Miss Pacific Fleet (1935)

Why so much hype?

Don't Believe the Hype

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Two young women running a ring toss in a carnival work on entering a contest so they can get back to New York in Miss Pacific Fleet (1935).The two women are Joan Blondell and Glenda Farrell, and they need money so they can return to New York and get chorus work. They decide that Gloria (Blondell) will enter to win $2500 and a trip to New York for two. But they have to get the votes.Amusing comedy. I'm always amazed and how quickly people talked on screen in those days. This film was made during the Depression, something to take peoples' minds of off their troubles. Joan Blondell and Glenda Farrell are great as always, and made several films together. Hugh Herbert plays a businessman always trying to get away from his wife. The film also features the usual suspects - Allen Jenkins, Minna Gombell, and Guinn Williams, with good-looking Warren Hull as Gloria's boyfriend.Cute, light, an artifact of another time.

Here, the two blonde bombshells are roommates involved in a Pacific Coast Fleet Week, and the anticipation of who will be crowned "Miss Pacific Fleet". The sponsor of this event is wacky businessman J. August Freytag (Hugh Herbert) whose possessive wife (Minna Gombell) is certain he is playing around on her. She is amusingly abusive to him, reminding him, "August, people already think you're a donkey. Don't open your mouth and remove all doubt." She's also very jealous of "Miss Pacific Fleet" front-runner Blondell and plots a kidnapping to get her out of the way. In the meantime, there's romantic intrigue between Blondell and two servicemen (Allen Jenkins and Warren Hull), and dizzy comedy from the future "My Friend Irma", Marie Wilson.The antics these two girls get into is as zany as anything any of the sitcom sisters in spirit got into, from Lucy and Ethel, Mary and Rhoda, Patsy and Edina, and most obviously here, Laverne and Shirley. One of the funniest moments occurs at a gathering of the various military men and the candidates for "Miss Pacific Fleet" where Gombell shows up, and in an effort to keep Herbert from getting into trouble with his harpie of a wife, Jenkins steps in and makes insinuations about himself with her. Pretty predictable, it's an enjoyable diversion and a reminder of how much fun it could be going to the movies during the depression.

Joan Blondell must be one of the most appealing actresses in movie history. And Glenda Farrell, though less well known, is also always great company. Allen Jenkins is kind of an unlikely leading man (though he's also a very reliable comic actor.) He shows a very muscular build here, playing a boxer.Hugh Herbert played variations on the same note in way too many movies for my taste. He's amusing here, though. And Minna Gombell is entertainingly shrewish as his bossy wife.The plot involves a beauty contest. The girls are roommates and they're hoping Blondell can win and turn around their financial fortune. Though it's pretty G (or maybe PG) stuff, we see lots of beautiful girls who are also contestants.Anyone who likes the Golddigeer movies, "42nd Street," etc., is likely to find this slight but agreeable.

Two smart gals stuck in California scheme to win the title of MISS PACIFIC FLEET and its prize money which will finance their way back to New York.This was the sort of ephemeral comic frippery which the studios produced almost effortlessly during the 1930's. Well made & highly enjoyable, Depression audiences couldn't seem to get enough of these popular, funny photo dramas.Joan Blondell & Glenda Farrell are perfectly cast as the girls who will try almost anything to grab the needed greenbacks. Although Joan gets both top billing and the romantic scenes, both ladies are as talented & watchable as they are gorgeous.Whimsical, wacky Hugh Herbert appears as an eccentric business promoter, constantly on the run from his shrew of a wife. Utterly hilarious, he adds greatly to the enjoyment of the film. Behind him comes a small parade of character performers - Allen Jenkins, Marie Wilson, Minna Gombell & Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams - adept at making viewers smile.Handsome Warren Hull plays Blondell's Marine boyfriend. Movie mavens will recognize an uncredited Mabel Colcord as Jenkins' landlady.While never stars of the first rank, Joan Blondell (1906-1979) & Glenda Farrell (1904-1971) enlivened scores of films at Warner Bros. throughout the 1930's, especially the eight in which they appeared together. Whether playing gold diggers or working girls, reporters or secretaries, these blonde & brassy ladies were very nearly always a match for whatever leading man was lucky enough to share equal billing alongside them. With a wisecrack or a knowing glance, their characters showed they were ready to take on the world - and any man in it. Never as wickedly brazen as Paramount's Mae West, you always had the feeling that, tough as they were, Blondell & Farrell used their toughness to defend vulnerable hearts ready to break over the right guy. While many performances from seven decades ago can look campy or contrived today, these two lovely ladies are still spirited & sassy.