Tonight's Movie: Kid Nightingale (1939) - A Warner Archive DVD Review
Steve Nelson (Payne) is a singing waiter unexpectedly recruited to the boxing ring after tussling with an obnoxious customer.
Steve becomes popular with the ladies as "Kid Nightingale," singing a song after each victory. Along the way he also romances Judy (Jane Wyman), a piano player.
The movie is so lacking in plot that there's not much more to say about it than that! It's a minor film which runs only 57 minutes, but it has its compensations, especially the pleasure of watching the young Payne and Wyman.
The scene where the couple duet singing "Hark, Hark, the Meadowlark" is a charmer, and Payne having several chances to sing is one of the elements which makes the movie worth seeing for his fans.Payne was gorgeous, as is shown to good effect in the boxing scenes, and Wyman, in her "blonde period," is cute and personable.
Fave Warner Bros. supporting actor John Ridgely is also on hand, along with Ed Brophy and Walter Catlett.
A great movie it's not, but fans of Payne and Wyman will enjoy spending under an hour watching a pair of talented young actors as they worked their way up through the studio system, headed toward better things.KID NIGHTINGALE was directed by George Amy and filmed by Arthur Edeson.
The Warner Archive DVD is a good print. The disc includes the trailer.
Thanks to the Warner Archive for providing a review copy of this DVD. Warner Archive releases are MOD (manufactured on demand) and may be ordered from the Warner Archive Collection at the WBShop or from any online retailers where DVDs and Blu-rays are sold.
posted by Laura @ 11:41 PM
2 Comments:
I caught this one morning on TCM and found, as you did, that the pleasures are obvious. This slight movie didn't run any longer than it needed to, and that is a point in its favour.
That's a good description! :)
Best wishes,
Laura
Post a Comment
<< Home