Flirtation Walk

Plot synopsis:
Richard Palmer Grant Dorcy Jr. (Powell), a.k.a. "the Canary" and "the singing bird of the tropics," is an enlisted man in the United States Army. Stationed in the Hawaiian Islands, he has a contentious but friendly relationship with his sergeant, Scrapper Thornhill (Pat O'Brien). When General Fitts (Henry O'Neill) visits the post with his daughter Kit (Keeler) on their way to Manila, Dick is assigned to drive her to a reception that evening. Falling victim to the moonlit night, Kit and Dick attend a luau instead. They are discovered in each other's arms by Scrapper and Lieutenant Biddle (John Eldredge), who is also in love with Kit. Biddle accuses Dick of ruining Kit's reputation and forcing her to accompany him off post. Dick decides to desert. Scrapper begs Kit to straighten things out with Biddle.
To prevent Dick from deserting, Kit tells him that she was responding to a crazy impulse and he means nothing to her. Stung by her words, and Biddle's condescending statement that "if you were an officer and a gentleman, you'd understand," Dick decides to compete with Biddle as an equal and applies for West Point. He is accepted and does very well, to Scrapper's delight. In his First Class year, Dick becomes First Captain and General Fitts is appointed Academy superintendent, with Biddle present as his aide. While most of his classmates are infatuated with Kit, Dick is cold to her. Consequently, he is not very happy when the rest of the men insist that she participate in the traditional "Hundredth Night" theatrical performance that he is to direct.
Dick writes a comedy about a female general with a message directed at Kit. After the first rehearsal, Kit walks with Dick on Flirtation Walk and tries to explain why she told him she was not in love with him. Dick is too angry to listen to Kit, but during their on-stage love scene kisses her, and she admits she loves him. When, near graduation, General Fitts announces Kit's engagement to Biddle, Dick naturally is confused, and visits her after lights out to talk her out of marrying Biddle. He is caught by Biddle and, at Biddle's suggestion, agrees to resign from the Academy to protect Kit's name. Scrapper arrives at the Academy to see Dick graduate and is disappointed to learn of his resignation. The day is saved when Biddle tells Dick that his resignation was not accepted and that Kit returned his ring, wishing him good luck. Dick graduates a happy man.

Tags: romantic

Review:
FLIRTATION WALK (First National, 1934) directed by Frank Borzage, teams Dick Powell and Ruby Keeler for the fifth time, and the first to present their names above the title.
When released in November 1934, this sentimental musical-comedy was so successful that it was nominated for an Academy Award for best picture, along with eleven (yes, 11!) other movies that year, but no win.
The predictable plot begins in Hawaii in which Powell plays Army Private Richard Palmer Grant Dorcy, better known as "Canary," who meets and falls in love with General John Brent Fitt's (Henry O'Neill) daughter Kit (Ruby Keeler) on a two day visit at the base.
Kit happens to be engaged to Lt. Robert Biddle (John Eldredge), but she doesn't care.
She gets Dick to take her out for a moonlight drive, and they are later are caught embracing by Biddle.
Fearing Dick would get court martialed, Kit discourages and cures the lovesick private before she leaves Hawaii.
Determined to forget Kit and become an officer and a gentleman, Dick decides to leave Hawaii and enroll at West Point.
After more than three years at the military academy, and close to graduation, Dick encounters Kit once more.
Dick then tries to ignore Kit and give her a hard time, but risks getting a dismissal from the academy when caught embracing Kit once more in her quarters by Biddle.Pat O'Brien co-stars as Scrapper Thornhill, Dick's sergeant in the first half of the story set in Hawaii, while Ross Alexander and John Arledge appear as the cadets in the second half set at West Point.
Alexander, the one with the physical appearance of dancer Ray Bolger, supplies some fine comic touches here.
Directed by two-time Academy Award winning director, Frank Borzage, FLIRTATION WALK focuses more on plot than musical interludes.
Powell sings a little, but tap dancer Keeler does not do any fancy footwork here.
There are no real lavish production numbers to speak of, with the exception of a Hawaiian luau some 20 minutes into of the story.
The 15 minute segment of the Hundredth Night Show at West Point consists of songs by Allie Wrubel and Mort Dixon: "No Horse, No Wife, No Mustache," the lively and amusing "Mr. and Mrs. Is the Name" and the title song.
