Frank Sinatra's film debut is a ridiculous movie. As you watch it, you keep asking yourself, "What is Frank Sinatra doing in this movie?"
In the early 1940's, Sinatra was a singing phenomenon, the first "Teen Idol" of the 20th century! His Golden Voice was devastating, making teenage girls scream with hysteria, wet their pants, and faint in the aisles. Wherever Sinatra went, crowds of stampeding teen girls trampled each other and fought with policemen to see him! And of course, his records sold like hot cakes.
Hollywood smelled money. They knew they had to get "Skinny Boy" into the movies. So RKO brought Sinatra out to California, and signed him to a contract. Then they threw him into a movie to see if he could swim.
With "Higher and Higher," RKO borrowed the "plot" (note that I put the word in quotes) of a short-run Broadway musical by Gladys Hurlbut and Joshua Logan. They threw out most of the song score by Rodgers & Hart, and had their own songwriters write new songs for it (a common practice in Hollywood's Golden Age).
The "plot" (what there is of it) centers around the household staff of a New York City mansion, who discover their drunken employer, millionaire Cyrus Drake (Leon Errol), has gambled away his entire fortune. (The servants in the house include Paul & Grace Hartman, Marcy McGuire, Mel Tormé, and Paul "Casablanca Sam" Dooley. Also, Mary Wickes plays a woman who shows up at the back door, claiming Cyrus Drake offered her a job. But when she discovers Drake is now broke, instead of moving on to find other work, she stays around to be part of the plot, for some unknown reason.)
Then Mike O'Brien (Jack "Tin Man" Haley), who is Drake's valet and the head of the household, comes up with a scheme. They will turn Milly Pico (Michéle Morgan), the beautiful scullery maid, into a débutante, pass her off as Drake's daughter, and marry her off to a rich husband who will pay all their salaries. The servants are thrilled by this, and more than willing to participate in this fraud.
Milly the maid is not happy with the scheme, but she goes along with it because she's in love with Mike. (God knows why. He treats her like dirt, and is too stupid to notice her devotion to him.)
Then the doorbell rings. Marcy McGuire, playing the cook's teen daughter, answers it. And it's Frank Sinatra on the doorstep!
"Hi, I'm Frank Sinatra!" he literally says. "I thought I'd stop by and sing a few songs."
After Marcy faints into his arms (of course), Frank goes to the mansion's piano and begins to sing, "I Couldn't Sleep A Wink Last Night." It's never made clear why he's there, except that he's a friend of Milly the maid.
The servants don't like this. They think Sinatra's in love with Milly. They say to each other, "Hey, we better keep an eye on this Sinatra guy. He could ruin our scheme to marry Milly off to a millionaire."
What's amazing, and totally unbelievable, is that none of the servants ever say to each other, "Hey, this Sinatra guy has sold millions of records. He's a millionaire. Let's try to marry Milly off to him, and get him to pay our salaries!"
For the rest of the movie, the servants keep hustling Milly around New York, trying to match her with some "High Society" millionaire. Sinatra is stumbling along through the plot, and often looks like he's not sure what he's supposed to be doing when he's not singing. He keeps looking off to the side, as if he's looking for another piano in the room, so he can sit down and sing.
Of course, the "Idiot Plot" goes nowhere (and very slowly, I might add). Victor Borge appears as the "millionaire" that Milly is almost forced to marry, but who of course turns out to be a fraud himself. Aside from one funny line, Borge is never given an opportunity to show us his musical comedy talents. His presence is wasted in this film!
Fortunately, Sinatra's career would survive this film, and he would go on to better musicals, and better roles in movies like "From Here To Eternity." Who knew that "Skinny Boy" with the Golden Voice could actually act?!
In the early 1940's, Sinatra was a singing phenomenon, the first "Teen Idol" of the 20th century! His Golden Voice was devastating, making teenage girls scream with hysteria, wet their pants, and faint in the aisles. Wherever Sinatra went, crowds of stampeding teen girls trampled each other and fought with policemen to see him! And of course, his records sold like hot cakes.
Hollywood smelled money. They knew they had to get "Skinny Boy" into the movies. So RKO brought Sinatra out to California, and signed him to a contract. Then they threw him into a movie to see if he could swim.
With "Higher and Higher," RKO borrowed the "plot" (note that I put the word in quotes) of a short-run Broadway musical by Gladys Hurlbut and Joshua Logan. They threw out most of the song score by Rodgers & Hart, and had their own songwriters write new songs for it (a common practice in Hollywood's Golden Age).
The "plot" (what there is of it) centers around the household staff of a New York City mansion, who discover their drunken employer, millionaire Cyrus Drake (Leon Errol), has gambled away his entire fortune. (The servants in the house include Paul & Grace Hartman, Marcy McGuire, Mel Tormé, and Paul "Casablanca Sam" Dooley. Also, Mary Wickes plays a woman who shows up at the back door, claiming Cyrus Drake offered her a job. But when she discovers Drake is now broke, instead of moving on to find other work, she stays around to be part of the plot, for some unknown reason.)
Then Mike O'Brien (Jack "Tin Man" Haley), who is Drake's valet and the head of the household, comes up with a scheme. They will turn Milly Pico (Michéle Morgan), the beautiful scullery maid, into a débutante, pass her off as Drake's daughter, and marry her off to a rich husband who will pay all their salaries. The servants are thrilled by this, and more than willing to participate in this fraud.
Milly the maid is not happy with the scheme, but she goes along with it because she's in love with Mike. (God knows why. He treats her like dirt, and is too stupid to notice her devotion to him.)
Then the doorbell rings. Marcy McGuire, playing the cook's teen daughter, answers it. And it's Frank Sinatra on the doorstep!
"Hi, I'm Frank Sinatra!" he literally says. "I thought I'd stop by and sing a few songs."
After Marcy faints into his arms (of course), Frank goes to the mansion's piano and begins to sing, "I Couldn't Sleep A Wink Last Night." It's never made clear why he's there, except that he's a friend of Milly the maid.
The servants don't like this. They think Sinatra's in love with Milly. They say to each other, "Hey, we better keep an eye on this Sinatra guy. He could ruin our scheme to marry Milly off to a millionaire."
What's amazing, and totally unbelievable, is that none of the servants ever say to each other, "Hey, this Sinatra guy has sold millions of records. He's a millionaire. Let's try to marry Milly off to him, and get him to pay our salaries!"
For the rest of the movie, the servants keep hustling Milly around New York, trying to match her with some "High Society" millionaire. Sinatra is stumbling along through the plot, and often looks like he's not sure what he's supposed to be doing when he's not singing. He keeps looking off to the side, as if he's looking for another piano in the room, so he can sit down and sing.
Of course, the "Idiot Plot" goes nowhere (and very slowly, I might add). Victor Borge appears as the "millionaire" that Milly is almost forced to marry, but who of course turns out to be a fraud himself. Aside from one funny line, Borge is never given an opportunity to show us his musical comedy talents. His presence is wasted in this film!
Fortunately, Sinatra's career would survive this film, and he would go on to better musicals, and better roles in movies like "From Here To Eternity." Who knew that "Skinny Boy" with the Golden Voice could actually act?!