Queen High (1930)

Highly Overrated But Still Good

Excellent, a Must See

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

QUEEN HIGH is a nice example of what musicals were like before the Busby Berkeley days at Warners and the Astaire/Rogers series at RKO. The story is silly but mildly amusing, the songs pleasant and catchy, and the cast, including Frank Morgan (Wizard of Oz), Charlie Ruggles (Bringing Up Baby) and Ginger Rogers (Top Hat), is exceptionally strong. We even get the first screen appearance of Eleanor Powell, though to me at least she's quite unrecognizable dancing on a table during the film's bounciest number. On the negative side of the ledger, the camera is static, the plot structure clunky, and the film stock has deteriorated badly. Morgan and Ruggles are already their established personas while Rogers is still in her 'Betty Boop' flapper phase, but cute as a bug anyway. She's known as Astaire's partner but actually covers a wider swath of musical history than practically anybody: an early musical here, the two greatest Berkeley efforts, 42ND STREET and GOLD DIGGERS OF 1933, the Astaire RKO pictures of course, and even an early 'modern' musical, LADY IN THE DARK, and the classic MGM effort with Fred, BARKLEYS OF Broadway. And on stage both HELLO DOLLY and MAME. Amazing when you think about it.

When Broadway patrons came out of "Queen High" (1926, 378 performances) they were chuckling at the genial folksy comedy of Charlie Ruggles, so in 1930 when Paramount decided to film the musical it was a "no brainer" that Ruggles would be cast in the role that made him a star. So even though the movie would be remembered as an early feature of Ginger Rogers, it was the rapid fire back and forth patter of Ruggles and Frank Morgan (not from the original stage cast) that gave the film popularity. Ruggles stars as T. Boggs Johns who is in partnership with George Nettleton (Morgan) in a garter and novelty business and their heated bickering sees them agree to a winner take all poker game - the winner gaining control of the business for a year, the loser having to become a butler in the winner's household!! In the meantime Ginger (who because of the film's being made at Paramount's New York Astoria Studio allowed her to continue her stage role in "Top Speed") - she plays Polly Nettleton and is in a secret romance (was there any other kind in a 1930 movie??) with Johns' nephew Dick (Stanley Smith who more than earned his salary at Paramount in 1930 !!) Polly is given the job of stenographer in her uncle's firm. Dick also has a job there and at first they think none too highly of each other - "flirty, half baked flapper" is how she is described by Dick!! Of course that is before they meet and when they do, in a crowded subway, it is love at first sight!! There is a terrific number to start things off - "Brother Just Laugh It Off" - there's Ginger in her cute "baby talk" voice, a harmony group and plenty of dancers demonstrating the Charleston!! The poker game is played, with Johns the loser but definitely not in the comedy stakes as Ruggles milks the demeaning demotion of butler for all the comedy it is worth. He also gets to perform "I Love a Girl in My Own Peculiar Way", hoping to discourage a very amorous parlour maid!! Meanwhile Polly and Dick continue their romance. "I'm Afraid of You" is sung as a duet at a restaurant but unfortunately, the hit song of the film "Seems to Me" was only given to Smith, it looked like Rogers was going to have a chorus but - nothing happened!! The real stars are Morgan and Ruggles - Johns' decides to try to romance Nettleton's nervous wife then realizes that Nettleton is making a shambles of the business. Then they both realize the bet isn't legal - it was all thought up by their lawyer to teach them a lesson!!Ginger was such a cutie in this but with two over the top comedy stars vying for top honours she would have to wait a couple more years for roles that would put her in the spotlight!!

