Moustroll Good movie but grossly overrated

Odelecol Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

Fairaher The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

AshUnow This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

GManfred Very glad I caught this old-timer. I am a fan of musicals, especially good ones, and this one was good. It is also old and was on Broadway in 1926, according to the website. According to Maltin, most of the music of the original has been left out, but what remains was very good; The title song, "Alice Blue Gown" and especially a number I never heard of before, "You've Got Me Out On A Limb", a lame title but very tuneful. The 'Alice' number was done several times, including a jitterbug version by an all-black ensemble, which was bizarre. The plot, in a nutshell, was a lovers triangle, between Ray Milland, Anna Neagle and Alan Marshal and they were ably supported by some of Hollywood's best second line actors, May Robson, Roland Young and Arthur Treacher among them. It is a musical with some light comedy and the whole effect was enchanting, to dust off an old-fashioned word. Do yourself a favor next time it's on - it's worth your time if you're a fan of 'charming old musicals'.

Robert J. Maxwell It seems to have been powerful entertainment when it opened as a play in 1919, and why not? There's nothing offensive about it, there are a few amusing moments, and some tunes that have lingered in musical memory like pressed flowers. You'll recognize them when you hear them, not necessarily the names, but the melodies. "Irene" is constantly used as the theme. And "Alice Blue Gown" is even more endearing when you realize the eponymous color was named after Teddy Roosevelt's daughter Alice.But, overall, what a bore. In 1940, the circumstances, the social conditions of the play, were only twenty-one years behind the audience. That's not very far. Twenty-one years ago, as I'm writing this, Timothy McVeigh blew up the federal building in Oklahoma City, there was an Ebola outbreak in Africa, Windows 95 and Javascript were introduced, and "Die Hard With a Vengeance" was playing in theaters. The good folks of 1940 could remember bustles as easily as we can remember Whitney Houston and Michael Jordan.The audience could get with "Irene" but I had trouble. I haven't got the slightest interest in fashions, in class endogamy, or in haute couture. It was cute, what with the stereotypical Irish family, featuring Anna Neagle, and the aristocratic Proddies, featuring Ray Milland, but it had no substance, no comedy really except the most innocent sort -- cute, you know? -- and no bite, a kind of cinematic cotton candy. Somebody with a different sense of humor, Howard Hawks or Ernst Lubitsch, might have twisted it into shape.However, I can understand its appeal for some people, in the middle of these turbulent times.

blanche-2 The musical Irene opened in 1919 and was revived in 1973, starring Debbie Reynolds.The basic story is the same as in this film, and similar to the 1926 film of the same name.Irene O'Dare (Anna Neagle), on an errand for her employers, goes to the home of Mrs. Vincent (Billie Burke) and meets Don (Ray Milland), a friend of Mrs. Vincent's son Bob (Alan Marshal).Don suggests that she try out as a model in the "Madame Lucy" dress shop. For good measure, he invests in the shop himself. However, Irene isn't sure she wants the job after the store manager makes a pass. Don fires the manager and puts in another one, Smith (Roland Young), who visits Irene at her home and asks her to work for him.Irene is a smash hit as a model, and Smith assigns her the most beautiful gown to wear at Mrs. Vincent's charity ball. Unfortunately, some Irish stew wrecks it. Irene goes anyway, wearing a stunning blue gown that belonged to her mother, and knocks everyone's socks off.A guest at the ball, Princess Minetti, believes Irene is related to one Lady O'Dare, and Irene doesn't correct her.Smith decides Irene is perfect for a publicity campaign to put the dress shop on the map. He sets Irene up in a Park Avenue suite, passing her off as the niece of Lady O'Dare. This way, she will be invited to social functions and wear the shop's beautiful gowns.When a jealous fellow model tells a newspaper columnist that Irene is really shanty Irish, all hell breaks loose.This is a nice musical, and Anna Neagle is lovely. She was an enormous stage and screen star in Britain and even has a street named after her. She did musicals and drama up until 1985. For 15 years, she was in the top 10 of biggest British box office stars. In this she dances, sings, and acts beautifully and looks wonderful in all of the gowns.Good cast, well directed, a pleasant musical, and a good chance to see Anna Neagle, a British treasure.

bkoganbing Anna Neagle was one of the United Kingdom's brightest musical stars. She and Jessie Matthews seem to just about corner the market on British musical comedy leading ladies. What films Neagle didn't do, Matthews did. However unlike Matthews, Neagle came over to try her luck on the other side of the pond. Irene was one of the ones she did her in a deal with RKO that also included her husband, producer/director Herbert Wilcox.Irene was a successful musical comedy that was updated from post World War I to pre World War II America. On Broadway it had a run of 675 performances during the 1919-1921 seasons. It concerns a young Irish working class girl who gets innocently trapped in a fashion store publicity stunt by Ray Milland who's smitten with her. Store manager Roland Young aids and abets.The film is makes the twenty year transition well. Most of the score is heard in the background or as show numbers. The two songs that Neagle does, Irene and Alice Blue Gown were the big hits of the original show. Irene is a pleasant enough film, it's too bad that the American movie public didn't see more of Anna Neagle.