Alice Faye had a movie career that barely lasted a decade. She quickly became a singing sensation for Fox in the mid-’30s, but was gone from the screen as World War II ended. Compared to other singing actress, Faye’s cinematic legacy has gone a bit unsung. The Alice Faye Collection, Volume 2 gives a second helping of her glory days. The five titles boxed up are unified by being showbiz stories that cover vaudeville, opera, cinema, radio and USO tours. Faye’s got plenty of moxie to conquer any form of entertainment.
Rose of Washington Square (1939 – 86 minutes) is the thinly veiled biography of stage legend Fanny Brice. Faye plays a singer (not named Fanny Brice) who longs for the Broadway stage, but finds herself trapped in dive bars and dumps. In order to get paid at one theater, the fans throw change at her. She falls hard for Tyrone Power. But he’s trouble as a con man with gambling issues. Her big break comes when an agent hears her sing at Al Jolson’s party. She’s got to choose love or stardom. Jolson smears on the black face for a Jazz Singer flashback. What truly makes this film essential viewing is William Frawley (I Love Lucy). He’s debonair on the screen with such high class folks. Between the top notch talent and the dozens of memorable songs, Rose of Washington Square is the best film in the boxset. You might want to watch it last to savour it properly.
Hollywood Cavalcade (1939 – 97 minutes) takes us back to the early days of Tinseltown. Faye is a New York stage actress who heads west with aspiring film director Don Ameche. We see how Hollywood progressed from the simple black and white films to the advent of sound in The Jazz Singer. What makes this film special is Buster Keaton and Ben Turpin returning to their silent screen slapstick routines which were supervised by Mack Sennett. Buster gets to go nuts during a pie fight scene that covers Faye in cream.
The Great American Broadcast (1941 – 91 minutes) takes us back to the glory days of audio only entertainment. We’re whisked into the early times when people didn’t know what do with all those knobs on the radio. Jack Oakie has created a broadcasting center in his bedroom. He dreams of going super large. He figures that airing musical performances and boxing matches over the microphone will make people want to buy radios. They also devise how to create a radio network. They have major plans for the invention. Alice Faye is his first big singing star. She’s such a sweetheart when crooning her plaintive love songs. Cesar Romero (the original Joker from Batman) complicates thing by wooing Faye while she’s involved with John Payne, Oakie’s radio partner. How can Payne compete against the allure of a latin lover? Oakie also has a fierce crush on Faye. Will all this emotion short out the radio business? If Oakie knew that in the future Fred Durst would be a radio star, he might have attacked all his equipment with an axe. The film features the always amazing talents of singing and dancing Nicholas Brothers. They also take use the newsreel footage of a Jack Dempsey boxing match.
Hello Frisco, Hello (1943 – 99 minutes) warns us about the power of bad investments in the name of love. The action takes place towards the end of the gold rush in San Francisco. Faye is part of a performing troupe that doesn’t merely want to sing while men get drunk. They want to put on a show. John Payne takes matters into his own hands and opens up a theater. The concept takes off. Faye becomes the star and gets too big for the Tenderloin. Payne falls for a San Francisco society woman. In order to suck up to her blueblood, he invests in the local opera. This turns out to be a really bad move since it’s a money losing operation. Culture isn’t supposed to turn a profit. Can Faye save him from going completely broke? It’s a flashy looking film with plenty of musical numbers to keep your toes tapping.
Four Jills and a Jeep (1944 – 89 minutes) should be considered an extended bonus feature since none of the four Jills are Faye. The film tells the “true” story of a World War II USO tour of England and North Africa featuring Kay Francis, Carole Landis, Martha Raye and Mitzi Mayfair. It’s a light frolic in a war zone as the ladies perform and flirt their way through waves of G.I.s. Incoming superstars include Phil Silvers (Sgt. Bilko), Betty Grable, George Jessel and Carmen Miranda. Faye’s brief appearance has her sing “You’ll Never Know” as featured in Hello Frisco, Hello. It’s the performance highlight of the film.
