Thomas E Jackson (1886-1967) had a thirty-year career on the stage before even setting foot in Hollywood. He went west in 1929 to act in the film of Broadway (1927), in which he had played a cop.
This was the start of a long screen career, in which cynical cops were a recurring theme. He was Sergeant Flaherty in Little Caesar (1931), an unnamed detective in Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933) and a lieutenant in Dead End (1937). But was an assistant district attorney when he was gunned down by Clark Gable in Manhattan Melodrama (1934), watched by John Dillinger immediately before he suffered the same fate.
In a very long list of credits, Thomas Jackson played in only one MGM musical, as the Coach in the original Good News.
Dorothy Mullican (1906-81) was one of the four Lane sisters, and the one who chose the most exotic stage name (the others were Rosemary, Priscilla and, running Lola a close second, Leota).
Three of the sisters (Leota was allegedly rejected by director Michael Curtiz), had their breakthrough in Four Daughters (1938) and its sequels, but only Priscilla went on to a successful career.
Lola Lane had previously played a series of supporting roles, one of which was Pat in Good News.
Augustus Scheu (1893-1945) was a song-and-dance man in vaudeville and on Broadway, noted as an ‘eccentric’ dancer like Ray Bolger and Buddy Ebsen.
Shy made his Broadway debut in 1915 and worked regularly throughout the 1920s. His biggest show was Good News (1927), in which he played Bobbie. He and the leading lady, Mary Lawlor, recreated their roles in the 1930 film version.
Unlike Lawlor, Shy stuck around in Hollywood, and featured in two further Metro musicals: A Lady’s Morals and New Moon. He had been in the original production of The New Moon (1927), but playing a different role.
Gus Shy also worked as a dialogue director on a number of films before retiring from acting to become a Hollywood agent.
Joseph Stanley Smith (1903-74) started acting in stock theatre as a juvenile and worked steadily before making his first screen appearance in 1929. He was part of the influx of stage actors following the introduction of sound.
Smith worked mostly for Paramount, including playing the lead opposite Clara Bow in Love Among the Millionaires (1930). Immediately afterwards, he went to MGM to perform the same function for Mary Lawlor in Good News.
It was reported in 1932 that Smith was supplementing acting as the conductor of his own orchestra
By the end of his film career in 1943, Smith was taking small parts, often uncredited.
At Tait College, Babe tells her friends that old-fashioned Professor Kenyon has flunked Tom Marlowe in astronomy, which means he will not be able to play football for the college. Tom has another exam tomorrow, but he “doesn’t know a star from a chorus girl”.
Babe is being pursued by footballer Beef Saunders, who warns her to keep away from other boys, and especially Bobbie Randall, who is the substitute on the football team. Later, Babe tells Bobbie that he is now her boyfriend, but Bobbie is afraid of Beef.
Babe (Bessie Love) gives Beef (Delmer Daves) a piece of her mind
Beef tells Bobble to stay away from his girl, because everyone knows he cannot play football when he is upset. [Football].
Coach Bill Johnson decides they must find the best astronomy student on campus to prepare Tom for the exam. Tom suggests his girlfriend, Patricia Bingham. Coach’s assistant, Pooch Kearney, does not think that will work [I Feel Pessimistic].
In the girls’ house, Pat’s cousin, Connie Lane, is a drudge who does all the work. Pat is reluctant to spend the day teaching, and suggests Connie would be much better at it. Connie agrees to help, but Tom does not see how he can learn anything from “a four-eyed old maid”. But Connie’s friends give her a makeover, and Tom does not recognize her until she introduces herself. He immediately begins flirting with her. They agree to postpone the lesson until 8 o’clock by the boathouse.
That evening [If You’re Not Kissing Me], Tom tells Connie she has already taught him more than Professor Kenyon managed in three years [If You’re Not Kissing Me].
Tom (Stanley Smith) and Connie (Mary Lawlor), studying astronomy down by the old boathouse
The next morning, Tom tells his roommate Bobbie that he is in love with Connie. Bobbie is cynical, because Tom falls in love all the time. Tom also tells Bobbie that Beef may not be able to play in the game tomorrow, because Babe has got him so upset, so he has asked Beef to come over and teach Bobbie the signals. Tom leaves, and Babe enters through the window. When Beef arrives, Babe hides under a bed.