Aside from scenes filmed in Hawaii and West Point, light comedy, sentimental moments and good tunes, Dick and Ruby are believable their roles, while Pat O'Brien, as a tough sergeant, isn't afraid to shed a tear, especially during Dick's West Point graduation.
Quite different from the previous Powell and Keeler musicals, from Broadway theater setting to military background, which actually works to good advantage, although there is too much time devoted to plebe year and Powell reciting the definition of "Leather."FLIRTATION WALK was distributed on video cassette through MGM Home Video in 1992, and can be seen on the Turner Classic Movies cable channel.
One final note: Although it's been said that future film star Tyrone Power appears as one of the extra cadets, he is so hard to find.
typical Dick Powell-Ruby Keeler movie, except Ruby doesn't dance..
This film is not anywhere near "42nd Street" in terms of music and plot, but it has a few good moments.
Ruby Keeler is a general's daughter who meets Army private Dick Powell when she makes a two day stop in Honolulu, on her way to Manila with her father.
There is a pretty good moment early in the film when she falls madly in love with Private Powell (who she has known for two hours) when he sings "Aloha Oe" at a beach luau the two of them crash.
Boy gets girl, boy loses girl, and boy gets girl once more, later in the film when he is the top cadet at West Point and her father is the new Superintendent at the Academy.
The best song in this movie, "Mr. and Mrs. is the name," is part of the cadet musical Dick writes and produces..
Utterly Charming Musical.
Even with Ruby Keeler's tinny voice and the fact she doesn't dance a step, Flirtation Walk is an utterly charming musical from the Thirties with Dick Powell at the height of his lyric tenor period.West Point's image has done very well by Hollywood.
The West Point Story and The Long Gray Line are the other two big films about the U.S. Military Academy on the Hudson.
But this was the first film of a grand tradition.Dick Powell is an army private stationed out in Hawaii who's assigned by his sergeant Pat O'Brien to be a driver for Ruby Keeler, daughter of General Henry O'Neill.
She's got a boyfriend in her Dad's aide John Eldredge.
But on a moonlight night in Hawaii, the old boy/girl thing happens.Powell receives a rude awakening the next day when he's made to realize the difference in class between officers and enlisted men.
Something like the rude awakening John Agar got in Fort Apache when he was courting Shirley Temple even though he was an officer, albeit a newly minted one from an enlisted man's family.
So Powell decided he's going to become an officer and sets about applying for West Point.The next half of the film is set in West Point and in Powell's final year, Henry O'Neill becomes the Academy Superintendent bring of course Keeler and Eldredge come with him.
Here we have the same plot device that was later used in The West Point Story, breaking precedent in having a woman in the Hundred Nights show for the graduating class.
Who do you think the woman that the cadets want?Allie Wrubel and Mort Dixon wrote two nice numbers that are used in the musical show, Mr. and Mrs. Is the Name and Flirtation Walk.
Powell sings them well although he didn't need Ruby's thin voice doing the reprise.
During the Hawaiian portion of the film Powell sang Aloha Oe. Why Ruby wasn't given any dance numbers is beyond me since that was her strength as a performer.I should also mention Ross Alexander, who came to a tragic early end three years later, as Powell's roommate at the Point.
He was a funny guy and had a nice career going in playing best friends to the hero in film.
A sad waste.I think you'll like the characters created and directed by Frank Borzage in this very charming film..
The immense charm and likability of the film makes up for the flawed story.
'Flirtation Walk' may not be a great film, but it entertains and charms and it is difficult not to like.
Absolutely, with the many good points nearly making up for the few points that don't come off quite so well.Coming off least is the story, which even for a musical-comedy is formulaic and extremely simplistic.
Sadly, Frank Borzage tends to make heavy weather of it, meaning that 'Flirtation Walk' is not quite as light-on-its-feet as it could have been and the patriotism present in some of the film is a little too overt and heavy-handed.However, 'Flirtation Walk' while not lavish still looks handsome and colourful as well as skilfully photographed.
The songs are very tuneful and very easy on the ear, the best of them being the witty and clever "Mr and Mrs is the Name".
The script is smart and amusing, if a little too frothy in places.Ruby Keeler and Dick Powell are immensely likable and their chemistry is incredibly charming and a large part of the film's appeal.
Despite the story being less than perfect, it has enough pep and zip to keep things moving at a bright and breezy pace, and the penultimate scene is very moving.
