Story of a saxophonist and his rise to fame as a singing star.Story of a saxophonist and his rise to fame as a singing star.Story of a saxophonist and his rise to fame as a singing star.
J. Carrol Naish
- Nick Meyer
- (as J. Carroll Naish)
Luis Alberni
- Tamborini
- (uncredited)
William Bailey
- Man on Dance Floor
- (uncredited)
Herman Bing
- Vaudevillian with Dachshunds
- (uncredited)
Jack Byron
- Nightclub Patron
- (uncredited)
Jack Chefe
- Nightclub Dance Patron
- (uncredited)
Virginia Dabney
- Girl in Nightclub
- (uncredited)
Louise De Friese
- Nightclub Girl
- (uncredited)
James Donlan
- Non-Fan with Radio
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaDonald Novis provided David Manners's singing voice. Rudy Vallee was originally considered, but his contract at the time prevented his participation in this film. Having Manners "sing" through a megaphone was a clever way to cover the dubbing.
- SoundtracksSweethearts Forever
(uncredited)
Music by Cliff Friend
Lyrics by Irving Caesar
Performed by David Manners and band
Played and sung often throughout the picture
Copyright 1932 by M. Witmark & Sons
Featured review
Decent "B" Picture
Crooner (1932)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
David Manners (DRACULA) gets his first top-billing in this familiar rags to riches back to rags tale. In the film he plays Ted Taylor, a mediocre singer who rises to fame after a gag with a microphone makes him a hot pick. Soon the fame and money goes to Ted's head and he begins to hurt those around him including his girlfriend (Ann Dvorak). If you've ever seen this type of drama before then I'm sure you're not going to find anything original here as it follows the familiar story that we've seen countless times. What does make the film work is some nice music and some good performances by the cast. This is a Warner "B" picture that doesn't have the greatest screenplay but it does its job, which is to keep you entertained for 64-minutes. Manners, an underrated actor in my opinion, turns in a nice performance as the young punk who quickly gets in over his head. I thought Manners did a pretty good job with the more dramatic moments but he also managed to be quite funny when needed to be. Dvorak is also very good in her role and Ken Murray and J. Carrol Naish add fine support as the agent and club owner. The cinematography by Robert Kurrle is also pretty impressive for such a low budget film and he seems to enjoy swooping the camera in on the intended target and this really mixes quite well with the style of music being played. Those who aren't really fans of "B" pictures probably won't find anything here for them but if you like short, to the point films then this one here isn't too bad.
** 1/2 (out of 4)
David Manners (DRACULA) gets his first top-billing in this familiar rags to riches back to rags tale. In the film he plays Ted Taylor, a mediocre singer who rises to fame after a gag with a microphone makes him a hot pick. Soon the fame and money goes to Ted's head and he begins to hurt those around him including his girlfriend (Ann Dvorak). If you've ever seen this type of drama before then I'm sure you're not going to find anything original here as it follows the familiar story that we've seen countless times. What does make the film work is some nice music and some good performances by the cast. This is a Warner "B" picture that doesn't have the greatest screenplay but it does its job, which is to keep you entertained for 64-minutes. Manners, an underrated actor in my opinion, turns in a nice performance as the young punk who quickly gets in over his head. I thought Manners did a pretty good job with the more dramatic moments but he also managed to be quite funny when needed to be. Dvorak is also very good in her role and Ken Murray and J. Carrol Naish add fine support as the agent and club owner. The cinematography by Robert Kurrle is also pretty impressive for such a low budget film and he seems to enjoy swooping the camera in on the intended target and this really mixes quite well with the style of music being played. Those who aren't really fans of "B" pictures probably won't find anything here for them but if you like short, to the point films then this one here isn't too bad.
helpful•41
- Michael_Elliott
- Feb 5, 2010
Details
- Runtime1 hour 8 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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