''We're Not Dressing'' is a 1934

pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was an era in the Cinema of the United States, American film industry that occurred between the widespread adoption of sound in film in the late 1920s and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship gui ...

screwball musical

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by

Norman Taurog Norman Rae Taurog (February 23, 1899 – April 7, 1981) was an American film director and screenwriter. From 1920 to 1968, Taurog directed 180 films. At the age of 32, he received the Academy Award for Best Director for ''Skippy (film), Skippy' ...

and starring

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, comedian, entertainer and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwi ...

Carole Lombard Carole Lombard (born Jane Alice Peters; October 6, 1908 – January 16, 1942) was an American actress, particularly noted for her energetic, often off-beat roles in screwball comedies. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked Lombard ...

George Burns George Burns (born Nathan Birnbaum; January 20, 1896March 9, 1996) was an American comedian, actor, writer, and singer, and one of the few entertainers whose career successfully spanned vaudeville, radio, film, and television. His arched eyeb ...

Gracie Allen Grace Ethel Cecile Rosalie Allen (July 26, 1895 – August 27, 1964) was an American vaudevillian, singer, actress, and comedian who became internationally famous as the zany partner and comic foil of husband George Burns, her straight man, ap ...

and

Ethel Merman Ethel Merman (born Ethel Agnes Zimmermann; January 16, 1908 – February 15, 1984) was an American singer and actress. Known for her distinctive, powerful voice, and her leading roles in musical theatre, musical theater,Obituary ''Variety Obitua ...

. Based on the 1902

J. M. Barrie Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, (; 9 May 1860 19 June 1937) was a Scottish novelist and playwright, best remembered as the creator of Peter Pan. He was born and educated in Scotland and then moved to London, where he wrote several succe ...

play ''

The Admirable Crichton ''The Admirable Crichton'' is a comic stage play written in 1902 by J. M. Barrie. Origins Barrie took the title from the sobriquet of a fellow Scotland, Scot, the polymath James Crichton, a 16th-century genius and athlete. The epigram-loving E ...

'', the film is about a beautiful yacht owner (Lombard) who becomes stranded on an island with her socialite friends, a wacky husband-and-wife research team (

Burns and Allen Burns and Allen were an American comedy duo consisting of George Burns and his wife, Gracie Allen. They worked together as a successful comedy team that entertained vaudeville, film, radio, and television audiences for over forty years. The ...

) and a singing sailor (Crosby). The supporting cast features

Leon Errol Leon Errol (born Leonce Errol Sims, July 3, 1881 – October 12, 1951) was an Australian-American comedian and actor in the United States, popular in the first half of the 20th century for his appearances in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in film ...

and

Ray Milland Ray Milland (born Alfred Reginald Jones; 3 January 1907 – 10 March 1986) was a Welsh-American actor and film director. He is often remembered for his portrayal of an alcoholic writer in Billy Wilder's ''The Lost Weekend'' (1945), which wo ...

Plot

Spoiled socialite Doris Worthington (Lombard) is sailing the Pacific with her friend Edith (Merman) and her Uncle Hubert (Errol), while being courted by Prince Michael (Milland) and Prince Alexander (Henry). She is bored, however, and finds entertainment in verbal sparring with one of the sailors, Stephen Jones (Crosby). During one of their battles, Doris slaps Stephen, who retaliates by kissing her and gets fired. In a drunken accident, Uncle Hubert runs the yacht onto a reef in the fog. Stephen rescues the unconscious Doris as the others flee the capsized ship, and everyone makes it to the tropical island although the princes claim credit for Doris's rescue. Unfortunately, the only person with any survival skills is Stephen, and the socialites are quick to demand that he gather food and build shelter. Stephen attempts to divide up the work but the haughty passengers snub his leadership so he fends for himself. The smells from Stephen's dinner of mussels and coconuts soon entice the hungry passengers to gather their own food; all except Doris, who tricks Stephen to get his food and gets slapped in turn. The group is forced to cooperate, although Doris remains indignant and infuriated. Doris discovers that there are other people on the island when she falls prey to a lion trap in the jungle: zany Gracie (Allen) and scientific husband George (Burns) live on the other side of the not-so-deserted isle. She refuses their offer to stay in favor of getting even with Stephen. Doris arranges for some tools and clothes to float past Stephen, who is elated at his "discovery" and quickly builds a house. The couple admit their love that evening but feel mismatched. Two rescue boats arrive. In the hubbub, Stephen finds out that the clothes and tools came from Doris and is angry at being the butt of the joke. Stephen takes a different boat than Doris. As Doris watches the princes resume their womanizing ways on board ship, she realizes she misses Stephen. She changes ships to join him, for better or for worse.

