(Ray Enright, US 1934, 91 min., 35mm)
Straddling the line between pre-Code and the rest of history, this delightful backstage musical gives us multimillionaire Ezra Ounce (Hugh Herbert) who is dedicated to raising American morals by eliminating questionable entertainment and the people who create it. Unbeknownst to him, his younger cousin (Ruby Keeler) is just such a person. Guy Kibbee and ZaSu Pitts are her parents, Dick Powell is her impresario beau, and Joan Blondell is the showgirl who ties it all together. The eye-popping musical sequences designed by Busby Berkeley prompted the Warner Bros. publicity department to coin the term “cinematerpsichorean” to describe them. The song are written by Harry Warren and Al Dubin, including the debut of “I Only Have Eyes for You.”
