{"id":1674,"date":"2013-01-20T09:00:36","date_gmt":"2013-01-20T17:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.anndvorak.com\/cms\/?p=1674"},"modified":"2013-01-20T10:04:34","modified_gmt":"2013-01-20T18:04:34","slug":"dvdless-dvorak-films-part-2-crooner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.anndvorak.com\/cms\/dvdless-dvorak-films-part-2-crooner\/","title":{"rendered":"DVDless Dvorak Films, Part 2: Crooner"},"content":{"rendered":"

Year of Ann Dvorak: Day 20<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

As a whole, Crooner<\/strong><\/a> is a fun film. Mind you, it’s no Duck Soup<\/strong> or Animal Crackers<\/strong>, but this quickie programmer about a bandleader who turns into a diva once he discovers that singing through a megaphone makes the ladies swoon, is definitely worth watching. However, when it comes to Ann Dvorak, it falls into the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153What Were You Thinking Warner Bros?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d category.<\/p>\n

After strong appearances in The Crowd Roars<\/strong> <\/a>and The Strange Love of Molly Louvain<\/strong><\/a>, Warner Bros. downgraded her screen time with Love is a Racket<\/strong><\/a> followed by the thankless Stranger in Town<\/strong><\/a>. The studio altered its course by casting her as the sassy Nordie Lord in Cabin in the Cotton<\/strong>, but abruptly changed their minds and gave it to Bette Davis. Instead, Ann got Crooner<\/strong> <\/a>which meant another routine leading lady role opposite her Stranger in Tow<\/strong>n<\/strong><\/a>costar, David Manners.<\/p>\n

Judy in Crooner<\/strong><\/a> does have some spunk and Ann gets to give Manners a well-deserved tongue-lashing after his ego has gotten out of hand, but it’s still a fairly thankless role that many Warner contract actresses could have stepped into. Despite its shortcomings as a decent role for Ann, I’d still like to see it available.<\/p>\n

Likelihood of a DVD Release<\/strong>: I think it’s a possibility from the Warner Archive<\/a>. A decent print is around and has been screened on TCM, so fingers crossed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Year of Ann Dvorak: Day 20 As a whole, Crooner is a fun film. Mind you, it’s no Duck Soup or Animal Crackers, but this quickie programmer about a bandleader who turns into a diva once he discovers that singing through a megaphone makes the ladies swoon, is definitely worth watching. However, when it comes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1674","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-film-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t