Cast

as Stephen Jones *

as Doris Worthington *

as George Martin *

as Gracie Martin *

as Edith *

as Uncle Hubert *

as Prince Michael Stofani (billed as Raymond Milland) *Jay Henry as Prince Alexander Stofani * Ernie Adams as Sailor *

Stanley Blystone William Stanley Blystone (August 1, 1894 – July 16, 1956) was an American film actor who made more than 500 films appearances from 1924 to 1956. He was sometimes billed as William Blystone or William Stanley. Early years Blystone was born in ...

as Doris's Officer

Production

''We're Not Dressing'' was filmed at Paramount Studios in Hollywood, and Santa Catalina Island.

Reception

Mordaunt Hall Mordaunt Hall (1 November 1878 – 2 July 1973) was the first regularly assigned motion picture critic for ''The New York Times'', working from October 1924 to September 1934.The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' wrote, "This musical tale appears to have been inspired to a certain extent by the Barrie play "The Admirable Crichton," but it is merely a fluffy bundle of laughter and chansons d'amour ... It has all the plausibility and romantic flavor of the average musical comedy. It is nicely photographed and cleverly directed, the sort of thing that, while it may have too many moaning melodies, is invariably diverting." '' Variety'' commented, " ... Where it's light and familiar on the story it's heavy on sturdy croonology by Bing Crosby, who makes the footage a vocal delight ... All in all a cinch audience picture—any audience… The vocalizing is all Crosby's. While he may be crooning constantly he does it so well (and not too implausibly because he is discovered as a naturally singing desk washer) that it's forgivable. What's more, a little effective business is introduced with the bear, who responds only to the 'May I?' song ... Crosby himself is most of the picture. He screens his best and sings better."

Soundtrack

* "Sailor's Chanty (It's a Lie)" ( Harry Revel,

Mack Gordon Mack Gordon (born Morris Gittler; June 21, 1904 – February 28, 1959) was an American lyricist for the stage and film. He was nominated for the best original song Oscar nine times in 11 years, including five consecutive years between 1940 and 1 ...

) by

* "It's Just a New Spanish Custom" (Harry Revel, Mack Gordon) by

and

* " Billy Boy" (Traditional) * "I Positively Refuse to Sing" (Harry Revel, Mack Gordon) by Bing Crosby * " Stormy Weather" (

Harold Arlen Harold Arlen (born Hyman Arluck; February 15, 1905 – April 23, 1986) was an American composer of popular music, who composed over 500 songs, a number of which have become known worldwide. In addition to composing the songs for the 1939 film ' ...

Ted Koehler Ted L. Koehler (July 14, 1894 – January 17, 1973) was an American lyricist. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1972. Life and career Koehler was born in 1894 in Washington, D.C. He started out as a photo-engraver, but ...

) by Bing Crosby * " Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?" (Frank Churchill, Ann Ronell) by Bing Crosby * " The Last Round-Up (Git Along, Little Dogie, Git Along)" (Billy Hill) by Bing Crosby * "May I?" (Harry Revel, Mack Gordon) by Bing Crosby * "Goodnight Lovely Little Lady" (Harry Revel, Mack Gordon) by Bing Crosby * "She Reminds Me of You" (Harry Revel, Mack Gordon) by Bing Crosby * "El Capitan" (

John Philip Sousa John Philip Sousa ( , ; November 6, 1854 – March 6, 1932) was an American composer and conductor of the late Romantic music, Romantic era known primarily for American military March (music), marches. He is known as "The March King" or th ...

) * "Love Thy Neighbor" (Harry Revel, Mack Gordon) by Bing Crosby * "Let's Play House" (Harry Revel, Mack Gordon) by Ethel Merman and Leon Errol * " Did You Ever See a Dream Walking?" (Harry Revel, Mack Gordon) * "Once in a Blue Moon" (Harry Revel, Mack Gordon) by Bing Crosby * " Aloha Oe" ( Queen Liliuokalani) played on accordion by

Crosby recorded some of the songs for

Brunswick Records Brunswick Records is an American record label founded in 1916. History 1916–1929 Records under the Brunswick label were first produced by the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company, a company based in Dubuque, Iowa which had been manufacturing ...

: "Love Thy Neighbor", "Goodnight Lovely Little Lady" and ""Once in a Blue Moon"" reached the pop charts of the day, peaking at numbers 2, 2 and 11 respectively.

References

External links

* * {{The Admirable Crichton 1934 films 1934 musical comedy films American black-and-white films American musical comedy films American romantic comedy films American romantic musical films American screwball comedy films 1930s English-language films Films about survivors of seafaring accidents or incidents American films based on plays Films based on The Admirable Crichton Films directed by Norman Taurog Films set on uninhabited islands Paramount Pictures films Films set in the Pacific Ocean 1930s American films English-language musical comedy films English-language romantic comedy films English-language romantic musical films