YOU'LL FIND OUT

Kay Kyser bolstered by Petter Lorre, Bela Lugosi, and Boris Karloff

YOU'LL FIND OUT (1940). Director: David Butler.

Playing himself, band leader Kay Kyser brings his College of Musical Knowledge, along with singers Ginny Simms and Harry Babbitt (also playing themselves) to a spooky mansion where resides Janis Bellacrest (Helen Parrish of First Love), who happens to be engaged to Kay's manager, Chuck Deems (Dennis O'Keefe). Before long the group finds itself cut off from everyone with a cut phone line and a bridge that falls apart due to an explosion. Janis' Aunt Margo (Alma Kruger of Craig's Wife) is friends with a spiritualist named Prince Sallano (Bela Lugosi), who seems to be held in little regard by Professor Fenninger (Peter Lorre) and Judge Mainwaring (Boris Karloff). As Kay, Chuck, and alleged comic Ish Kabibble explore secret passages in the old mansion, attempts are made on Janis' life more than once. RKO obviously hedged its bets by bringing in that triumvirate of terror in the persons of Lugosi, Lorre, and Karloff, who get right into the silly spirit of things with marked professionalism and without losing their dignity. Kyser remains a likable presence, although some of the comedy shtick he does in the film is not only unfunny but painful to watch; ditto for Kabibble, whose jokes wouldn't impress a three-year-old. However, O'Keefe [Abroad with Two Yanks] is just right for this kind of material and he and Kyser make an engaging comedy team at different points in the story. Ginny Simms, who was not only Kyser's singer but was involved with him at the time, zestfully sings two nice numbers, including "I'd Know You Anywhere" and "One Track Mind." Late in the picture Kyser has the band instruments imitating human voices with horrific results. There's an amusing business with the dog Prince, who gets phosphorescent paint on his tail at one point, and later on plays catch with a bomb! Experienced director David Butler helps keep this whole thing running more or less smoothly. A number called "The Bad Humor Man" may have made the "Good Humor" ice cream people nervous.

Verdict: Silly, but with some nice numbers and a few laughs, not to mention those horror stars! **1/2. 

SWING FEVER

Kay Kyser and Marilyn Maxwell

 SWING FEVER (1943). Director: Tim Whelan.

Lowell Blackford (Kay Kyser of Carolina Blues) is a classical composer who hopes to interest someone in his music. He is befriended by band singer Ginger Gray (Marilyn Maxwell of Summer Holiday), but he misinterprets her interest in him. Ginger has a boyfriend named "Waltzy" Malone (William Gargan), who is interested in the boxing racket. When Malone learns that Lowell can fix people with an "evil eye" and literally knock them out, he wants him to use his power on his boxer's opponent. But then his opponent's crew kidnap him ... Kyser had already done several movies before this, but this was the first and only time he was playing a character and not himself. True, he doesn't come off much different than before, but his performance is more than competent and he is, as usual, appealing in his nerdy way. Musicians such as Harry James and Jimmy Dorsey, who have cameos in this film, may be better remembered today, but Kyser was the only popular band leader who became a nominal movie star. As for Swing Fever, you can tell that any movie with this plot is probably not going to be very good, and that is sadly the case with this picture, although the other performances are okay and there are some pleasant song numbers. Maxwell warbles "Undecided" but she's outshone by the three young people who shake and shimmy to the music afterward. Weird comic Ish Kabibble, who frequently appeared with Kyser, appears briefly and his routines are unfunny, to put it mildly. Others in the film include Lena Horne, Morris Ankrum, Pamela Blake, singer Harry Babbitt, and the amusing Curt Bois [That Night in Rio], who plays Malone's partner.

Verdict: Kyser is likable but the picture is no knock-out. **. 

CAROLINA BLUES

CAROLINA BLUES (1944). Director: Leigh Jason.

"Is he dying of something serious?"

The irrepressible band leader Kay Kyser, playing himself, is back in another musical comedy and he's got Ish Kabibble and Ann Miller to play around with! The plot, such as it is, has Kay promising his band and singers a vacation but always discovering that there's another wartime commitment. Finally he resorts to pretending he's dying [a somewhat tasteless sub-plot] so that the gang will come back and perform. Another complication has it that Kay's favorite singer, the real Georgia Carroll, is going off to get married, and he's resistant to the idea of hiring Julie (Ann Miller), the daughter of supposedly wealthy Phineas Carver (Victor Moore), to replace her. [In real life Carroll married Kay Kyser!] Victor Moore not only plays Phineas but also all of his relatives, male and female, and there's a funny bit when we meet Ish Kabibble's family and all of them, including the dog, have the same bowl-over-the-head haircut. Kyser is likable and adept enough, Miller is enthusiastic and perky, the assorted singers and dancers are swell, the tunes are bouncy, and Moore [It Happened on Fifth Avenue] and Kabibble provide some laughs. What more could you ask for? Well ... Kyser and Kabibble were also in Around the World. Jason also directed Three Girls About Town and others.

Verdict: Amiable nonsense with music and a pleasant cast. ***.

AROUND THE WORLD

Kay Kyser and Joan Davis

AROUND THE WORLD (1943). Director: Allan Dwan.

"He can't be real. He must be propaganda." --Marcy McGuire

"I wish he wouldn't be so proper and would take a gander at me." -- Joan Davis.

Bandleader Kay Kyser, playing himself, leads a troupe of musicians and entertainers on a world-wide tour to entertain the troops, going everywhere from Australia and India to China and Egypt. In Australia the group picks up a girl named Marcy McGuire (also playing herself in her second film after Seven Days Ashore), who wants to join them so badly that she stowaways on their plane. Also playing themselves are Mischa Auer, Joan Davis, and singer Harry Babbitt, who at one point sings for some reason in a little girl voice [weird]. But then Auer plays piano with two grapefruits at one point, which is equally weird. Robert Armstrong of King Kong shows up late in the film as a general who gives Marcy very bad news in the film's surprisingly downbeat conclusion. [It was as if these patriotic WW 2 movies such as this and Follow the Boys, being highly trivial, had to throw in some depressing business to let people know that the filmmakers were aware there was serious stuff, such as death, going on, but it sort of defeats the purpose of providing escapism from tragedy. What makes it more odd is that McGuire was a real person, but we can't assume she actually suffered a personal loss.] Also in the cast is the bizarre "Ish Kabibble" [AKA M. A. Bogue] who isn't very funny, while Joan Davis, as usual, is very funny indeed playing her usual frustrated man-chaser. Pleasant song numbers include "Candlelight and Wine" and "Great Things are in the Making." Barbara Hale of Perry Mason plays one of the chorus cuties. Amiable and easy to take. Kyser made a number of similar films in the forties.

Verdict: A swingin' time capsule with a highly amusing Joan Davis. ***