Sing, Dance, Plenty Hot (1940)
In this musical, a con man makes a good living by promoting bogus charity shows. He gets the communities all revved up and then skips town with all their money. But then he meets three earnest people wanting to garner financial support for an orphanage. This time the con man's loyal assistant finally catches on to the wicked scam and turns him in to the police. Meanwhile, the newly reformed assistant and one of the charity workers fall in loves.
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Great Film overall
Don't listen to the negative reviews
The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.
Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.
The Marlowe family has long supported a home for orphans named the Marlowe Memorial Home. The Marlowe family also owns a modern office building and one of their tenants is a agent/promoter of show business talent. Irene Marlowe (Ruth Terry) meets an employee of the agency (Johnny Downs) and the two come up with the idea of putting on a show to raise money for the orphanage.There are many obstacles that must be overcome to get the show produced, including an unscrupulous couple who are syphoning funds from the Marlowe Estate. Johnny is smitten with Ruth Terry and their road to romance is likewise, bumpy.This is a low budget B musical without anything spectacular going for it. Yet it manages to please in a number of ways. Johnny Downs and Ruth Terry are very talented and personable; Billy Gilbert and Vera Vague are good at providing laughs; and Elizabeth Risdon and Lester Matthews are always welcome to any cast.My print is under the reissue title, Mania For Melody, and it runs the complete 70 minutes.
In looking up this film on IMB i discovered that Elizabeth Risden originated from the UK,had been a silent screen actress and that despite a 16 year gap in her career had appeared in a staggering 149 films.However Billy Gilbert dwarfs her in every sense.He appeared in over 200 films.The fact is that this is a standard Republic musical of this era,completely forgettable.However the one thing that leaves an impression is Billy Gilbert and his amazing sneezes.There is no film in which he appeared which was not brightened by his appearance however brief.This film is no exception.The plot is of no matter and i have already forgotten the musical numbers.What i will remember is Billy Gilbert and his sneezes.