| Let's Go Native | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Leo McCarey |
| Written by | Percy Heath George Marion Jr. |
| Produced by | Leo McCarey |
| Starring | Jack Oakie Jeanette MacDonald Richard 'Skeets' Gallagher James Hall |
| Cinematography | Victor Milner |
| Music by | George Marion Jr. Richard A. Whiting |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release dates |  Turkey1930  United States16 August 1930  Finland24 August 1931 |
Running time | 77 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Let's Go Native (aka Nel regno della fantasia in Italy and Tabiata asik in Turkey) is a 1930 American black and white comedy musical film.
The film is one of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since.
A very memorable, witty quote is when Jerry comments on being the only man on an island populated by women. Jerry: "It was one of the Virgin Islands, but it drifted."
The tagline was: "Paramount's wild, merry, mad hilarious farce!"
Synopsis
editShipwrecked New Yorkers (Jack Oakie, Jeanette MacDonald) land on an island where a dancer from Brooklyn is king (Skeets Gallagher).
Plot
editDress designer Joan Wood, who's heavily in debt, has created costumes for a Broadway show that is exported to Argentina. With the money she wants to pay her debts, but there was a mistake: she is receiving the money in Buenos Aires, not in New York. Her friend Wally Wendell, whose grandfather does not approve of his relationship with her, wants him to marry a girl he hasn't seen for some years named Constance Cook, whose grandfather is the owner of a ship traveling to Buenos Aires and Constance is one of the passengers. Wally's friend Basil has caused a freak accident with Voltair McGuines' cab, who wants his money for the damage. Basil asks Wally, but he has been disinherited and lost all credit by his grandfather, because he still wants Joan.
Cast
edit- Jack Oakie Voltaire McGinnis
- Jeanette MacDonald - Joan Wood
- Richard 'Skeets' Gallagher - Jerry, King of the Island
- James Hall - Wally Wendell
- William Austin - Basil Pistol
- Kay Francis - Constance Cook
- David Newell - Chief Officer Williams
- Charles Sellon - Wallace Wendell Sr.
- Eugene Pallette - Deputy Sheriff 'Careful' Cuthbert
Soundtrack
edit- "It Seems To Be Spring"
- Lyrics by George Marion Jr.
- Music by Richard A. Whiting
- Copyright 1930 by Famous Music Corp.
- "Let's Go Native"
- Lyrics by George Marion Jr.
- Music by Richard A. Whiting
- Copyright 1930 by Famous Music Corp.
- "My Mad Moment"
- Lyrics by George Marion Jr.
- Music by Richard A. Whiting
- Copyright 1930 by Famous Music Corp.
- "I've Gotta Yen For You"
- Lyrics by George Marion Jr.
- Music by Richard A. Whiting
- Copyright 1930 by Famous Music Corp.
- "Joe Jazz"
- Lyrics by George Marion Jr.
- Music by Richard A. Whiting
- Copyright 1930 by Famous Music Corp.
- Sung by Jack Oakie
- "Pampa Rose"
- Lyrics by George Marion Jr.
- Music by Richard A. Whiting
- Copyright 1930 by Famous Music Corp.
- "Don't I Do?"
- Lyrics by George Marion Jr.
- Music by Richard A. Whiting
- Copyright 1930 by Famous Music Corp.
Cut songs
editThe song “Pampa Rose” for MacDonald apparently was filmed but cut before release. However, she can be seen dancing in a Spanish costume during the fashion show montage. (“Pampa Rose” was ultimately used in the 1935 film Coronado.)
The song “Don’t I Do,” apparently intended for Oakie to sing to Francis, was also cut, possibly replaced by “I’ve Gotta Yen for You.” Apparently used as background music is “Gotta Be Good” by Victor Schertzinger.
Critical Response
editMordaunt Hall of the New York Times wrote: "A ludicrous audible film hodgepodge," ("Audible film" being the Times’ current terminology for sound films.) "Whatever may be the final opinion of this mile or so of merry tomfoolery, it should be set forth that not a few of its hectic adventures were greeted with shrieks of laughter....Miss MacDonald gives as pleasing a performance as possible in such melange." (Mr. Hall also disliked the Marx Brothers’ Animal Crackers which he reviewed the same week.)
Mildred Martin in the Philadelphia Inquirer noted that Jeanette "sings a song or two in her usual pleasing fashion but...doesn’t seem quite as much at home in this whimsical crazy sort of thing as she does in some of her former pictures." Miss Martin liked the film however: "sheer delight for those who like slightly mad, light-hearted comedy.” She found Jack Oakie “irresistible” and said “Leo McCarey...has shown his deft touch in numerous places."
"This is madness—weird, wonderful madness!” Photoplay opined. “Every gag in history turns up somewhere in this insane hash of song, dance, and story....Terrific nonsense—and how you’ll scream!"