July 28 Joe E. Brown

Happy Birthday to Rudy Vallee and Joe E. Brown.

TCM celebrated Joe E. Brown’s birthday with a marathon of films. I watched On With The Show. The film stars Arthur Lake stars as the leading actor in a local theater troupe. Joe plays the comedian in the same group. Most of the film takes place backstage before during and after a show. Joe’s big scene is a dance number where is energetic and stylish as Gene Kelly as leggy as Charlotte Greenwood and a hint of Buster Keaton. He does flips and cartwheels. You clearly see his face and know he is actually doing the moves. The film drags. But this scene and Ethel Waters make the film worth watching. Ethel’s scenes seem separate from the rest of the film. I wonder if like the Nicholas Brothers scenes in films, that Ethel’s scenes were edited out of the southern states releases. The other big scene rivaled a Ziegfeld number. Women in beautiful gowns and head dresses parading down steps and the stage. This is a 1929 film and they talk and talk and talk. I don’t recognize many of the actors. The film is based on a across stage musical, so most of the actors could be from the stage. One actor’s name is Thomas Jefferson. That is a name you won’t forget.

The first time I saw Joe E. Brown was in Some Like It Hot. My favorite movie line is “Well, Nobody’s Perfect”. He has the great honor of saying that line to Jack Lemon. Joe and Jack dancing is my favorite part of the film. I know people went to see the film for Marilyn Monroe and the barely there dress, but I just fast forward through that. Seduction you can see in any movie. Two men dancing, one in drag, you don’t see very often.