SparkMore n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

Gutsycurene Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

Helllins It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.

Nayan Gough A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

MartinHafer This is an interesting film to watch with the closed captions turned on because the film features a lot of impersonations of famous radio stars at the very beginning--and very, very, very few viewers will be able to identify who the imitations are supposed to be! But, the person who did the captioning listed who the impersonation was of--making it a lot easier for viewers. While I recognized impersonations of Kate Smith and Amos 'n Andy, most of the rest were complete ciphers--thanks to captioning I could place them.The plot involves a fast-talking agent (Part O'Brien) who is down and out and desperately looking for a star who will help him back on his feet. When he happens upon a singing waiter (Dick Powell), he thinks this guy might just be his salvation. Although Ginger Rogers has top billing along with O'Brien, she doesn't appear until about 15 minutes into the film. She plays a radio singer that Powell is smitten with and their first meeting makes little sense. She's singing on the radio yet she walks all around the recording booth--and is nowhere near the microphone as she sings! But, being a Hollywood film, they are soon head over heels.As far as Powell's big break goes, O'Brien is actually able to finagle him a chance. However, O'Brien insisted that Powell sing a terrible old tune ("Man on the Flying Trapeze") and the opportunity is lost. Naturally, you know that despite this, eventually Powell will be recognized and everyone will have a "happily ever after". But, when this does occur, O'Brien nearly blows it again--as he is, apparently, a total idiot! When Powell does make it big, he's the idol of women across the country. However, the sponsor is now worried that if Powell marries his sweetie (Rogers) that women will be turned off! So, it's up to O'Brien to try to stop the marriage--and he does it in the most devious and nasty way possible.Aside from the main plot, I really enjoyed the Mills Brothers and was happy they performed three times (including a nice number with Powell)--and I enjoyed their singing far more than the sappier tunes sung solo by Powell. Also, Allen Jenkins is entertaining as the host of a horribly saccharine kid's radio show--and as a result, he absolutely hates children! Overall, a pleasant little film but one where there simply is too much singing. Back in the 30s, a lot of Dick Powell and the rest went a long way. Today, it just seems to be too much--as it clearly gets in the way of the plot. A pleasant but not particularly great film.

calvinnme This is a pleasant little romantic musical comedy in the tradition of 1930's Warner Brothers, minus Busby Berkeley and minus some of the rougher precode elements of some of Warner's musicals from 1933 and before.Dick Powell plays Buddy Clayton, a singing waiter in a beer garden discovered by the slippery fast-talking talent scout Rush Blake (Pat O'Brien). Rush takes Buddy back east where he becomes a radio singing sensation and heartthrob, although it does take awhile and a few odd quirks of fate. In the meantime, Buddy has started up a romance with singer Peggy Cornell (Ginger Rogers) that is leading to the altar, but the sponsor of the radio show on which Buddy sings says that a married heartthrob is no heartthrob at all, and instructs Rush to talk the pair out of marriage. This split is at first amicable and temporary, but then Rush dreams up a publicity stunt that misfires hilariously.The film features the music and lyrics of Warren and Dubin, the comic support of familiar Warner contract player Allen Jenkins, and the direction of Ray Enright who managed to get this one right - it's funny in all the right places without being inane.They really put a damper on Ginger Rogers' performance this time. After playing the tough precode chorine in the earlier Berkeley musicals, here they've turned down the volume on her sauciness a couple of notches. Plus, in anticipation of the production code, the romance between Peggy and Buddy is squeaky clean. There is no taking a can opener to metal bathing suits or checking into the Honeymoon Hotel in this musical as there was the previous year.Highly recommended as a pleasant way to spend 90 well-paced minutes.

