Good 30s Films: Alexander's Ragtime Band

1938 Musical Drama
From 20th Century Fox
Directed by Henry King

Starring
Tyrone Power
Alice Faye
Don Ameche
Ethel Merman
Jack Haley
Paul Hurst
John Carradine
Chick Chandler

There are several reasons why this movie has always felt like a dear old friend.  Chief among them is that it starred two of the most popular stars in the world at that time and great favorites of mine, Tyrone Power and Alice Faye.  20th Century Fox was fortunate to have both of them under contract.

The pair, along with Don Ameche, had just had a mega-hit with In Old Chicago (also directed by King), which rivaled San Francisco (1936) in its fiery destruction of a big America city.  Darryl F. Zanuck and his crowd were certain they would strike gold again.  This time they would add composer Irving Berlin to the mix and come up with a slam-bang musical.  

I have said for as long as I can remember that I loved Fox musicals more than those at any other studio.  I was a fool for its famous singing blondes in three decades which started with Faye in the 30s.  With this film, Fox got into the musical business with its biggest leap and needless to say, the movie became another monster hit.

Like Clark Gable and Jeanette McDonald's San Francisco, this movie opens in the Bowery of that great city in 1915.  Within a matter of minutes, a pretty blonde, obviously down on her luck, enters one of the great saloons, seeking a job.  At the same time, a bandleader and his little musical merrymakers waltz in, also looking for work.  Through some mix-up, the band gets the sheet music for a song the blonde has brought in.  

To get us all started, that song is the title tune and as the band is trying to figure it all out, that unmistakably clear, golden-throated voice of Faye's is heard filling in the toe-tapping words.  Come on along... come on along... and it's so easy to do.  (Lucky you, that will be the clip at the end of this posting.)

When the song is over, Faye and Power get into it.  She accuses him of being some fancy-pants thief and he says she's certainly no lady.  They can't wait to be out of one another's sight.  The owner says they are all hired but it must be all of them or none.  It's actually pretty clear right then how the whole story will play out.

She just needs to make some money but Power's ideals are loftier.  He has been studying serious music but has decided popular music is all that matters.  He's also from high society so he is portrayed as being a bit of a privileged snob.  It all helps make their fights juicier.

The gang is so popular that it leaves the Bowery and becomes a further sensation among the minked and bejeweled crowd.  Faye darkens her hair, gets some clothes that fit, learns about subject and verb agreement and takes on the demeanor of a lady and Power looks happier among his own kind.  It is not surprising that bandleader and singer eventually fall in love.  Then a Broadway producer watches a performance and wants to sign Faye only and she jumps at the chance.  Another argument ensues which includes piano-playing Ameche who is also Power's best friend and who happens to also be in love with Faye.  Duh.  Who wouldn't be?

As a result the band breaks up.  Faye wows 'em on Broadway while Power goes into the Army where his job is to conduct the military band.  After he is discharged he forms what was called a society orchestra.  We are aware of their successes but also the fact that they still pine for one another.  Still, events happen that seem to put the kibosh on anything developing further but nothing more than the fact that Faye marries Ameche.

After a number of years together, Ameche has the good sense to suggest to Faye that they divorce because he knows that she still loves Power.  (In typical movies of the time, though the story travels over several decades, no one looks any older.  It seems weird, of course, but let's face it, women wanted to see Tyrone Power's face without aging it.)

Merman enters the film as Power's new singer and while she falls in love with him, she, too, has the good sense to know he really belongs to another.  As the film moves into its final scenes, we all get worked up over the lovebirds finally getting back together.  It would be ridiculous to think they're not going to. The finale couldn't be more in line with how all these types of musicals went, especially from the 30s through the 50s. The orchestra is playing at Carnegie Hall and as the strains of Alexander's Ragtime Band begin and the audience roars, there she is in the wings.  Both Ameche and Power spot her and the latter goes to her, guides her on stage and she sings as we knew she would.... come on along.

