Vogues Of 1938

Needless to say, they don't make 'em like this anymore. Here's a musical with a story, a witty script, some wonderful singing and dancing, and a happy ending. Try to think of a recent musical that can boast the same. Vogues of 1938 is an unassuming little film from the Tony award winning authors of Kiss Me Kate (Samuel and Bella Spewack), scored by the Pulitzer prize winning composer of Guys and Dolls (Frank Loesser), and starring Warner Baxter, Mischa Auer, and Joan Bennett. The story is relatively simple. A stumbling fashion house (owned by Baxter) gets a shot in the arm when a scandalous young woman (Auer) comes to model--after spurning a rich man's offer to wed. The spunky new model falls for the owner (Baxter), while his wife (Bennett) is intent on wasting their small fortune on an acting career (with Baxter's money funding the productions, naturally.) When Baxter's wife decides that the siren call of the stage is too great to ignore, Baxter is left to nurse his wounds with the help of model Auer. All's well that ends well, of course. Leonard Maltin gave the film two out of a possible four stars, but he also got the plot completely wrong, so it's questionable whether he even remembers the film. Not a classic, but a wonderful way to spend a Sunday afternoon, Vogues of 1938 is recommended for general fiction collections. (Available from most distributors.)