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YouHeart I gave it a 7.5 out of 10

BoardChiri Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

Stephanie There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

jarrodmcdonald-1 The music is wonderful in this film, with a story pieced together using classic Irving Berlin songs. The chemistry of the leads-- Tyrone Power, Alice Faye, and Don Ameche-- can be described as sweet (though a little too sugary if you are not a romantic at heart or if you are on a cinematic diet). At times Alice Faye seems to be channeling Jean Harlow, but that is quickly forgiven when she starts to sing. Ethel Merman is also present and adds extra musical credibility to the proceedings.The best moment, in this writer's opinion, is when Miss Merman sings 'Blue Skies,' then Miss Faye goes up on stage and sings it with her and the others. But this is more than a hodgepodge of tunes, and there's an interesting storyline involving Faye and Power that takes several enjoyable, if not entirely unexpected, twists and turns. The film could be remade easily with modern musical stars. Why not? You cannot go wrong with the timeless quality of Berlin's music.

mark.waltz One composer stands above the rest in his plethora of famous songs still sung today. Mr. Irving Berlin's tunes are sung at Christmas, Easter, baseball games, Fourth of July ceremonies and award shows. His Broadway book shows are few, but even though the voice has been silenced, the melody still lingers on. Half a dozen movies catalog his various hits, and this is the best. It covers the early 20th Century through pre-World War II, and even though the stars never age throughout, they are a metaphor for each song of Berlin's that do not age, either.The handsome Tyrone Power is the leader of a ragtime band, and Alice Faye is the rough-and-tough broad who becomes their star before moving onto Broadway where as a lady, she is the biggest diva on the boards. After a mistake of a marriage to their pal Don Ameche, she strikes out on her own while Power goes onto entertaining in World War I in Berlin's real Broadway revue "Yip Yip Yaphank", a pre-cursor to "This is the Army". While Berlin sang that song's "Oh How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning" in the movie version of his second all-soldier revue, it is Jack Haley (The Tin Man) who sings it here.Power's success as a ragtime band leader continues when he brings on the brassy but lovely Ethel Merman to replace Faye, and briefly considers replacing her as the woman he loves. Merman's character, a true "good egg", realizes she can never truly have his love, and gracefully bows out while continuing to sing many of Berlin's more obscure hits.Everybody sings and shines in the most acclaimed Fox musical of the 1930's, and Faye expresses the two sides of her Fox characterization-the Harlow like bombshell and the dignified lady in which she ended her film career with. Power and Ameche are romantic, Merman sings up a storm, and Haley clowns. Ethel, the future Queen of Broadway, photographs oddly at times, but once she sings and dances, her personality defies the camera and she becomes not only beautiful but sexy as well with her amazing legs in several of the big production numbers.It's not only the performers who share the star here. Berlin's songs are among his best, whether familiar gems as "Heat Wave" or "Blue Skies" or obscure finds like "My Walking Stick". In smaller roles, Helen Westley, Jean Hersholt and John Carradine offer memorable characterizations. Anybody wanting to familiarize themselves with the great American Songbook should start off by watching this movie. Then, you will understand one great American contribution to this crazy world of ours.

debo-mills I thought this movie started out with a bang, with rousing ragtime numbers, but then drifted into dull ballads and slower music. I kept on wondering what happened to the peppy ragtime! And surely the songs played after the boys returned from WWI were not from the 1920s? Didn't sound like it.The story got a bit dull after the promising beginning, but the stars Powers, Faye, Ameche, and Haley were all entertaining in their ways and great to look at.Also, I was distracted by the inappropriate costumes, which again started out correct for the turn of the century, but for some mysterious reason became 1930s fashion after WWI. The skirts were too short, the jackets had shoulder pads and nipped in waists, and the women's hairstyles and hats were totally wrong for the 1920s. I kept wondering how many years had passed! All in all, a good movie, but could have been better in some ways.

edwagreen What a wonderful musical for Tyrone Power, age 24, to appear in 1938.When fate brings Miss Kirby to the band, the 3 become instant pals. The 3 being Don Ameche, Power and the wonderful Alice Faye. Faye gives by far her best performance in pictures. At the beginning, she shows depth in playing a loud mouth common person in the way of Stella Dallas. She matures beautifully as the film develops.Fate also intervenes when Stella Kirby is offered a role on Broadway, but she must leave the band. Power is bitter, but it's just in time for World War 1 and he goes into the army. Upon his discharge, he learns that Charlie (Ameche) has married Stella.While the marriage doesn't last, Power has made a name for himself with the band and Stella discovers that he has a new love interest in his life- Ethel Merman. While Merman has the voice, she is not exactly the other woman type in films. She sings her songs in timely fashion but she doesn't belt them out as she would do years later.How Alexander (Power) and Stella come back to each other is the rest of the movie. Done with lovely musical fanfare, "Alexander's Ragtime Band" must rate as one of the best musicals that Hollywood ever turned out.