''Hitting a New High'' is a 1937

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by Raoul Walsh. It stars

Lily Pons Alice Joséphine Pons (April 12, 1898 – February 13, 1976), known professionally as Lily Pons, was a French-American operatic soprano and actress who had an active career from the late 1920s through the early 1970s. As an opera singer, she s ...

and

Jack Oakie Jack Oakie (born Lewis Delaney Offield; November 12, 1903 – January 23, 1978) was an American actor, starring mostly in films, but also working on stage, radio and television. He portrayed Napaloni in Chaplin's ''The Great Dictator'' (194 ...

. It was nominated for an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

in 1938 in the category Best Sound Recording ( John O. Aalberg).

Plot

Corny Davis, a press agent of an American entertainment mogul based out of

Paris, France Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

is looking for new work. After the mogul, Lucius B Blynn, faces a series of embrassments, his press agent tries to sign an opera singer for him. He finds an opera singer named Suzette (

), Suzette is furious with her current agent and boyfriend (Jimmy James, played by

John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007, holding office as leader of the Liberal Party. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the ...

) who wants her to sing cabaret instead of opera, so she walks out on him, where Corny is waiting. However, Davis's boss is already on a quest to rebuild his reputation by going on safari in

French Equatorial Africa French Equatorial Africa (french: link=no, Afrique-Équatoriale française), or the AEF, was the federation of French colonial possessions in Equatorial Africa, extending northwards from the Congo River into the Sahel, and comprising what are ...

. Therefore, he has the opera singer (played by

) go to the

French Congo The French Congo (french: Congo français) or Middle Congo (french: Moyen-Congo) was a French colony which at one time comprised the present-day area of the Republic of the Congo and parts of Gabon, and the Central African Republic. In 1910, ...

and pretend to be a "bird woman", something akin to

Tarzan Tarzan (John Clayton II, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adv ...

but having been raised amongst the birds. He "finds" her in the wild singing, just as Corny intended. Despite the farcical nature of this, Blynn buys it. He has her "captured" in a wooden cage, Corny says he'll "teach her" to speak, absurdly Blynn continues to fall for the entire charade. While Blynn frantically telegrams New York telling them about his "find", Corny and Suzette (who is pretending to be "Oogahunga the Bird-Girl") scheme to keep the farce going until she's famous and he's rich. Blynn excitedly debuts Suzette on radio in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

while he wears full safari gear despite being on radio. When questioned on why he's dressed that way he says it's so he can have "an authentic mental juxtaposition". However, during her inaugural broadcast her ex-boss/ex-boyfriend hears her singing the song she was arguing with him about when she walked out on him. Immediately he knows it's her. Shortly thereafter Jimmy James shows up in Blynn's office. Blynn kicks him out but he scales the wall and finds Suzette upstairs playing piano and singing. Corny walks in on them and makes an arrangement with Jimmy, they get Suzette to agree to do shows for both of them in exchange for James not exposing their scheme. His friend and clarinet player Cedric Cosmos (played by

Eric Blore Eric Blore Sr. (23 December 1887 – 2 March 1959) was an English actor and writer. His early stage career, mostly in the West End of London, centred on revue and musical comedy, but also included straight plays. He wrote sketches for and appe ...

) overhears Corny, Jimmy and Suzette discussing the entire scam backstage during one such cabaret show. He asks Jimmy for hush money and when he doesn't get it he shows up the next day as adventurer "Captain Braceridge Hemingway", explorer of Africa. Blynn, unaware he's being tricked yet again falls for Cedric's imitation. Cedric, as "Captain Braceridge Hemingway" tells an elaborate tale of shipwreck off of the coast Africa. He claims to be the long lost father of "Oogahunga, the Bird-Girl". Blynn gracefully allows him to reconnect with his "long lost daughter". When Cedric and Corny are alone, Cedric makes blackmail demands of Corny. However, during the next performance of "Oogahunga", she is recognized as Suzette by Blynn's main rival. Said rival confronts Corny and he too gets cut in on the blackmail money. Blynn goes to the nightclub where Suzette also sings cabaret. He sees Suzette there singing and "Captain Braceridge Hemingway" playing clarinet in Jimmy's band, and Blynn demands she stop singing, still believing she's "Oogahunga". Everything is exposed and explained to Blynn who erupts in fury. Cedric plays on the clarinet as Blynn storms away and the rest of the band joins in. Then Corny and Blynn begin drunkenly singing along, and then Suzette joins in as well. Then the entire audience joins in as well.

Cast

as Suzette, aka Oogahunga, the Bird-Girl *

as Corny Davis *

as Jimmy James *

as Cedric Cosmo, aka Captain Braceridge Hemingway *

Edward Everett Horton Edward Everett Horton Jr. (March 18, 1886 – September 29, 1970) was an American character actor. He had a long career in film, theater, radio, television, and voice work for animated cartoons. Early life Horton was born in Kings County ...

as Lucius B Blynn

Reception

The film lost a reported $431,000.

References

External links

* * * * {{Raoul Walsh 1937 films 1937 comedy films American black-and-white films Films directed by Raoul Walsh American comedy films Films scored by Nathaniel Shilkret RKO Pictures films 1930s English-language films 1930s American films