SHE LOVES ME NOT (1934)

Spunky chorus girl Curly Flagg (Miriam Hopkins) is dancing up a storm at a nightclub when a mob hit takes place right in front of her. Fearing both the crooks (who don't want her to squeal) and the cops (who might keep her in protective custody until a trial is held), she flees, with only her sparkly abbreviated costume, to the campus of Princeton where she gets student Paul Lawton (Bing Crosby) to let her into his room. Paul, a medical student and aspiring songwriter (who is currently working on songs for the upcoming spring talent show), enlists the help of his upstairs neighbor Buzz, whom we meet tap dancing while writing a class paper. They cut her hair and dress her like a boy, and agree to hide her in their rooms. Buzz contacts his dad, head of Supersound Studios, to try and get her a job in the movies. Paul contacts his dad, who, outraged that he's living with a girl, sends a telegram to the dean complaining of the campus' loose moral code. Paul goes to visit the dean and gets the dean's daughter Midge (Kilty Carlisle) to help him waylay the telegram, and the two promptly fall for each other. But the dean has already been told the telegram's message over the phone and threatens to expel Paul and Buzz. After this, a string of slapstick events leads to Paul's fiancee breaking their engagement--clearing the way for Paul and Midge to canoodle while singing together--and Curly getting a big publicity buildup from Supersound. The gangsters, the cops, and the Princeton student body all get involved before the happy ending, with Curly a star, the students reinstated, and Paul and Midge officially becoming an item.

This feels like an early stab at screwball comedy, though only somewhat successful. The situations fly by, one after another, with appropriate speed, but things rarely feel even remotely real, partly due to uneven acting. Hopkins, for whom this part was something of an outlier (she would thrive in melodramas and more sophisticated comedy), overdoes her brassiness to the point of irritation, though it is fun to see her throw herself wholeheartedly into her opening dance. Crosby, young but a little dumpy, underdoes his role, though he and Kitty Carlisle do work up a little chemistry. Edward Nugent as Buzz gets lost in the wild proceedings; Warren Hymer as the gangster and Henry Stephenson as the dean are fun. There are several songs, pleasant if not memorable, including "Love in Bloom" which became a #1 radio hit for Crosby and was nominated for a Best Song Oscar. Harmless early Crosby fun with a lot of energy if not a lot of coherence. Pictured are Crosby and Carlisle. [DVD]