IMDb plot summary: A musical revue that basically has Paramount stars and contract-players doing things some had never done on screen, and wouldn't again.
Directed by Dorothy Arzner, Otto Brower, and Edmund Goulding. Starring Jean Arthur, Clara Bow, and Maurice Chevalier.
Paramount on Parade is a 1930 revue of stars involved in Paramount Pictures, including names I recognize now like Jean Arthur, Maurice Chevalier, and William Powell, as well as many, many stars I don't know at all. I assumed going in this would be primarily musical numbers, but it's pretty evenly split between musical numbers and silly sketches. My favorite of the latter is a mystery parody called "Murder Will Out" that features four actors portraying characters they were well-known for playing on-screen in mysteries, and it's spectacularly silly. Quite a few of these pieces, however, feel like they go right over my head, partly because the pop culture references are almost unrecognizably dated (even for someone relatively well-versed in classic cinema) and partly because the version I saw has definitely deteriorated enough that the sound quality was difficult to parse at times. When I did find moments I enjoyed, I REALLY enjoyed them, but there was a lot of waiting around until one piece was over in the hopes I'd like the next one better. An interesting little time capsule but not necessarily one I'd ever rewatch.
How it entered my Flickchart:
Paramount on Parade < The Harder They Fall
Paramount on Parade < War of the Buttons (1994)
Paramount on Parade > In Cold Blood
Paramount on Parade < Alice in Wonderland (1951)
Paramount on Parade > Men of Honor
Paramount on Parade > Deja Vu
Paramount on Parade < Eddie the Eagle
Paramount on Parade < Call Northside 777
Paramount on Parade > Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)
Paramount on Parade > Maggie's Plan
Paramount on Parade > Start the Revolution Without Me
Paramount on Parade < Gigi
Final spot: #2913 out of 3532, or 18%.
No comments:
Post a Comment