mark.waltz Crooner Dick Powell goes down every man Will Rogers territory in this musical political satire where singer Powell becomes the scapegoat for the axing of blow hard judge Raymond Ealburn in a bid for governor. It all happened because traveling entertainers get stranded in a small town, and desperate for a job, agent Fred Allen takes the opportunity of boosting Walburn's campaign. It turns out that the supposedly sober judge is secretly a lush, and the money men take the opportunity to get a viable candidate after hearing Powell reading Walburn's speech as only he could. Life is just a bowl of politicians", Patsy Kelly cracks, a statement that holds 80 years later in the mist laughable presidential election in history. With Powell "trumping" Walburn, this is political satire at its most ironic. Traveling along with Powell, Allen and Kelly are the Yacht Club Boys (singing songs spoofing then timely issues sort of as the Smothers Brothers of their time) and pretty Ann Dvorak as Powell's girlfriend. Margaret Irving adds a few ironic laughs ad an aging married socialite who attempts to seduce to the obviously much younger Powell with very funny results. Paul Whiteman and his orchestra also pop in for a memorable specialty. As timely today, this uses state politics to parody what goes on in that wacky world we are rolling our eyes at each day with each morning headline. Movies utilized the funniest character actors who could scream pompous and idiotic with just a smirk, and while some real life politicians certainly are a walking visual aides for a stuffed shirt, some are dangerous while relatively few truly mean well. As the world faced the rise of fascism at this time, views of people in public office tended to become more real, as evidenced by Frank Capra's use of character actor Edward Arnold who showed that Hitler like ambition could hit America if we weren't careful. Still, these more innocent days, with the United States under a very popular president who fixed the issues of the previous administration, the movies enjoyed more light hearted looks at the plight of America as it recovered and headed towards hopefully "Happy Days". This has some truly great moments, especially Powell's crooning, Allen and Kelly's hysterically funny bickering and the still potent musical commentary of the Yacht Club Boys. Powell comes off as a younger, more glamorous version of the easy going characters that Will Rogers had played up until his recent death, making me wonder if this was written with him in mind. Powell makes good, though, on loan to Fox studios from Warners, and meets the challenge head on. The conclusion is a view into the future if what Capra would do with "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" and "Meet John Doe".

jotix100 What a novel idea, have a talented group of entertainers be the opening number in political campaign rallies for a candidate to office. Which is what Ned Lyman discovers, as he and his troupe appear in a small auditorium where a political speech is to be given later on at the same theater by the candidate for governor of the state, Judge Culliman. Mixing theater people with politicians will appeal to voters, or so Ned thinks. The Judge in his run for governor of the state hasn't elicited much sympathy. Add to that a drinking problem and Ned sees a great opportunity. Ned Lyman is a resourceful man that sees an angle in which keep the company he has assembled together and precede the aspiring candidate's spiel to the crowd. Since Judge Culliman can't get it together, Ned appeals to his star crooner, Eric Land, to read the speech to the audience. The singer becomes a hit and what's more, the political machinery behind the campaign see in him a person that can be manipulated. Are they in for a surprise! "Thanks a Million" is a delightful comedy with music directed by Roy Del Ruth. Dick Powell, who appears as Eric Land at the height of his singing career is the best thing in the movie. Equally effective is Mel Allen, the radio personality in a rare screen appearances. Ann Dvorak is seen as Eric's love interest, and Patsy Kelly is a singer with the company and Ned's girl.The film is entertaining as well as has an important message as the end when Eric Land unmask all the people that thought they could use him for their own personal gain.

kerimt2003 Although the golden days of radio were long before I was born, I've always enjoyed the great radio comedians and was thrilled to see this Fred Allen movie being shown around the time of the 2008 election.Fred Allen, who passed away in the early 1950s, was a contemporary of George Burns, Bob Hope, and Jack Benny, who pioneered the format of the sitcom in radio and later onto television. Unfortunately, Mr. Allen did not live long enough to make it into television (and he admittedly had a "face for radio", as he put it).It is AMAZING to see how much the political parody in the movie Thanks a Million still hits the mark; the song "Square Deal Party" is a gem. If you get the chance to see this movie, don't miss it (I would recommend taping it - if you enjoy political satire, you will probably want to hear the lyrics of "Square Deal Party" again). It should be shown by the classic movie channels again WELL BEFORE 2012!!!Fred Allen has an enjoyably sardonic, self aware delivery in this movie; it can be argued that his political satire on the radio was the first America had within that genre, if not some of the finest at that time. The Looney Tunes character Foghorn Leghorn (think the big rooster with the southern accent) is obviously based on the character Senator Claghorn from his "Allen's Allen." Fred Allen was a wordsmith who coined the phrase "low man on the totem pole" and is seriously underrated, in my opinion. Anyone who has an interest in American comedy/political satire and is not yet familiar with Fred Allen should spend a little time reading up on him and learning about a great American comedian who is sadly neglected and unknown today.

doc-55 If you can accept the premise: that an out-of-work crooner can be nominated for governor of a state on the basis of a single speech, there are some attractive moments in this film. Dick Powell moves beyond his ingenuous Warner Brothers musical style, and seems on his way to becoming the actor he later showed himself to be. Fred Allen replicates his sharp-tongued radio persona, and is able to provide most of the humor, even though he clearly did not have a charismatic screen presence even as real as that of Jack Benny or Eddie Cantor. The satirical treatment of small-state politics is rather heavy-handed, suggesting that there is nothing but self-interest involved. The songs are nothing special, but Powell delivers them in his usual off-hand yet convincing manner. For me, the most interesting and surprising episodes in the film were the two song and dance numbers by Ann Dvorak and Patsy Kelly. Having known Dvorak only as a performer in melodrama, from Scarface to Rebel Without a Cause, I looked closely, to see whether there was a double; but there were enough close-up shots to let one see that her dancing wasn't faked.(Whether the singing was dubbed is another matter). She was always an actress whose work I found compelling, though she never achieved top stardom at Warners; perhaps because Bette Davis was slated for some roles Dvorak might have played. Probably not a "gem", but a film many will enjoy.