Excuse me, I have to dab my eyes.

Ah, ok now.  There must be a couple dozen Berlin songs, most of which were certainly familiar to 1938 audiences and some of which still should be even to a youngster like you.  How about Easter Parade, Everybody's Doin' It, When That Midnight Choo-Choo Leaves for Alabam, Oh, How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning, Blue Skies, A Pretty Girl Is a Melody, Remember and Heat Wave?  Should I go on or have you figured out this was a dazzling songfest by a prolific songwriter and an American institution?

Zanuck wooed the songmeister to the table, promising him most anything he wanted.  These songs had never been used in a film before although most were familiar to the public and Berlin was ecstatic.  The promise was made, too, that it would be only his music so even in scenes where there is simply background music, it's still Berlin's.  He was somewhat wary of the idea that the story was based more or less on his life.  He was never as one with Hollywood but he fell in professional love with Alice Faye.

Henry King was the perfect director.  He was the go-to boy at Fox for many years and is as responsible for showcasing the talent of Tyrone Power as anyone since they worked together countless times.  King was adept at any genre but he did have an instinct for historical dramas particularly Americana.

Seeing Alice Faye and Tyrone Power together in a film caused a chemical balance in my brain.  There was a silky elegance (although much sparring) to the pair of them and they easily fell into step with one another on the screen.  It's too bad they didn't make more than three films together.  They were good chums in real life and that comes through in their performances.  She was blessed with a sincerity in her performances, almost like no one else I have ever known.  She was also blessed with a singing voice from the heavens.  She starts the film looking and speaking like Jean Harlow, which, in fact, is who she resembled early in her career... there's the platinum blonde hair, the coarseness and a stance that seems to invite one to try and knock the chip off her shoulder.  

There's enough adulation left to discuss Power, who, as I've said every time I get a chance, doesn't have to do anything but stand there and look gorgeous.  His face at this time is strikingly beautiful, leaving no doubt about his immense popularity.  He makes a most impressive orchestra leader and the role must have been good training for a similar one he would have 18 years later at Columbia in The Eddy Duchin Story.

Don Ameche does a fine job in a part that is often the only voice of reason in the story.  It's clear he was a wonderful friend and husband and a pretty good singer as well.  This would be the fourth and final film he would make with Power and it was his third pairing with Faye and they would make three more films together later.

Fans of Ethel Merman must have been ecstatic since she never made many movies and is nicely showcased here.  At one point Power thinks he may want to hitch up with her (after he hears of the Faye-Ameche marriage) and they have one of those typical romantic movie scenes where they are both in profile and his front is right up against the back of her.  It was so hard to believe that scene.  Meow.  

Merman, who didn't always remember some of her film roles in a favorable light, did enjoy this one, chiefly because it's the movie that cemented her friendship, professional and personal, with Berlin.

I might have liked to have seen Lena Horne in that role but Merman was working at Fox so she was handy.  I say this because I am reminded of something that perhaps they missed in 1938 but is clearer in 2017.  There are no blacks and this, in its fictionalized form, although it traces the history of jazz from ragtime in the early 20th century to the 1930s with swing music.  Hmmm, the birth of jazz... and no blacks.  Couldn't there have been a smattering in that big orchestra?  No Nicholas Brothers?   I mean, I'm not asking for Lena to kiss Tyrone... just sing some Berlin and represent her race in a film that should have showcased them.  After all his title song has such phrases as oh ma honey and bestest band what am and honey lamb... who do we think Berlin had in mind?   

Well, ok, I darkened the tone a little but suffice it to say, this is one of the bestest movies of its type.  Fox would re-imagine it, reshape it, recast it and deliver it to theaters again and again under other titles in the coming years.  Add it to your list of those rainy Sunday afternoon movies.  It's designed to cause the same sensation as comfort food.

Next posting:
Someone from this film... I wonder who