On the way to the exam, Tom meets Pat, who reminds him that they are engaged, and she has the proposal in writing. Pat tells Bobbie she is going to marry Tom if they win the game tomorrow.
In a Latin class, the students are left for quiet study, but Flo decides they should study dance instead of Latin [The Varsity Drag].
PLaying innocent, Babe wins all Bobbie’s money in a crap game [Gee, But I’d Like to Make You Happy].
Coach sends Pooch to ask Kenyon how Tom did in the exam. He failed, but Kenyon agrees to pass him, for the good of Tait College. Words spreads quickly that Tom has passed [Tait Song]. Tom tells the crowd that he is pleased to have beaten Professor Kenyon at his own game. Bobbie announces that Pat has promised to marry Tom tomorrow if he wins the game, causing Connie to faint.
That evening, Babe is pursuing Bobbie, who jokingly tells her that, like Tommy and Pat, they will marry if he wins the game [Gee, But I’d Like to Make You Happy].
Tommy tells Connie that he loves her but, because of his own stupidity, he has to go through with marrying Pat [The Best Things in Life Are Free].
[Good News]. Beef is injured during the game, which is not going well for Tait. At half-time, Coach asks Tom why he is not even trying to play well, but gets no answer. He agrees to let Bobbie start the second half.
Coach (Thomas E Jackson) tells Bobbie (Gus Shy) he is going on
Connie is secretly watching the game through a hole in the fence. With two minutes to go, she is happy that Tait does not have a chance and that Tom’s heart is not in the game. In the final seconds, Bobbie unexpectedly finds himself with the ball in his hands and scores a touchdown. Tait have won. Bobbie agrees to marry Babe. Tom is considered a certainty for the All-American team, but he says he does not deserve it.
At Tom and Pat’s wedding [Football], Tom lifts Pat’s veil to find that he is marrying Connie. Pat had realized that he loved Connie, and stepped aside. Tom and Connie kiss.
Call of the Flesh is the first musical at MGM to combine popular songs with extracts from Grand Opera, in the way so beloved of producer Joe Pasternak in the 40s and 50s. Sadly, the three Stothart-Grey numbers are instantly forgettable. Ramon Novarro was no Lauritz Melchior, but his renditions of Donizetti and Massenet at least deserve an A for effort.
Juan (Ramon Novarro) sings ‘Ah! fuyez, douce image’ from Manon
Tonally, the film shifts from being the light-hearted story of an arrogant young singer and his growing love for an innocent novice from the local convent, to a near-tragic final twenty minutes. It all works thanks to the acting of Raomon Novarro and Renée Adorée, and in spite of that of Dorothy Jordan. Jordan was not a bad actor, but her performance here is very laboured and one-note. She leaves inexplicable pauses before picking up her cues and relies too much on looking innocent.
Novarro, however, gives one of his best performances in a sound picture. The scene in which he heartlessly rejects Jordan because her brother has persuaded him she should return to the convent, is genuinely touching. Elsewhere, he succeeds in the difficult task of making a conceited, unlikeable character likeable and amusing.
Renée Adorée is also very good as Jordan’s jealous rival, but her performance is quite painful to watch. She was very ill with tuberculosis during the making of the film, to the extent that her friend Novarro tried to persuade her to stand down. She declined, but is visibly unwell. It was her final film, and she died a couple of years later.
Adorée does, however, combine with Novarro to deliver the MGM musicals’ first genuinely entertaining dance number. Both had worked as dancers when young, and it shows in the comic routine they deliver in the cantina.
Juan and Lola (Renée Adorée) perform the first entertaining dance in an MGM musical
The Technicolor sequences have not survived, but Call of the Flesh looks really good without them. Cedric Gibbons’s design is excellent and well photographed by Merritt B Gerstad. The scene in a church that looks like a cathedral is particularly impressive. There are even one or two stylistic flourishes from director Charles Brabin (or editor Conrad Nervig, perhaps). For example, the scene where the brother is persuading Juan to give up Maria Consuelo is truncated with dissolves, to force home the sense that Juan is being worn down.
Overall, Call of the Flesh–its terrible sexed-up title notwithstanding–is much more entertaining than might be expected.
