Redwarmin This movie is the proof that the world is becoming a sick and dumb place

Colibel Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

FuzzyTagz If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Livestonth I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

vert001 QUEEN HIGH is a nice example of what musicals were like before the Busby Berkeley days at Warners and the Astaire/Rogers series at RKO. The story is silly but mildly amusing, the songs pleasant and catchy, and the cast, including Frank Morgan (Wizard of Oz), Charlie Ruggles (Bringing Up Baby) and Ginger Rogers (Top Hat), is exceptionally strong. We even get the first screen appearance of Eleanor Powell, though to me at least she's quite unrecognizable dancing on a table during the film's bounciest number. On the negative side of the ledger, the camera is static, the plot structure clunky, and the film stock has deteriorated badly. Morgan and Ruggles are already their established personas while Rogers is still in her 'Betty Boop' flapper phase, but cute as a bug anyway. She's known as Astaire's partner but actually covers a wider swath of musical history than practically anybody: an early musical here, the two greatest Berkeley efforts, 42ND STREET and GOLD DIGGERS OF 1933, the Astaire RKO pictures of course, and even an early 'modern' musical, LADY IN THE DARK, and the classic MGM effort with Fred, BARKLEYS OF Broadway. And on stage both HELLO DOLLY and MAME. Amazing when you think about it.

kidboots When Broadway patrons came out of "Queen High" (1926, 378 performances) they were chuckling at the genial folksy comedy of Charlie Ruggles, so in 1930 when Paramount decided to film the musical it was a "no brainer" that Ruggles would be cast in the role that made him a star. So even though the movie would be remembered as an early feature of Ginger Rogers, it was the rapid fire back and forth patter of Ruggles and Frank Morgan (not from the original stage cast) that gave the film popularity. Ruggles stars as T. Boggs Johns who is in partnership with George Nettleton (Morgan) in a garter and novelty business and their heated bickering sees them agree to a winner take all poker game - the winner gaining control of the business for a year, the loser having to become a butler in the winner's household!! In the meantime Ginger (who because of the film's being made at Paramount's New York Astoria Studio allowed her to continue her stage role in "Top Speed") - she plays Polly Nettleton and is in a secret romance (was there any other kind in a 1930 movie??) with Johns' nephew Dick (Stanley Smith who more than earned his salary at Paramount in 1930 !!) Polly is given the job of stenographer in her uncle's firm. Dick also has a job there and at first they think none too highly of each other - "flirty, half baked flapper" is how she is described by Dick!! Of course that is before they meet and when they do, in a crowded subway, it is love at first sight!! There is a terrific number to start things off - "Brother Just Laugh It Off" - there's Ginger in her cute "baby talk" voice, a harmony group and plenty of dancers demonstrating the Charleston!! The poker game is played, with Johns the loser but definitely not in the comedy stakes as Ruggles milks the demeaning demotion of butler for all the comedy it is worth. He also gets to perform "I Love a Girl in My Own Peculiar Way", hoping to discourage a very amorous parlour maid!! Meanwhile Polly and Dick continue their romance. "I'm Afraid of You" is sung as a duet at a restaurant but unfortunately, the hit song of the film "Seems to Me" was only given to Smith, it looked like Rogers was going to have a chorus but - nothing happened!! The real stars are Morgan and Ruggles - Johns' decides to try to romance Nettleton's nervous wife then realizes that Nettleton is making a shambles of the business. Then they both realize the bet isn't legal - it was all thought up by their lawyer to teach them a lesson!!Ginger was such a cutie in this but with two over the top comedy stars vying for top honours she would have to wait a couple more years for roles that would put her in the spotlight!!