Queen High began life as a non-musical play called "A Pair of Sixes," which ran on Broadway back in 1914. The story concerns two men who manage the Eureka Novelty Company, makers of ladies' undergarments. The partners bicker constantly, and finally settle on a highly unusual method to resolve their differences: they draw cards, with the understanding that the man who holds the winning hand shall run the company on his own for one year, while the loser must act as the winner's manservant. A wacky idea? Sure, but a dandy premise for a farce comedy. In 1926 the show returned to Broadway with songs, rechristened "Queen High." This time it starred Charles Ruggles as one of the two partners -- the one who, much to his dismay, winds up playing butler to the other. And in 1930 this version (minus most of its songs) was filmed at Paramount's Astoria Studio, with Ruggles reprising his stage role opposite Frank Morgan. It's an inspired casting choice, for these two gifted performers play off each other beautifully. In support, as Morgan's niece, we find Ginger Rogers, still a teenager, still a brunette and still a flapper, but recognizably Ginger and absolutely adorable.With Ruggles, Morgan, and Rogers in the central roles you can't go far wrong. And indeed, Queen High is quite enjoyable over all, but prospective viewers should be advised it's very much a filmed play, not unlike the first two Marx Brothers movies produced at the same studio around this time. Aside from one brief sequence on a subway platform and in a train (presumably written for the film), it all looks very much like a stage performance. But seeing as how the material generally holds up well, and the lead players are so charming, what's wrong with watching a filmed play? Anyone who misses seeing the great outdoors on screen will find plenty of Westerns available.Most of the early scenes take place in the offices of the Eureka Novelty Co., the garter firm co-managed by T. Boggs Johns (Ruggles) and George Nettleton (Morgan). Art Deco buffs will get a kick out of the office's ultra-sleek design, while viewers who appreciate the sight of cute young lingerie models should be ready to hit the Pause button. One of the film's best sequences unfolds in Nettleton's office, a sprightly, seemingly spontaneous musical number called "Brother, Laugh It Off." Ginger introduces the song, then turns it over to several young workers who harmonize while one of the girls goes into a dance. Towards the end of the number, a second girl with a Louise Brooks bob dances on a small table. Watch her closely: that's 17 year-old Eleanor Powell, making her movie debut. And then, in a surprise finale, Morgan and Ruggles finish the song. This delightful scene is worth the price of admission by itself.Later, at the behest of their lawyer, the feuding partners decide to settle their disagreements with a card game, in the fashion described above. This is another good scene, suspenseful and funny. The second half of the film takes place at Nettleton's estate, where "Boggs" is now unhappily installed as butler. I confess I have mixed feelings about the film's second half; for me, some elements work better than others. On the plus side, there is Ruggles' rendition of a bizarre, outlandish number called "I Love the Girls in My Own Peculiar Way," in which he endeavors to frighten the other servants by boasting in song that he's a serial killer. (Think Sweeney Todd, played for laughs.) On the debit side, there's a low comedy maid played VERY broadly by an actress named Nina Olivette, whose style suggests Martha Raye, but without the finesse. To be charitable, her material isn't the greatest, but nonetheless Olivette's man-hungry shtick wears thin almost immediately. However, she does provide an interesting, real-life trivia note: Olivette's two sons both became actors in later years, Guy and Dean Stockwell. So for those who care, here's a rare look at their mom!In any case, and despite a very abrupt ending, Queen High is an amusing, novel treat for fans of early talkie musicals. I'd say the good sequences make up for the aspects that don't hold up so well. And for fans of Charles Ruggles, Frank Morgan, and Ginger Rogers, it's an absolute must.

... and not think very hard. The title brings forth images of perhaps the world's first film about high school angst with Ginger Rogers as the queen of her senior class? Not at all. Instead "queen high" is a card term that has to do with a bet that feuding partners in a garter company have made at the encouragement of ... their lawyer? The bet will have the winner running the business alone for one year and the loser being the winner's manservant during that same time. Wouldn't a simple split of the assets be easier? Well, yes, but not nearly as much fun as this early screwball comedy.Frank Morgan and Charles Ruggles play the feuding captains of industry and play off of one another like a high-class version of Edmund Lowe and Victor McLaglen in their buddy movies. Paramount always cast Ruggles as the drunk in his early films, but here they let him play it sober and it suits him. The fact that the business is a garter manufacturer gives an excuse for lots of scantily clad young ladies to wander in and out of scenes modeling the concern's latest products.Complicating matters for the feuding business partners is that Ruggles' character's nephew (Stanley Smith) and Morgan's character's niece (Ginger Rogers) have fallen in love. They mainly handle the musical scenes which are quite charming. Ginger Rogers was still going through her flapper persona phase in 1930 and her singing is pretty good and adds to the fun.The plot resolution is rather abrupt and not very satisfying, but the journey getting there is lots of fun. Highly recommended.