TIN PAN ALLEY

US, 1940, 95 minutes, Black and white.
Alice Faye, Betty Grable, John Payne, Jack Oakie, Allen Jenkins, Esther Ralston, The Nicholas Brothers, John Loder, Elisha Cook Jnr.
Directed by Walter Lang.

Tin Pan Alley was one of many musicals made by 20th. Century Fox in the late '30s and early '40s highlighting a nostalgia for the period of song compositions, vaudeville and the American popular song tradition.

This film capitalises on the popularity of Alice Faye and Betty Grable. They are two sisters with a vaudeville act ? and the opportunity to sing a number of songs. John Payne and Jack Oakie are would-be songwriters and publishers who eventually have success but enlist to serve their country in World War One.

The film was made in black and white, directed by Walter Lang who directed a number of these films. It has a number of old favourites from the pre-credits collage to insertions throughout the film's action. There are the usual show business upheavals, misunderstandings, falling in love and reconciliations.

There is nothing new in the plot, and it is similar to many films of its time and later. However, it joins a group of 20th. Century Fox musicals (generally directed by Walter Lang, Irving Cummings or Bruce Humberstone). They very much relied on the charm of the stars and American sentiment.

They generally get by for their nostalgia value and are typical of American popular entertainment of the 1940s.