weezeralfalfa WARNING: A blackface musical number is included. If sensitive to such, best not to view this film, or closes your eyes during this portion.One of the most popular of Eddie Cantor's string of musical farces produced by Sam Goldwyn from 1930-36. It was among the first non-cartoon films to be partially filmed with the new 3-strip Technicolor process. Only the finale Ice Cream Fantasy production was so filmed, the rest in standard B&W. This Technicolor film would remain the most popular type of color film for Hollywood films for the next 18 years, until adequate single strip film replaced it. Because filming in this medium required the rental of bulky cameras, along with their sometimes cantankerous technicians, as well as much brighter hotter lights in indoor shoots, use of this technology was limited, especially in the early Depression years. This was also the first film in this series that didn't include Busby Berkeley as chief choreographer. He had moved to Warner, where he would carry his signature features to new heights in a series of popular musicals, starting with "42nd Street"....Finally, this was probably the first film of this series to be scrutinized by the full power of the Motion Picture Production Code.Eddie plays his usual timid nerdy character, this time living on a barge anchored off NYC with his loyal sweetheart. No clue what he was doing for a living. His life would soon change dramatically with the news that his archaeologist father had died, and left a fortune in Egyptian grave artifacts he had discovered. This fortune is presently in the hands of an Arab sheik in Alexandria(no explanation why?). Eddie will have to fight for this treasure with several other claimants. These include jazz singer Dot(Ethel Merman), abetted by her dim-witted gangster boyfriend(Louie), who bases her claim on being the decease's lover at some time in the past, thus perhaps legally considered his common law wife. Southern gentleman Col. Larrabee, whose claim is based on the fact that his organization : The Virginia Egyptology Society, sponsored the trip that lead to the discovery of the treasure. All these people happened to take the same ship to Egypt, where they get to know each other. Louie tries to take advantage of Eddie's seasickness to try to dump him, blindfolded, into the ocean. Dot((Ethel) tries to get Eddie to sign a paper of unknown content, but presumably giving up claim to the fortune in favor of Ethel's claim. Eddie wiggles out of this.In an Alexandria market, Eddie and Louie encounter a fake magician who seemingly turns people into dogs, including Louie. His cigar-chomping canine incarnation runs away into the lap of the daughter(Princess Fanya) of the sheik, who is immediately smitten by Eddie, and clearly has a few loose screws, creating some comic scenes. Fanya falsely claims that Eddie saved her from a lion attack: "I've never seen such a lion" "I've never heard such lyin'" retorts Eddie. Fanya also claims Eddie kissed her, thus is obligated to marry her, supported by the sheik. However, when Eddie admits to being the claimant to the treasure, the sheik says he must die, specifically by being boiled to make camel(Campbell?) soup. But he is saved at the last moment, only to be hounded by Fanya's boyfriend. When Eddie tells the boyfriend that he doesn't love Fanya and doesn't want to marry her, he calms down and leads Eddie to the chamber of death, where the treasure is hidden, along with some sarcophagi. Eddie, as well as Louie and Col. Larrabee, hide in empty sarcophagi when the sheik arrives. They pretend to be the spirits of his ancestors, telling him to lay off Eddie. Louie tries to make off with the treasure in a small plane, but is arrested, Eddie takes his place in the plane and flies to NYC, where he cashes in the treasures so that he can build a giant ice cream establishment and serve, free of charge, ice cream products and milk chocolate to the neighborhood kids. The stars and others take turns singing a number of songs, either new or old, abetted by the singing and dancing of the Goldwyn Girls. Young Harold Nicholas dances to "I Want to be a Minstrel Man", as the Goldwyn girls sing. This is followed by the big production with Eddie in blackface, singing Irving Berlin's "Mandi", with George Murphy and Ann Southern reprising "Your Head on my Shoulder" in the midst of this production. Both Nicolas brothers dance in a segment...The "Ice Cream Fantasy", in Technicolor, occurs at the end, with Eddie and Ethel doing most of the singing. What a great production for Depression kids, especially!This was George Murphy's debut in a Hollywood film. It provides no hint of his dancing talent, as exhibited in "After the Dance", and "Broadway Melody of 1938", for example.

mark.waltz Having seen this lavish musical comedy years ago, I watched it again for the first time in years, and was amazed by how much Sandler reminds me of a modern day Eddie Cantor. That endearing freneticness, boyish know-it-all ("but I'm still keeping it to myself!") attitude is something they both share, displaying it in each of their movies no matter where the plot takes them. Like Sandler, Eddie Cantor is that total boyish "I'll let you think I'm an idiot, but I'm having the last laugh!" facade. And here, it begins with a 19 (!) year old Ethel Merman making a 25 (!) year old Eddie Cantor think she is his mother (!) so she can get him to sign legal papers turning over his late father's treasure over to her and "Uncle" Louie (Warren Hymer). The scene where they play "Tickle Me" (along with "Leap Frog" and other games they supposedly played "before you were even born", Cantor inquires, is extremely funny, and Merman is at her early brash best. It is ironic that the romantic lead is played by Ann Sothern, who later starred in the movie version of Merman's Broadway hit, "Panama Hattie".All Eddie wants is enough money "when my ship comes in" so he can build a free Ice Cream factory for his battery of kid friends (he's very much a Pee Wee Herman in this sense) and what an ice cream factory it is. The last five minutes of the film are in a glorious early Technicolor in a musical number that looks straight out of the land of Oz. Goldwyn girls carry giant vats of milk, vanilla, chocolate bars and strawberries, while a chorus of giant cows "moos" along in harmony. Then all of Eddie's kids (many of them veterans of "Our Gang" series) smash in the door for an outrageous finale that is still a treat for young and old. The big minstrel show number (featuring the Nicholas Brothers) is another highlight; Young Faynard is adorable! The racist overtones (Cantor in black-face) may offend some, and the jokes are corny, but overall it is relatively harmless. Irving Berlin's "Mandy" and "I Want to Be a Minstrel Man" are both very catchy tunes, but the love duet between Sothern and George Murphy is a snorer. But for the Nicholas Brothers, Cantor and Merman, the film is truly a must for classic movie fans. Sothern would have to wait for feistier roles at RKO and the Maisie series at MGM to become more exciting.

