Follow Thru (1930)

All reviewers seem to love this picture and I, too, tried to love it. The early Technicolor looked great and the whole production showed a lot of energy from all parties. True, several of them were in the Broadway musical and recreated their roles, chief among them were Jack Haley and Zelma O'Neal. I thought Haley hammed it up outrageously and was a grating presence much of the time. Zelma O'Neal, on the other hand, was terrific. She was energetic and showed a great deal of talent and overall ability; "Button Up Your Overcoat" belonged to her and Haley was just along for the ride.Buddy Rogers was the nominal star and looked heavily made up for some reason and didn't give one of his better performances. Nancy Carroll, on the other hand, was in her element and didn't disappoint. But the story was over the top and grew tiresome despite the short running time of 92 minutes. I appreciate comic zaniness but I felt this one ladled it on with a trowel. Tragic comedienne Thelma Todd was on hand but was largely wasted and Eugene Palette was too old for his part. To top it all off, the music was ordinary, except for the "Button Up Your Overcoat" number.As I said, I tried. Judging from the reception it got at Capitolfest in Rome,N.Y., I must have been the only wet blanket. "Follow Thru" is a Paramount picture, which could explain its absence from the public forum, as all early Paramount films are owned by Universal and are kept under lock and key.

A few corrections to the other comments...Busby Berkeley was already doing overhead shots the very same year in WHOOPEE. Also, Zelma O'Neal's number was "I Want to Be Bad," not "Turn Up the Heat," which was from 1929's SUNNY SIDE UP.Anyway, this is an exceptional musical from the era which is inexplicably missing from view other than museum-type showings. Why can't TCM get a hold of it? The colors are well preserved, the cast is excellent, and it does have a wonderful sense of fun and charm. It really deserves to be rediscovered, as do so many other movies from this overlooked era.

I viewed UCLA's restored print of this musical, an early example of two-strip Technicolor. Much of the action takes place on golf links and fairways, so I expected to see vibrant greens ... and I DID see some bright hues of green in the actress's costumes. But the foliage and fairways were strangely subdued. All of the flesh tones are very pink, and the women appear to be wearing too much rouge. All the man-made objects have got nice vibrant Easter Egg colours, though.This is one of those candyfloss 1920s musicals where strangers instantly fall in love as soon as they clap eyes on each other. All the gals are man-hungry and randy with it, and the comedy lead (Jack Haley) is frightened of women. Haley's character has 'trick eyebrows' which force him to pull a face whenever he thinks about sex. There's plenty of innuendo here ... and lots and lots and lots of expository dialogue. I kept expecting someone to enter with a racquet while saying 'Tennis, anyone?' ... except that the action takes place at a golf course.SPOILING ONE PUNCH LINE. For the comedy set piece, Haley and Eugene Palllette must infiltrate the women's changing room to retrieve a McGuffin. I expected them to go in disguised as women, but this movie fooled me: they go in disguised as plumbers, and then they get OUT disguised as women.The male lead in this movie is former silent-film star Buddy Rogers, who once took the trouble to answer my questions when I briefly met him. It pains me to report that his singing voice is just tolerable, and he shows no skill with dialogue.Surprisingly, this crude musical spawned one hit song: 'Button Up Your Overcoat', performed enthusiastically by Haley and Zelma O'Neal. A couple of the other songs have dull melodies enlivened by lyrics that just occasionally turn risqué. The choreography is wittier than I'd hoped, and one chorus number features a brief overhead shot ... several years before Busby Berkeley made this device his personal trademark.Thelma Todd is quite good as the villain, in a role outside her usual range. The very English character actor Claude King is cast here as a stage Scotsman, lumbered with Harry Lauder's 'hoot mon' accent. Nancy Carroll is quite fetching in a mini-kilt.I must disagree with IMDb reviewer Arne Andersen, who says that the character dubbed Dinty Moore in this movie is named for a famous restaurateur. That name originated with a *fictional* character in George McManus's comic strip 'Bringing Up Father'. Eventually, a restaurant was named after the comic-strip character ... but there never was a real person named Dinty Moore, just as there isn't a real person named Beefsteak Charlie.'Follow Thru' is really more interesting as an historical artefact than as a musical, but I enjoyed it. I'll rate this early musical 7 out of 10.

This film has no great meaning and no real point, but is one of them most charming films I have ever seen. Written in the mid 20's, made in 1929 and released in 30 it still has the flavor of the Roaring 20's. From a stage play, it contains musical numbers and crazy dance sequences that could be from no other era. The girls are pretty, and the guys are handsome. The comics are foolish and endearing. The whole cast is full of the kind of youthful daring and exuberance that can't be acted. It has a delightfully naughty 20's feel about it, especially in numbers like "Turn up the heat" that features chorus girls dressed (if you can call it that) as devils, and the 2 strip Technicolor gives the film an almost fairy tale quality.Sadly it is unavailable (I saw it years ago at the UCLA restoration festival, but they show it again every once in a while). If you every get a chance to see, bring your girl/boyfriend; especially if you are young, in love and a little nuts.