entertaining musical numbers including a fun act on roller skates featuring a great skating duo, plus Alice Faye singing the famous "You'll Never Know" three times during the film, her vocals so wonderful, rich and deep. The film is rich in music but lacks in the romance department, which fairly falls flat, Faye's relationship with her man sort of a side issue to all the production numbers - and I find it hard to really root for her relationship with Payne's character when he's such a heel and oh so non-appreciative of her loyalty to him. The Technicolor (which looks very nice on the DVD) makes for some brilliantly colored productions, by the way, the costumes and gowns in the film are lavishly bright and gorgeous! Alice Faye perhaps never looked more beautiful than in this film; it's really all about the songs, the colors, and the big feathered hats when watching this film - not so much the plot, which I found just a tad boring. Rating - 7.5/10 stars
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