Why did Alice Faye quit the movie business? It wasn’t a scandal. She married bandleader Phil Harris. He’s best known for being the voice of Baloo the Bear in Disney’s The Jungle Book. She ended up in a long-running radio show with him. The workday was much shorter for a radio star. They didn’t even have to memorize their lines. She also ran out of showbiz formats for her to tackle. Perhaps if she was alive today, she’d be starring in a movie about the birth of Youtube. The Alice Faye Collection, Volume 2 is perfect for those who enjoy musical and showbiz stories. Faye deserves to be rediscovered by an audience that craves a simple release and a sweet song at the end of a hard day.
The video on all five films are 1.33:1 full frame. The transfers show a little age, but nothing detrimental to your viewing experience. The audio for all the films are Dolby Digital mono. The levels give Faye’s voice a rich tone. Hello Frisco, Hello has a Spanish dub. Rose of Washington Square, Four Jills and a Jeep and Hello Frisco, Hello have isolated score tracks so you can just soak in the music. The movies are subtitled in English, Spanish and French.
Funny Girl, Funny Man (16:59) explains the background of Fanny Brice and how Fox’s Darryl Zanuck brought her story to the screen without her permission.
Deleted Scenes (4:55) include a couple stage routines that were snipped away. Faye sings “I’m Always Chasing Rainbows.” For fans of The Jazz Singer, there’s more of Al Jolson in black face.
Rose of Washington Square Trailer (1:53) dares to herald this landmark film. They let Tyrone Power poor on the helpless charm all over Faye.
Hollywood Cavalcade: The Silent Dream (16:43) speaks of how the slapstick superstars were allowed to shine in Technicolor. They discuss how they cut Faye’s song so it wasn’t a musical. Hugh Hefner is ticked that it wasn’t a musical.
Buster Keaton: Head over Heels in Hollywood (9:00) gives tribute to the comic actor. If you have never seen Keaton in action: get ahold of The General. The short documentary explains his life and film career.
Hello Roscoe: The Fate of Fatty Arbuckle (4:38) discusses how Fatty’s career was ruined with a unfortunate night. He was the most popular comedian in the world when he was involved in a death. The historian does her best to keep the evil rumors out of the discussion. Even when he was proven innocent, he was still blackballed by the movie industry.
Outtakes (1:27) have no audio track. Most of the footage is from Faye’s pie fight with Buster Keaton. The curveball pie action is the best.
Fox Movietonews: The Hollywood Cavalcade Premiere (1:24) has the Keystone Kops show up on the red carpet. Cesar Romero and Joan Crawford show up arm in arm.
Radio Waves: The Real History of The Great American Broadcast (14:32) lets us know how this is a tribute to great days of the airwaves. The various film historians relate the movie to actual events and technology in radio. Hugh Hefner also chimes in on the actors and actresses. They point out that Faye found a larger audience when she gave up movies to star in a radio show with her husband Phil Harris.
Hello Again: The Re-making of Alice Faye (15:16) has Faye’s daughter and friends discussing how sweet she was to others.
Hello Frisco, Hello Trailer (2:15) tells us the film is laugh loaded. The trailer is in black and white although the announcer talks about it being in Technicolor. They have a montage of the songs like it’s a K-Tel record.
The Real Four Jills (17:19) attempts to separate the fact from the fiction on this USO tour. They have footage of Edward G. Robinson with the troops. Your ears will pep up when they talk about one of the Jills being bisexual.
Deleted Scenes (6:49) has plenty of bloopers from the Jills. Martha Raye’s hair scares me.
Advertising and Still Galleries are included for each film title. They’ve dug up plenty of promotion material to know how Faye was sold to her public.
The Alice Faye Collection, Volume 2 allows the spotlight to once again settle on Faye. She was perfect for her era. She allowed people to escape from the problems of the war for a few minutes with her soft looks and gentle voice.
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Fox Home Entertainment presents The Alice Faye Collection, Volume 2. Starring Alice Faye, Tyrone Power, Al Jolson, Phil Silvers and William Frawley. Box Contents: 5 movies on 5 DVDs. Released on DVD: October 7, 2008. Available at Amazon.
