Step Lively (1944) - film review

Gordon Miller is producing a Broadway revue show which he knows will be a hit.  Unfortunately, his optimism is not shared by his brother-in-law, whose hotel he and his troupe of dancers and singers are slowly bankrupting.  Miller’s financial worries are compounded by the unexpected arrival of Glenn Russell, a writer who understood that Miller intended mounting a production of his play, financed by his own life savings.  When Glenn threatens legal action, Miller attempts to fool him into thinking that his play is about to hit Broadway.  Then Miller discovers that the writer has a singing voice like no other and resolves to sign him up for his show.  Just as Miller and his company are about to be ejected from the hotel, an anonymous financial backer comes to their rescue, on the condition that an aspiring young actress named Miss Abbott stars in the show.  Unfortunately, Miss Abbott is a little too fond of Glenn, and when he repulses her, she and her financial sponsor make a hasty withdrawal.  To keep his show on the road, Miller has to resort to increasingly desperate measures, which include getting Glenn to play the part of a corpse...

An early hit for Frank Sinatra during his time with RKO, Step Lively is a joyfully breezy musical comedy inspired by the hit Broadway play Room Service, which had recently been adapted by the Marx Brothers.  The hectic plot runs way out of control towards the end as lively screwball gives way to madcap farce but the musical numbers are nothing less than heaven.  Fresh faced Sinatra may not have the extraordinary screen presence of his later years but his singing voice is just as potent and cannot fail to transport us to a happier realm of existence that abounds with style and sophistication.  Not Sinatra’s best film but a highly enjoyable romp nonetheless.

© filmsdefrance.com 2009

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