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Comwayon A Disappointing Continuation

Hadrina The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Claire Dunne One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

ksf-2 That Artie Shaw must have been hard to live with! married eight times... and to some big names too! Lana Turner, Ava Gardner, Evelyn Keyes. None of those marriages lasted very long, until the last one. Shaw, Fred Astaire, and Charles Butterworth carry this one. The awesome Paulette Goddard is pretty much wasted in this, as "The secretary". The story is so-so, but it's pretty much an excuse to hear Artie Shaw. Turns out Fred Astaire was one of the producers...one of the few films he produced. So of course, he dances to Artie Shaw's music. and sings. Pretty silly. Entertaining... a chance to see all the big stars and hear some great jazz, and watch Fred A do his thing but its all too silly for words. Showing on Turner Classics. Directed by H.C. Potter. Written by Frank Cavett, who would go on to win TWO Oscars! Nominated for two Oscars for Shaw's music, but didn't win.

utgard14 Rather dull musical comedy starring Fred Astaire and Paulette Goddard. Despite the presence of Astaire, there's very little dancing in the picture. Right off the bat, you know you're in trouble. The movie's biggest problem, aside from just not being that funny, is the complete lack of chemistry between Astaire and Goddard. For that matter, the lack of chemistry between Astaire and Burgess Meredith, who plays Hope to his Crosby here. There's just no spark with any of these actors.Apparently Fred thought this was his worst movie. I can't say that I agree with that, having seen Ghost Story. But if we're talking Astaire in his prime, then maybe this is his worst. But still, if this is his worst he had a pretty stellar career. This is at least watchable, if ultimately forgettable.

MartinHafer You know a film is in trouble when middle-aged Burgess Meredith and Fred Astaire play college students!!! Mostly it's an excuse for music, however--and the plot seems secondary.Meredith and Astaire claim to be friends but throughout the film they stab each other in the back again and again. Sometimes they do this to get the girl (Paulette Goddard) and sometimes they do it do get jobs. Either way, they are both obnoxious and selfish jerks. In many ways, this plays like a Hope-Crosby film but without the laughs and the repartee between the characters seems quite forced. The bottom line is that unlike Hope and Crosby, the pair in this film are not likable. And so, it's hard to care about the film unless you are just watching to see and hear Artie Shaw and his orchestra. The bottom line is that even with Charles Butterworth (who is always a joy to watch), the film suffers from bad writing, too much music and unlikable characters--not a recipe for a good film. Avoid it unless you have absolutely nothing better to do...like washing your hair or counting the tiles in your kitchen floor.

bobtaurus The only things that save Second Chorus from being a complete disaster are Astaire's dancing and Artie Shaw and his band's music.The writing is horrendous, managing to make even Astaire's character dislikable, as he does truly nasty things to his "friend," the equally dislikably nasty Burgess Meredith.Charles Butterworth, who is supposed to be the comic foil in this picture, is as lame an actor as I've seen.Finally, the look of the film is awful, with harsh lighting and shadows. (I realize this may be because the surviving print of this film has deteriorated over the years.) Unfortunately, the music and dance numbers are few and far between. However, if you're a die hard Astaire and/or big band fan, it's worth fast-forwarding through the dialog to get to any scene where Fred's dancing or Artie and his band are playing.