Show Business Reviews

After 35 years in show business, Eddie Cantor decided to produce a film based on his early career. SHOW BUSINESS follows a troupe of four performers (Cantor, George Murphy, Joan Davis, and Constance Moore) as they begin in 1914 on the vaudeville circuit and work their way up to the Ziegfeld Follies. A number of vaudeville vets re-create their original acts in this enjoyable musical, a film that literally is fun for all, especially the performers, who are clearly enjoying themselves. Its vision of vaudeville may be somewhat romanticized, but the movie serves as an excellent document of that wonderful American entertainment. Some much-loved old tunes, including "Alabamy Bound" (Ray Henderson, Buddy De Sylva, Bud Green), "I Want a Girl (Just Like the Girl Who Married Dear Old Dad)" (Harry von Tilzer, Will Dillon), "It Had to be You" (Gus Kahn, Isham Jones); and of course, Cantor's big hit "Making Whoopee" which Kahn and Donaldson wrote for the Ziegfeld production "Whoopee." Other songs include "Why Am I Blue?" (Kahn, Jones), "I Don't Want to Get Well" (Howard Johnson, Harry Pease, Harry Jentes), "They're Wearing 'Em Higher in Hawaii" (Joe Goodwin, Halsey K. Mohr), "The Curse of an Aching Heart" (Harry Fink, Al Rantadosi), "While Strolling in the Park One Day" (Robert A. King), "Dinah" (Sam M. Lewis, Joe Young, Harry Akst), "You May Not Remember" (George Jessel, Ben Oakland), "The Daughter of Rosie O'Grady" (Monte Brice, Donaldson).