F Gwynplaine MacIntyre 'Queen High' is ever so slightly a musical, based on a 1914 Broadway play that became a 1926 stage musical: the film jettisons most of the Broadway score and adds two new songs. Top billing goes to Stanley Smith (who?) and Ginger Rogers as the young lovers, but they warble their songs in operetta voices, and Ginger stands aside while the only dance number is performed by others! Smith's singing voice is badly dubbed by some guy who rolls his R's and broadens his A's, bearing no semblance to Smith's speaking voice. Ginger speaks all her dialogue in Gracie Allen's voice, and sings ditto.The actual lead roles are performed by Charles Ruggles (reprising his part from the 1926 musical) and Frank Morgan as equal partners in a firm that makes only one product: ladies' garters. (What we Brits would call "suspenders".) This premise offers huge potential for musical numbers (I kept expecting "Garter sing, garter dance!") but is ultimately wasted. Ruggles went through most of his film career with an annoying little moustache; midway through 'Queen High', he trades it for some annoying sideburns. For once, Ruggles isn't typecast as a meek husband; here, he earnestly courts Betty Garde and shows some backbone. He's also pursued by Nina Olivette, who's quite pretty but she's lumbered with a hideous hairstyle and even worse dialogue ... which is written in some horribly phony bad grammar that's vaguely prole American and vaguely prole British but really from Movie Cliché-Land. In one scene Ruggles cries her 'Australian', but she's definitely no Ozzie sheila, too right. (Another IMDb reviewer is mistaken; it's Olivette, not Garde, who plays the 'harassed maid'.)The two best songs here were written for the movie, both with lyrics by Yip Harburg: "Brother, Just Laugh It Off" (tune by Ralph Rainger) and "I Love the Girls in My Own Peculiar Way" (Henry Souvaine). The latter is a bizarre ditty in which Ruggles claims to be a serial killer of women. He's not much of a singer; he gets one of Yip Harburg's trademark wordplays -- "When you get pneumonia, I'll 'phone ya" -- but Ruggles clearly enunciates "phone YOU", queering the rhyme. He also mistreats a black laundress.In the opening shot, William Steiner's camera trundles forward lugubriously, twiddles its casters awhile, then trundles back again. The rest of the camera-work is merely adequate, except for one impressive set-up with Ruggles in a doorway. There's an attempt to give Stanley Smith an "entrance" by staging his first scene with his head hidden, gradually revealing his face. William Saulter's set designs throughout are excellent, especially a very convincing sequence on a New York subway platform and aboard the rush-hour train. Frank Morgan's tycoon character and his wife have a huge mansion, with twin beds about twelve feet apart.Modern viewers get the usual old-movie reminders that money's not what it used to be: in 'Queen High', Mrs Rockwell has an annual income of $6,000 yet serves her guests caviare.Most of the dialogue (from the original play) is quite witty, though we get a few clunkers. An orchestra musician plays "second bass", so we know this is the set-up for a baseball joke. Still, any movie that ends with a lawyer getting chucked into a pond can't be all bad.There's an acetate print of "Queen High" in the Library of Congress, duped from a bad nitrate print; the soundtrack pops, and many scenes are dark. In one dialogue sequence, Smith calls himself "red-headed", yet throughout the movie (this LoC print, at least) his hair looks jet-black. "Queen High" really isn't good enough to rank high on the list of films wanting restoration. This movie was released while Lon Chaney was on his deathbed, but I'll bet he wasn't dying to see it. The original 1914 play was titled 'A Pair of Sixes': I'll add one more six and rate this movie 6 out of 10.

robluvthebeach The Stanford Theatre in Palo Alto showed this as their kick-off film in a Ginger Rogers Retrospective. A fun, fast-paced film with Ginger Rogers in a cute role as the female lead. Charles Ruggles and Frank Morgan play well off each other as rivals in work and romance. Betty Garde is a little over the top as a harassed maid. Her mugging and blank expressions are definitely from the old vaudeville school of acting. However, Ginger Rogers definitely shines as the female lead, playfully acting opposite Ruggles and Morgan. Also look for Nina Olivette (Mother of Dean Stockwell) in a saucy bit. Watch quickly for a bit by Eleanor Powell. This film will also be shown at Cinefest 2008.