Radio Stars on Parade (1945)

Excellent but underrated film

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Radio Stars on Parade amounts to a misleading title. It should be Radio Star on Parade since Ralph Edwards is the only weekly star getting extended time. Of course, there's also the terrific Frances Langford who gets to croon a few tunes that almost makes the 60-minutes worthwhile. Then there's Brown & Carney, a sub-3 Stooges knock-about act that quickly gets tiresome. They carry the plot as ersatz talent agents trying to get Langford into show biz and evade Sheldon Leonard's gangsters at the same time. I don't know if RKO was trying to groom them to compete with Universal's Abbot & Costello, but if so, the effort didn't succeed and for good reason. Maybe if someone had a better sense of comedic timing, their skits wouldn't have over-extended. Anyway, if you're in the right mood the movie might appeal. I guess I was expecting better from the promising title. (In passing—the rotund Alan Carney was actually quite a good actor. He appears as a gangster in that obscure noir gem The Pretender (1947) and comes up with one of the most chillingly disturbing performances I've seen! You'd never guess it from seeing his buffoonish role in this film.)

The title promises more than it can deliver, that's for sure. You get Don Wilson, Ralph Edwards and his 'Truth or Consequences', and some of the cast of 'Dick Tracy' and that's about it. I guess Skinnay Ennis qualifies since he was Bob Hope's radio show band leader and he has a fairly prominent role here. Then there is the mediocre manufactured-by-RKO comedy team of Brown and Carney leading the cast. It's not that they're bad together or apart, but the stale gags and lines they're given to deliver sink them in every movie, including this one. Ostensibly, these two were put together by RKO in an effort to compete with the success of Abbott & Costello. But Brown and Carney are more like Olsen & Johnson than A & C, not that it's a bad thing. They're energetic and try hard, but it's sad to watch them done-in by such wheezy comic material. And having Sheldon Leonard as the bad guy (a Chicago mobster who, with his two henchmen, goes to Los Angeles to get back Frances Langford who is in love with a serviceman) is a good choice, yet even he isn't trying to hard, and when the cops haul him off in the end he looks almost thankful that his job on this film is over. The story is negligible: Langford leaves Leonard's club for a chance to work in radio in Los Angeles AND meet up with her beloved serviceman; a decision that infuriates Leonard who does whatever he can to stop her. Brown and Carney are cut-rate entertainers looking for work who take over their agent's office when the weasel runs out on them. They get Langford work with Skinnay Ennis' band via assistance by genial, rotund Don Wilson. Leonard appears and tries to squash the gig and complications ensue. It's all very mild and inoffensive, and at 69 minutes, not time consuming. RKO was too cheap to get some new songs so they have Langford and others sing and play older material, but Langford singing 'That Old Black Magic' is probably better than her doing some, probably weak, new tune written for the film. And if you miss the old 'Truth or Consequences' with Edwards this film will give you your fill. If you're looking for an undiscovered filmic gem..... keep looking.

Okay, so Brown and Carney WEREN'T Abbott and Costello. Nevertheless, their pictures are painless romps directed for maximum speed by Leslie (FIREMAN, SAVE MY CHILD) Goodwins. In RADIO STARS ON PARADE, the boys are ably assisted by lilting Frances Langford and a terrific supporting cast. But the real surprise is Ralph Edwards playing himself in a couple of TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES setpieces. Edwards was a masterful straight man and he does some great speed talk and double talk. Rufe Davis (PETTICOAT JUNCTION) also gets a chance to show off, singing "I'm the Sound Effects Man." Of course, there's the obligatory chase through the radio studio and the gags are well-paced if somewhat obvious. I could think of far worse ways to spend 70 minutes.