ctomvelu1 There's a reason for watching an antique like this, and that's Alice Faye. She was at the top of her form here, in what was to be her final Fox musical. Basic plot: John Payne is a vaudevillian with his eye on greater things. His troupe consists of Faye, Jack Oakie and June Havoc. The Gay 90s costumes are a riot and, I assume, reasonably authentic. I also imagine some audience members in 1943 might have lived long enough to remember the period in real life. Faye belts out an endless number of great tunes, including her signature song, "You'll Never Know." Payne is stiff as usual, but veteran comic actor Oakie and his predictable antics help make up for that. The plot is as thin as a piece of tissue paper, so enjoy the movie for its many and memorable musical numbers. With her deep voice and striking looks, Faye really shines here. One caution: It is slightly jarring to watch the "rag" number, as all the performers are white but acting as if they were Stepin Fetchit-type blacks. This old-time minstrel baloney is certainly not uncommon in old musicals. You can see similar numbers in even later fare such as "Holiday Inn" (Bing Crosby in black face!) and "Jolson Sings Again." The offending "Abraham" number in "Holiday Inn" used to be cut for TV viewing. But there wasn't much TV could do about "The Jolson Story" and "Jolson sings Again" without emasculating the movie, as Al Jolson rose to fame singing "Mammy" and other numbers in black face.

GManfred Something went wrong between the drawing board and the sound stage in filming "Hello,Frisco,Hello". It's a big, splashy, colorful musical in the best Fox tradition but somehow it falls flat. Maybe it's the storyline, which is formulaic and ordinary and done many times before - boy meets girl, boy meets another girl, boy gets dumped and makes round trip to first girl. It also does itself no favors by portraying leading man John Payne as a status-seeking heel.It does have several things going for it, especially Alice Faye and energetic song and dance man/character actor Jack Oakie. And the Academy Award winning Harry Warren/Mack Gordon song, "You'll Never Know", which is worth the price of admission alone (This song was recorded at the height of a Musicians Union strike in 1943, and sung 'a cappella' by Dick Haymes and the Pied Pipers).Not to belabor a point, but this picture would have been better off as a film short with just the "You'll Never Know" number on it. It's really the only reason to watch it as it breaks no new ground. True, there are 29 songs listed in the credits but most are forgettable and none can approach "You'll Never Know". It is the main reason for my rating of 6.

Alex da Silva Trudy (Alice Faye), Johnny (John Payne), Dan (Jack Oakie) and Beulah (June Havoc) share a song and dance act on the entertainment circuit. Dan and Beulah are partners while Trudy wishes for the same with Johnny. However, while he asks her for dates, he is more concerned about career. He comes into some money and starts putting on shows and he also meets a wealthy heiress Bernice (Lynn Bari). He marries her while Trudy goes solo to make her fortune in Europe. Their roles are reversed as Bernice bankrupts Johnny and Trudy's career takes off. Things come together at the end in the club that they started out in as everyone is re-united.The story isn't really important as the film is a collection of music numbers. And they are all pretty good, eg, the scene at the Rollerdrome. John Payne's character is difficult to sympathize with and difficult to read as you can't tell when he's romantically interested in someone or not.....maybe he has some form of autism...... or maybe he is just a bad actor................his actions and reactions are very unusual. Jack Oakie and Laid Cregar who plays Johnny's friend Sam are noisy and shouty and so the film drags when these two are on screen. I think the film needed more from June Havoc who is the best out of the cast.The story drags in parts but it is the colour, costumes and music numbers that pull this film into the good category.

Kalaman Of all Alice Faye's 20th Century-Fox musicals, "Hello Frisco, Hello" is probably my favorite. It is certainly the one that deserves to be called enchanting. The only other memorable Faye musicals that come to mind are "On the Avenue"(1937), "Alexander's Ragtime Band"(1938), "That Night in Rio"(1941) and "Wake Up and Live"(1937). "Hello Frisco" is a feast for the eyes and ears, breathtakingly photographed in Technicolor. The colors, the period costumes, and director Bruce Humberstone's nostalgic evocation of San Francisco's Barbary Coast at the turn of the century - are sublime. It also abounds in one gloriously tuneful song or dance number after another. There are lots to choose from including "Strike Up the Band," "Has Anybody Here Seen Kelly?" and "Ragtime Country Joe", but Faye's memorable rendition of "You'll Never Know" is the best of them all. IT works as a perfect combination of Faye's sweet vulnerability and honesty. Faye's co-star John Payne is equally marvellous as Johnny Cornell. Contrary to a previous reviewer's remarks about Payne's stiffness, I didn't find him really that stiff. A bit stoic, maybe, but his Johnny Cornell is in perfect harmony with Faye's sweet Trudy Evans. And I can't imagine anyone else playing that role or doing a better job. In all, a Glorious delight.