Rhythm in the Clouds

The plot of "Rhythm in the Clouds" really makes no sense at all. It's an enjoyable enough film but you need to turn off your brain to enjoy it.

Judy Walker (Patricia Ellis) is a homeless lady who comes up with a scheme to find a place to live...at least temporarily. When she learns that a famous composer is going out of town, she convinces everyone that he's his niece is she is supposed to be house-sitting. However, after moving in, she oddly picks a fight with a neighbor. The irony of this is that the pair later become song collaborators...while not knowing who the other is. Soon, the actual homeowner arrives. What's Judy to do to find a way out of this mess?

This film is a B movie from Republic....and is about what you'd expect from such a picture. With a short running time (about an hour) and second and third-string actors, it's pleasant but not much more. Enjoyable...if you can look past the implausibility of it all.

Cute little screwball comedy. Sure, it's not going to set funny bones on-fire, but the Republic programmer shows what a no-name cast and a cleverly nutty script can do for cheap entertainment. So can desperate Judy Walker (Ellis) manage a musical career by hammering on neighbor's walls, insulting her musical soul-mate, and pretending all sorts of screwball things-- stay tuned! Anyway, B-movie director Aurer keeps things moving and the humor in focus, showing again that even Hollywood no-names can deliver when proper elements converge. So give the little flick a try, even for a not-so-slow evening.

You can find this miserable waste of celluloid in those bargain basement 20 movies for $6 type of sets. Some of those films are really good! But not this one.

If you purchase one of those sets, please skip over this movie. If I can save one person from wasting 53 minutes of their life, this posting will be worth it.

Where o where did republic come up with this poor excuse for a cast? There are no obscure names here, obscure suggesting they were once well known. No has-beens, suggesting actors once had a decent career. The best thing I can say about the leads is that they looked pretty good. I can't comment on the acting since there wasn't any acting. There was some over acting from that annoying second rate Allen Jenkins type character - so incredibly unfunny. The leads were just a waist of space - and they couldn't sing either - and this was a musical. In fact, not one of them could even so much as carry a tune. I really hated the male lead's voice which was just a lot of bad vibrato.

There was only a couple of songs. None of them good.

So we are down to a bad attempt at comedy (writing and acting), terrible music, non existent direction, and putrid acting. Did I mention the horrid attempt at comedy yet? No charm, no fun, no nothing.

Other than that, it was great.

Shame on you, Republic Pictures. Stay out of the musical business.

Do not watch this film.

Being a HUGE fan of actress Patricia Ellis I HAD to see this film and tho its meager budget shows from start to finish I enjoyed it nonetheless. The songs are nothing to write home about and leading man Warren Hull is certainly bland but the comedy bits and the fact that the lovely miss Ellis is in nearly the entire picture from start to finish makes it worth a look! Most of the films she made during her earlier days at Warner Bros she is second lead or less and spends precious little time on screen so it was a big treat for me, and she looked great! some of the supporting players are quite good as well. i found this on DVD on ebay for around $3.00 and consider it money well-spent!

This tedious 'musical' from 1937 was clearly an A grade Republic production maybe hoping to tag along on the bottom half of a double bill with a smart A grade film from MGM or Paramount. Very well produced with lavish and well furnished big sets and some style RHYTHM IN THE CLOUDS is basically a company calling card or showreel of Republic's 'expertise'... but...someone forgot to create something for the audience to enjoy. Screenplay by Nathaniel West (Of Day Of The Locust fame...he also later adapted Let's Make Music for RKO) who must have used a blunt pencil for this one. An A grade film out of Republic was a B+ for RKO or Columbia which might indicate the level of expertise on show. Basically it is about a dishonest female music arranger sneaks into the apartment of a vacationing composer and creates the impression they are collaborating. Her music with his name on it too. It becomes a hit and makes the radio. He returns: "screwball situations" . It just isn't very interesting. A no-star cast who might have been Boston stage actors recently and a forgettable music score makes this film dull. If you want to some ambitious production imagery and set design and camera work etc hard at work at Republic in their early days of 1937 here it is. A 30s production curio only. Amusingly, it is what Grand National or later in 1937, Monogram was striving for.