mikequinlan61 'Ruggles does a blatant and bad impression of Vistor Moore (who played the part on Broadway'. One must suppose that the reviewer who 'wrote' this actually attended the Broadway show. And saw Victor Moore's performance... it's hard to imagine that the one dimensional Moore could have been better in the role than Ruggles, had anyone still living possibly have seen him in it.In any event, the best I could do to see this was watch a poor quality version with Spanish subtitles on youtube. I was entranced from the get-go and laughed all the way through this delightful film. It's true that there are continuity problems, particularly at the start of the film, and it is surprising that a stalwart director like Lewis Milestone could be responsible for these brief but confusing problems. But the film is lively, heartfelt and highly entertaining despite these lapses, and the musical numbers are wonderful. The comedic wit displayed throughout kept surprising me with its unexpected diversity and irreverence. It is remarkable that much of the original score of the Broadway hit was discarded in favor of new songs, but Hoagy Carmichael's Moonburn almost makes up for it.

GManfred ... As opposed to a musical comedy. Once again, Hollywood has tried to wreck a very successful Broadway play by removing most of the songs, but they failed in this endeavor - goes to show you can't keep a good show down. Actually, it is understandable in the case of a Cole Porter musical, as the Hays Code was in force for barely a year when Paramount produced this picture. Apparently his double-entendres and, ah, imaginative lyrics scared them off.So, here is a comedy with some songs, and it still succeeds on both levels. The songs that were added by Richard Whiting/Leo Robin and Hoagy Carmichael are for the most part tuneful and worthy of inclusion, and probably not as lurid (although I didn't see the original I have heard the missing songs), if that's the correct word. The script was first-class and maintained a good level of humor throughout.This is a good look at Ethel Merman (who was shamefully neglected by Hollywood, along with Mary Martin), and she is in fine voice, singing "You're The Top" and "I Get A Kick Out Of You". She is ably supported by a chubby-looking Bing Crosby, the nominal star of the picture. But Bing was not Broadway material the way 'The Merm' was, and she leaves him in the dust in their duet of the aforementioned "You're The Top".Special mention should be made of Charlie Ruggles, who holds the flimsy plot together with an unexpected comic performance as a gangster-on-the-run. He is very funny, just as the music is very pleasing. Arthur Treacher is also on hand as a silly-ass Englishman, a role made popular in the 50's by Terry-Thomas. Ida Lupino, who always seemed somewhat horse-faced to me, has never - never, ever - looked lovelier as the runaway heiress.I think website contributors have underrated this film as I found it lacked nothing except what the Hays Office removed.

bkoganbing The trouble with filming Cole Porter shows is that the book and lyrics were normally, so naughty, so risqué that it was inevitable those sharp eyed censors feasted mightily on cuts.This first version of Anything Goes was no exception. All the naughty lyrics and risqué situations and dialog were cut out to make this product G rated. It wasn't until Kiss Me Kate was done in the 1950s that a really successful adaption of one of Cole Porter's Broadway shows was done. The best success Porter had on the screen was when he wrote directly FOR the screen. Born to Dance, Rosalie, High Society, etc.What this Anything Goes has to recommend it was the fact that this was only one of two instances where Ethel Merman reprised one of her Broadway successes for the screen. At that she sung some G rated lyrics for the title song and I Get A Kick Out of You.The only thing that Bing Crosby got to do in the movie that was from Cole Porter was a duet with Ethel Merman with You're the Top. If I had to nominate a song in history that's had more lyrics done for it would have to be this one. The melody is eternal and the lyrics are constantly being updated. Someone ought to investigate the Cole Porter estate and see just how many verses he actually wrote to You're the Top. Surely there haven't been any since 1964, but you can hear versions of You're the Top even today with up to date topical lyrics:You're the Top, you're Madonna's reinventionYou're the Top, you're Bush's stolen electionNow I just made that up, but it's a tribute to a great songwriter and an eternal melody.A whole bunch of Hollywood songwriters gave Bing Crosby some serviceable tunes for him, but it ain't Cole Porter. I think this has to do with the family image that Crosby had even back then. No naughty Cole Porter lyrics for Der Bingle.Yet he has some moments with songs. I particular like the number he does from the ship's crow's nest, Sailor Beware. Good song, but it's a typical example of the cheap production numbers that Paramount gave Crosby at this time. If you look at it, try to imagine what Busby Berkeley would have done. He also has a nice ballad to sing to Ida Lupino in My Heart and I. Finally there's a song called Moonburn which sold a few 78 rpm platters back in the day. On record Crosby sings it with just the accompaniment of jazz pianist Joe Sullivan. It's classic Bing.Charlie Ruggles was never bad in anything he did, but I do kind of wish that Victor Moore reprised his part from Anything Goes. He was a big hit on Broadway as squeamish Public Enemy 13, Moonface Martin.Ida Lupino gives very little indication of the classic actress she became on screen. But she's serviceable as Bing's love interest.Look at the trio of sailors singing, They'll Always Be a Lady Fair and you'll recognize Chill Wills.Add to that a badly butchered job in editing and you haven't got one of Bing Crosby's best films, but still enjoyable for fans of Der Bingle like your's truly.

Albert Sanchez Moreno The 1936 "Anything Goes" is another example of Hollywood's mishandling of what could have been a classic film version of a classic Broadway show. All the opportunities were there-Bing Crosby as the male lead, Ethel Merman (who did make her songs famous, even if you can't stand her singing style) repeating her stage role, Charlie Ruggles a perfect and hilarious replacement for Victor Moore, and one of Cole Porter's two greatest scores-the other being "Kiss Me Kate". So what do the filmmakers do?They throw out all but four of the original songs and turn the film into a Bing Crosby vehicle by getting a group of songwriters to write several new songs especially for him, one of them reportedly at his request. Then, they rewrite the lyrics to "You're the Top" (one of Porter's most clever songs), retain only the first verse of the title song, "Anything Goes", make a minor change (required by the censors of the time) to the lyrics to "I Get A Kick Out Of You", keep the original plot line (notice that the filmmakers considered the ridiculous plot sacred enough to leave alone, but not Cole Porter's songs), and release this flat, unfunny mess. At least Ethel Merman fans get to see her sing two of her biggest hit songs on film.