Sally (1930)

Sadly Over-hyped

Memorable, crazy movie

Absolutely brilliant

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

This is one early sound film that fortunately is not lost because it gives us the opportunity to see one of the biggest Broadway stars of her era give her breakout performance. Too many people have forgotten Marilyn Miller, she was the Madonna of her day in more ways the one.And in 1919 Sally was the role that made her a Broadway star. It's a Cinderella story, the kind that was popular back in the day. She's a foundling, raised in an orphanage and working as a dishwasher/server at a café where she's discovered. She finds stardom in the Ziegfeld Follies where Marilyn Miller actually did appear and the man of her dreams in Alexander Gray.Of course it's not all smooth sailing and the girl does have to do a stint at a society party masquerading as a fortune hunting dancer from Europe, an idea press agent T. Roy Barnes dreams up when the real dancer who's his client runs out on him. You might remember Barnes best from a small role in It's A Gift where he tries to sell a weary W.C. Fields some insurance. On stage the part was played by Walter Catlett.This was also the film that brought Joe E. Brown a long term contract with Warner Brothers/First National as their leading comic star in the Thirties. Playing a role originated on Broadway by Leon Errol, Brown is the prince of Czechoslovenia who lost the family fortune on fast women and slow horses. He still has the title, but works in the same café as Miller run by an exiled subject Ford Sterling who has some trouble adjusting to the new relationship between prince and former commoner. Miller and Brown have a very good dance number.Speaking of dance that was Miller's real forte. A good singer, she was a terrific dancer as this film shows. In fact because she felt that audiences did not get the full effect of her persona unless they saw the whole act on stage, she refused to make records. Thus her three films with Warner Brothers/First National are the only record we have of her performing. Seeing her dance I understand though don't agree with her point of view.In fact the main problem with Sally is that when Miller did the Broadway show she was a fresh young 21 in 1919. She's now 31 and she partied hardy in the Roaring Twenties. The talent is there, but she looks like a 31 who's seen a bit of the sunny and shady side of life.Of course her signature song, Look For The Silver Lining which Jerome Kern and Buddy DeSylva wrote for her in this show is there. Most of the score is not and two new songs from Joseph Burke and Al Dubin are. One of them, If I'm Dreaming, Don't Wake Me Up Too Soon was revived almost 60 years later and heard as background music during the Oscar ceremony scene in the Bruce Willis-James Garner film Sunset.If people remember Marilyn Miller at all, they remember Judy Garland portraying her in Till The Clouds Roll By and from the biographical film that Warner Brothers did in 1949 with June Haver as Marilyn. Also in MGM's The Great Ziegfeld, the Virginia Bruce character is based on Marilyn Miller. Here's a chance to see the real deal so don't pass it up.

Sally is one of the few films that stars Marilyn Miller, a popular dancer on the Ziegfeld Stage. Her talent as a dancer is utilized here in this breezy film.Sally (Miller) is an orphaned waitress, but all she's ever really wanted to do in life is dance. She meets a wealthy man whose interest in her is strong (Alexander Gray) who helps her to get a job dancing at a nightclub. She is a great success. Also at the club is an ex-Duke (Joe E. Brown) whose hilarious arrogance provides some comedy. He is invited to a high class party where he is to meet a treacherous woman from his past, but since she refuses to show, Sally takes her place. The two pull off a scheme to trick the rest of the guests.The best actor is Brown, a funny character actor whose career spanned for decades. It is no wonder the other leads are practically forgotten today; their acting is quite wooden.The musical numbers can be dull; the singers have operatic voices, not those suited to popular music. However, Miller is able to show how dynamic she is as a dancer. She does a frantic jazz number with awkward steps that were popular in the 20s and she does a graceful ballet number with ease.Also of interest is a color sequence. However, when it begins and ends is very awkward. The film switches to color after a dance number has already started and off again after the number is over and the story has begun again.

TCM seems to state that it was shot entirely in 2C, but that they've only recovered a dance review 5 min. scrap in color. The rest was in B&W. Interesting period piece of Ziegfeld work. I've saved it.Marlilyn Miller certainly had talent, was very pretty and had a washboard figure, which was probably popular in those days. Seems that you could get a photo of her from the film. Joe E. Brown & she seemed to have fun making this picture. Alexander Gray had a very good voice.Amended 8/06 - I bought a DVD of this flick and watched it again. It was without a doubt the best movie of its type made at that time. I feel that "A.I.", "Days of Heaven" and this flick are the best movies I've ever seen. It was superb at every level. To bad penicillin was not invented 15 yrs. earlier. The loss of Marylin Miller & Janis Joplin were the 2 greatest losses to showbiz of the 20th century. Marilyn would have gone on to be one of the great stars of the 30s' Ginger Rogers has a lot to be thankful for with the death of Miller. Can you imagine her with Astair???

Many years ago I heard a recording of a wobbly voiced singer by the name of Marilyn Miller that seemed to belie her reputation as one of the brightest lights that ever shone on Broadway.A few years ago, Turner Entertainment released the remains of what's left of a primitive early talkie called SALLY. SALLY was a legendary stage show first produced by Ziegfeld in 1919, representing Miss Miller's greatest triumphs. In 1929, she was given the opportunity to preserve her performance in this oversized adaptation.The entire film was shot and released in 2-color Technicolor, and this process apparently had the by-product of enhancing the range of the sound.The film is undeniably dated. It lacks rhythm that later films would quickly master. What is thrilling and fascinating is to watch this great star, Marilyn Miller, in action. Her greatest asset was her dancing, though even that wobbly voice has its charms.The film is in woeful need of restoration. That said, it is pretty much all there. Provided the viewer is able to make the leap of faith in understanding that it a technological dinosaur, you can settle in and luxuriate in witnessing something like an authentic classic Ziegfeld show.