Stometer Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Limerculer A waste of 90 minutes of my life

Baseshment I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Curapedi I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

utgard14 Cagney sings and swings in this enjoyable musical comedy about a bandleader who goes to Hollywood and winds up brawling with stuntmen. It's lightweight fluff done on an obviously low budget, one of two movies James Cagney did for Poverty Row studio Grand National. It has a nice turn from Jimmy, who gets to show off his dancing skills in the movie's best scenes. Lovely Evelyn Daw plays his singing fiancée and has some adorable dimples. The rest of the cast is fine, including William Frawley and Gene Lockhart. Some of the behind-the-scenes movie bits are fun but the songs are nothing to write home about and the musical numbers aren't as flashy or impressive as what was going on at the bigger studios at the time. Still, as I mentioned before, Cagney is a great dancer so it's worth seeing the picture just to watch him hoof it.

froberts73 Okay we've been told all the stuff about Cagney arguing with WB and dancing over to Grand National, and we know this is the umpteenth remake of earlier Warner flicks.The movie is low-low budget, but it is fun to watch so youse guys watch it. The main reason is its star who, too seldom, was given the opportunity to display his very unique dance prowess. Unfortunately, he was given too little time to dance in this pic, but when he did, it was 100% captivating.Another treat was Evelyn Daw. One of the critics fairly compared her to Jeanette McDonald, and I agree. Beautiful voice, cute, good personality. (I boycott Jeanette movies. In "The Great Waltz" Miliza Korjus put her in the shade. Ms. M told Mr. MGM she would walk if they starred her anymore. She was a moneymaker, so Louis B did as he was told).A couple other "Something To Sing About" pluses were Bill Frawley and Gene Lockhart as studio bigwigs with Lockhart as the biggest wig.Anyway, if you want so spend some pleasant time, well, this sometimes frantic movie, will be fun. Just watching Cagney, whether he dances, fights, or struts like a peacock, is always a fat bonus.

Neil Doyle JAMES CAGNEY was having contract problems at Warner Bros. when he went out on his own and did this little musical for Grand National, which--unfortunately--flopped at the box-office. It's the kind of musical with a Hollywood background that pokes fun at the film colony and its star-making machinery (a la SINGIN' IN THE RAIN), and gives Cagney a chance to shine as a hoofer.Cagney is Ted Rooney, a bandleader who bids farewell to his band and his fiancé (EVELYN LAW) to take temporary leave for a film when Hollywood beckons. WILLIAM FRAWLEY is the publicity agent who meets him at the station with a bevy of Hollywood cuties to snap photographs of his arrival. GENE LOCKHART is the overbearing studio mogol who calls his make-up men to give their opinion of how to prepare him for photography. A vocal coach with a heavy accent is brought in to teach Cagney how to speak. And so it goes. It never misses a chance to spoof the Hollywood star-making machinery and phoniness.When Rooney's picture is a smash hit, the studio can't find him. He's fled Hollywood to join his sweetheart and they embark on a cruise ship where Cagney is part of the oddly amusing entertainment. You know it won't be long before Hollywood catches up with him in time for a happy ending.It's strictly fluff but Cagney gives a solid comedy/musical performance, coasting along nicely in his role despite some shaky support from Evelyn Law, a young lady who appears to be an inexperienced actress with a singing voice not suitable for the swing band music that Cagney indulges in. She's a big drawback in a film that needs a good partner for Cagney in the love interest department.Summing up: Trivial, predictable musical comedy which should at least interest Cagney fans but it's easy to see why it failed to please at the box-office.

bkoganbing Something to Sing About was produced at Grand National Studios where James Cagney was working while under a contract dispute with the brothers Warner. He did two films for this B studio, neither of which rank high in the Cagney credits.One of the great losses to cinema is the fact that Jimmy Cagney did so few films that utilized his terrific dancing abilities. The two that come to mind immediately are Yankee Doodle Dandy and Footlight Parade. Two lesser films are The West Point Story and Never Steal Anything Small. Cagney himself said he never used to watch anything but his musicals in retirement. So why did he make so few of them?Well this one was all wrong. The plot of Something to Sing About concerns a hoofer who fronts for a band who's discovered and given a movie contract. There are the usual complications of a conniving studio boss and a conniving press agent played respectively and well by Gene Lockhart and William Frawley. His contract calls for a no- marriage clause, so Cagney and band girl singer lady Evelyn Daw marry in secret. Then we get the complication of a publicity driven studio romance with screen leading lady Mona Barrie. I think you can figure where this is going.The most disappointing thing about Something to Sing About is the lack of dance numbers for Cagney. He dances briefly at the beginning and the end of the film and nothing in the middle. Evelyn Daw had a nice singing voice and the charisma of a ham sandwich. She got the musical numbers such as they were. I'm sure the movie-going public was paying their tickets to see Cagney dance. Also in addition to giving him some dance numbers a female dance partner would have been nice. He danced well with Ruby Keeler in Footlight Parade and with Virginia Mayo and Doris Day in The West Point Story. Weren't Ginger Rogers, Eleanor Powell or Ruby Keeler available?No memorable songs came out of this. And Daw's voice is waisted as well. She has a Jeanette MacDonald soprano voice which was so out of place with a swing band.No wonder Cagney went running back to Warner Brothers. But they should have given him some decent musicals.