Jenna Walter
The film may be flawed, but its message is not.
Janis
One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.
Curt
Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.
rik1944-168-418265
George Marshall made many fine comedies during his long career, but this is not one of them. I have seen over 15,000 films and this is one of the worst major studio US films I have ever seen. The music and "comedy" is unendurable and nothing works - truly a disaster on every level (OK, the technicolor is adequate). Dick Powell and Victor Moore seem to be doing it for the paycheck, and Dorothy Lamour seems to be waiting for Hope or Crosby to show up. Cass Dailey is screechingly bad. I got this rare title from UK TV (Channel 5), and it makes bad UK comedies like the Old Mother Riley series seem like Lubitsch comedies. Truly, this is only for masochists.
bkoganbing
Riding High marked the end Dick Powell's association with Paramount Pictures. He never went back on the Paramount lot after finishing Riding High.Seeing it now, Riding High has the look of a Bob Hope film and I have a feeling that's who the original male lead was supposed to be. My guess is that Rapid Robert was entertaining the troops on some far distant shore and Powell was shoved into this film to appear opposite Dorothy Lamour. Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer wrote some forgettable songs for this film.Funny thing is that Paramount seemed to spend a pretty penny on Riding High. It was shot on location in Arizona, not on the studio back lot and it did actually get an Academy Award nomination for sound.Poor Dick Powell just walked through this film and supporting players like Cass Daley and Victor Moore and Gil Lamb stole the film right out from under him. Powell plays a salesman who has sold mining stock to Dorothy Lamour's father George Carleton who has no operating capital though and relies on Powell to get some. In trying to raise the capital Powell gets himself involved with Victor Moore, a mild mannered counterfeiter who's carrying a nice wad of the bogus cabbage. Moore passes it when he has to, but he's evolved his own system based on the old Mark Twain story that was later made into a Gregory Peck film, Man With A Million. The premise is that if people know you are well heeled, doors of credit automatically open for you and you need not necessarily pass the stuff and thereby endanger your freedom. A lot of the comedy here is based on Victor Moore constantly trying to fend off one lug-nut of a sheriff in Gil Lamb who is trying to catch him with the goods. Moore also is at the same time fending off the amorous intentions of amazon Cass Daley. These three totally steal the film from Powell and Lamour. There's a chuck wagon race at the end where rich rancher Russell Simpson bets against Cass Daley's rig with Moore and that gets pretty wild. It's Powell and what he does in that race that makes me think this was intended for Bob Hope.While shooting this film, Powell who had been promised by Paramount executives that he would be getting some serious dramatic roles, learned that a part he wanted very badly in Double Indemnity was given to Fred MacMurray. According to the films of Dick Powell, he got a release from his contract and refused to ever work there again in the same way he never worked for Warner Brothers again either after leaving them in the Thirties for the same reason.Riding High is a mildly amusing film today with the supporting cast just taking over from the uninterested leads. Not a film Dick Powell had pleasant memories of.
Maliejandra Kay
A train arrives in the west and deposits a showgirl (Dorothy Lamour), an eligible bachelor (Dick Powell), and a swindler (Victor Moore). The bachelor is in search of investors for his mine but can't seem to get anyone interested enough. The swindler makes his own thousand dollar bills and convinces the bachelor to flash them around; money attracts money. The scheme works, but the swindler's reputation catches up to him and soon the law is after those fake thousands.There is a reason why this title is so hard to find. It isn't that great. Although the story is fun enough and it boasts a decent cast, Riding High is utterly forgettable. It is one of those wartime movies that is packed with music to entertain the troops "over there," but none of the tunes are memorable and the music takes over the story. Lamour handles her songs well enough, after all, she was a radio star, but Powell has too few songs himself.
andy-345
Not one of the great musicals.Good lyrics by Johnny Mercer but forgettable melodies. Whether you enjoy it or not depends on your taste.Victor Moore does his Victor Moore act and Cass Daley gives a Cass Daley performance. Some will be amused by her grimaces as she belts out "He loved me till the all clear came"(the film was made during WW2) and "Willie the wolf of the west".Others will think that she is like a female Jim Carrey. The dresses by Edith Head for Dorothy Lamour and the chorus are excellent but the dance routines are weak apart from a solo eccentric dance by Cy Landry.There are two band routines.The first involves Cass Daley and two others as non-playing fiddlers.The second is longer. It features Gil Lamb and the band in expertly timed knock-about comedy. Warning - - The average shot length in these routines is high, there are very few close-ups, there are no audience reaction shots, a static camera is used and a clear view of the perfomers is given at all times. Watch it and decide for yourself - Some like oysters - some don't.