MartinHafer Today, Eddie Cantor is pretty much forgotten--although he was a HUGE star from the 1920s-1950s. He was practically the king of Vaudeville, films and radio--and it's a real shame he doesn't get much recognition today. His singing, dancing and comedic persona were very pleasant and likable--and a few of his films are classics (such as "Forty Little Mothers"). For these reasons alone, it's well worth seeing "Kid Millions". Perhaps a bit of the reason he isn't seen that often might be because he occasionally performed as a minstrel--like he does in "Kid Millions" (uggh!!)! I am not excusing this sort of thing, but it made up a tiny portion of the sort of roles he played in films.The film begins with an Egyptologist dying shortly after he discovered a huge treasure. Lots of folks want to lay claim to it (including Berton Churchill, Warren Hymer and Ethel Merman) but it turns out the guy has a son (Cantor) and he's sent to Egypt to claim his fortune. Can be manage to avoid letter these hucksters and their underhanded efforts to bilk out of his inheritance? And, can he manage to avoid a sheik crazed with killing off the heirs to this fortune? The film is a mixture of good and bad. It's always great to see the multi-talented Cantor. You also get a nice routine by the Nicholas Brothers and the plot is silly fun. The VERY surreal color sequence at the end was pretty amazing--a great treat for film historians. However, be aware that Ann Sothern's singing, to put it mildly, was terrible and the minstrel sequence is so incredibly politically incorrect it might make some folks' head explode! But on balance, the good far, far outweighs the bad and the film is worth seeing.By the way, look carefully and you'll see a few uncredited cameos. You'll see Stymie Beard (with his trademark derby) and Tommy Bond (both of Li'l Rascals fame) and Dickie Jones (the voice of Pinocchio) early on in the movie. And, look carefully, as Lucille Ball and Paulette Goddard as chorus girls! The English comic Charlie Hall (of Laurel & Hardy fame), Tor Johnson (of Ed Wood fame) as well as Dennis O'Keefe. Rarely have I ever seen a film with so many cameos by folks before they were stars and it's a cinemaniac's delight watching for these folks. Heck, there's even a small uncredited role for Barbara Pepper--the lady who played Mrs. Zipfel on "Green Acres"!

theowinthrop Eddie Cantor's comedies, when they appear, usually still amuse the modern audiences that watch them. The only thing that jars is his use of black-face which crops up in his films - but while not liked by African-Americans it is less jarring with Cantor's films than with his contemporary Al Jolson. Jolson's use of black face in singing mingled his biggest asset (that melodious bleat of his voice) with a racial insult. But Cantor's use of the black face was not as overpowering as Jolson's - Cantor only would do one number in a film in black-face. His main persona was a cowardly or timid schlemiel who sang frequently without racist make-up on. Jolson could do it too, of course (most notably in HALLELUJAH, I'M A BUM), but usually he is fully willing to "black himself" up before his biggest numbers. It really was not all that necessary to Cantor's work.In KID MILLIONS Eddie is the son of an archaeologist (his photo shows Cantor in pith helmet and side whiskers) who found a great treasure in Egypt before he died. The deceased was not a nice guy, and there are a number of people who feel they should be his legal heir. Besides Eddie (his son), there is his girlfriend (Ethel Merman - assisted by her other boyfriend Warren Hymer), there is a southern con-man who may have raised some funds for the Professor's last expedition (Burton Churchill), the con-man's daughter (Ann Southern), and a representative of a learned society that did back the expedition (George Murphy). All of them head for Egypt to get the treasure, but it is actually still in the hands of the Egyptian sheik (Paul Harvey) who considered the Professor an infidel (some things never change). The interplay of the characters in the story make it so amusing. Besides Cantor's combination of fear and determination to get the treasure, he has to fend off his rivals (in particular Merman and Hymer). Southern and Murphy slowly find themselves falling in love. And Cantor finds he has picked up a lover too (Eva Sully, the Jewish sounding daughter of the Sheikh). As Eddie says in the tune, "Okay Toots", "I like the sheik and his silly daughter, but I prefer her under water!" and proceeds to push the girl into a pool. The humor is clever at times. While talking on the boat to Egypt, Hymer and Churchill lose track of each other's conversation: Churchill is mentioning his neighbors in Virginia. Hymer, getting momentarily sidetracked mentions a neighbor of his with a name like Birnbaum or Schwartz. Without losing a beat, Churchill says, "One of the finest families of the South", leaving one with the image of an old first family of Virginia with a Jewish name. Hymer is certainly surprised.Despite the use of black face in the big musical number "Mandy" (and only Cantor puts it on), the film is pretty amusing as an entertainment. I can give it only a "7" because of the racist content of that sequence, but otherwise I think that it would be acceptable to an audience.