bkoganbing Twenty Million Sweethearts is out of that era of wonderful musical entertainment that Warner Brothers did the very best of in the Thirties. It's a musical about radio during that quarter of a century when it was the most popular entertainment medium. Dick Powell and Ginger Rogers play a pair of young hopefuls eager to break into radio and Pat O'Brien is Powell's discoverer/manager whose machinations get Powell in the door and almost out of the industry before he's started.O'Brien played this part so often in those years he could have phoned in the performance, but it's what you expect of him. He finds Powell as a singing waiter doing a boffo version of The Man On The Flying Trapeze, a very popular song in 1934 with it getting a prominent place in It Happened One Night. Pat may be a little too sharp for his own good, but he does know talent and he brings him to radio station owner Grant Mitchell and sponsor Joseph Cawthorn. They've got a girl singer in Ginger Rogers already, but Ginger and Dick hit it off. But there are complications and they make up the rest of this film.Harry Warren and Al Dubin wrote most of the original score for this film and the best song in the film is one of my personal favorite Dick Powell number, I'll String Along With You. It's sung both solo and as a duet with Rogers. Powell recorded it and Fair and Warmer for Brunswick records and it enjoyed a good sale during the Depression. It was recycled for Doris Day for her film My Dream Is Your's where it's done as a lullaby to her small son. But when you hear Powell do it, you will hear him at his best as a singer. Interestingly enough Doris's film is also about the radio industry. Powell also does a nice scat version with the Mills Brothers of Out For No Good which is also done by Rogers as a solo.Twenty Million Sweethearts was done by Ginger on loan out from RKO where she had just signed a long term contract. She had just done Flying Down To Rio, her first with Fred Astaire. Previously she had worked with Powell though not opposite him in 42nd Street and Golddiggers of 1933. Jack Warner thought they'd make a good team together and they did make some beautiful music and beautiful box office. But she made even bigger box office with Flying Down To Rio over at RKO with Astaire and RKO wasn't about to give her up. So the screen team of Powell and Rogers never made another film.Take note of the performance of Allen Jenkins as the grouchy host of a kid's radio program, he's got some very nice lines. When you hear talk of a Hooper rating, back in the day that referred to the barometer of popularity, like the Nielsen is for today's television. I liked hearing the Radio Rogues, only hearing them mind you, at the beginning of the movie where you hear them do their imitations of the current radio stars. They had appeared in Bing Crosby's We're Not Dressing earlier in the year at Paramount and now that they were not in his film, his imitation is added to their repertoire. Twenty Million Sweethearts is charming and entertaining with a nice cast going through their usual paces on screen. It may not be the best film ever made about radio, but until the day that one comes along, I'll string along with Twenty Million Sweethearts.

itsmits The adolescent who viewed this movie in 1934 could not possibly have guessed that he would be viewing it again more than seven decades later. The 'hit of the day', "I'll String Along With You" by Dubin and Warren which was introduced in "20 Million Sweethearts" is as fresh as ever today. Dick Powell who was often paired with Ruby Keeler in the memories of many, actually made more musical movies with other female stars such as Joan Blondell, Marion Davies, Rosemary Lane, Priscilla Lane, Gloria Stuart, Ann Dvorak, Doris Weston, Anita Louise and Josephine Hutchison.If a decade is to be characterized by a single male singer, it would be difficult to find a more industrious actor-singer than Mr. Powell. Bing Crosby was also popular but the many others who tried never seemed to appear as often as did Dick Powell. In this low budget movie, which did not have the huge production numbers associated with Busby Berkeley, a fast paced simple plot with many sparkling musical numbers made it a success. Of course, the presence of the gifted Ginger Rogers as a co-star helped immensely. ( This was before she was to star in "Top Hat")A stalwart supporting cast of Pat O'Brien, Allen Jenkins, Grant Mitchell and Joseph Cawthorn carried the story. This was backed up with many numbers by the original Four Mills Bros. "Out For No Good" rendered by the four together with Powell is a real treat. Sadly, a scant two years later, John Jr expired suddenly and John Sr was prevailed upon to 'fill in'. Thus it is that the quartet was to consist of a father and three sons for the major part of its successful career. The Radio Rogues bring back memories of other stars of the era with their great imitations of Ben Bernie, Kate Smith, Joe Penner, Morton Downey, to mention a few. If this movie appears on your TV schedule, by all means, grab the opportunity to look behind the scenes of how the major entertainment media of the 30's, radio, operated and enjoy the music.