Pat O'Brien similarly brings sympathetic emotional impact.In summary, the story is flawed but the charm and likability (especially from the performances and chemistry of the two leads) is immense.
It's just not worth the hour and a half you have to give up to see this movie.
The two leads fall predictably in love within the first 15 minutes and, for reasons unclear, decide to pretend not to love each other until the last 10 minutes.Not excruciatingly bad, but nowhere near good.
I'm pretty sure it's a comedy, but don't hold me to that..
Pleasant Musical.
Dick Powell handles most of the singing, sounding great as always, even in Hawaiian.
Pat O'Brien is enjoyable in a familiar role as the tough guy with a heart of gold.
Biggest disappointment of the whole movie is no dancing by the lovely Ruby Keeler.
The movie is very different from the 42nd Street-Footlight Parade-Golddiggers musicals that the Powell/Keeler team is most famous for, and if you expect to see that type of movie, you might be disappointed.
I love them in those movies, but I also enjoyed this as something different.
It would be nice to see this movie released as part of a DVD box set to complement the great Busby Berkley set released in early 2006..
not the best musical.
Flirtation Walk is a 1934 musical starring Dick Powell, Ruby Keeler, Ross Alexander, Pat O'Brien, John Eldredge, and Henry O'Neill.Powell plays Dick Darcy, a private stationed in Hawaii.
He meets the general's daughter Kit (Keeler).
The two fall for one another, but she's engaged to another (Eldredge).
They break up.A few years later, they meet again, this time at West Point.
Kit is still engaged, but very happy to see Dick.
Feeling used by her, Dick rebuffs her and hurts her feelings.Dick has to write and appear the annual show, and the other cadets want Kit to play the lead.
Dick refuses as women are not allowed, but the cadets appeal to her father, who gives the okay.
I love Dick Powell.
I'm not such a fan of Ruby Keeler, who was certainly very pretty and did some good films with Powell.
I did not find this a scintillating musical.
The music was dull, and the story was flat.I actually watched this to see if I could do what no one else has been able to - find Tyrone Power, who was a cadet in this film.The only reason he is listed on IMDb is that he became famous as he was not a featured cadet.
He was an extra, probably answering a call for young men to be extras at West Point.
By the way, he and Linda Christian lived directly across the street from Dick Powell and June Allyson on Copa D'Oro in LA.Dick Powell had such a beautiful voice, but it wasn't used a lot or to great advantage here.
In short, this can't hold a candle to "42nd Street" or "Dames," or other musicals of the era..
With hindsight,"flirtation walk" appears as a blueprint for "shipmates forever"(and even ,so to speak for "Blue Hawai" in which Elvis played a discharged soldier mind you).Like the 1935 (shall we say "sequel"?)work,it features the same actors and it's the most distressingly mediocre movie by one of the greatest directors of the era."Flirtation walk " pales into insignificance when compared to "no greater glory" "little man what now?" "three comrades" "mortal storm" "young America" "stranded" "big city" .....and I don't even mention the masterpieces of the silent era !Borzage epitomized greatness ,and perhaps are we too demanding ?There is a good idea,the play a la "Hamlet" or how to get a message of love through.However,Borzage 's touch is nowhere to be seen in this umpteenth version of "I shall become an officer and a gentleman".If you want to see a good patriotic movie by Borzage,do choose " stage door canteen" in which the characters are made of flesh and blood..
Spirited melange of music, romance and West Point drama.
Flirtation Walk (Frank Borzage, 1934) is an entertaining if disjointed salute to the West Point military academy that flits from romantic comedy to putting-on-a-show musical to sentimental drama.
Dick Powell is a happy-go-lucky private who joins officer training when he thinks he's lost the girl he loves (Ruby Keeler).
Though the film doesn't really gel, there are some great sequences: Powell and Keeler falling in love in hazily-romantic Hawaii, his speedy rendition of Mr & Mrs Is the Name and the penultimate scene: an emotional encounter between the forlorn Powell and gruff, good-hearted sergeant Scrapper (Pat O'Brien).
The rest is comprised of broad comedy, petty squabbling and lots of enthusiastically-choreographed marching.
It's a wonder any young girls continued to idolise Powell after seeing him manufacture a quadruple-chin here - then maintain it through an entire montage.
Incidentally, the curious, antiquated title comes from a romantic pathway in the film, which has a legend attached..
Great if you like this sort of thing....
Dick Powell plays a rather fresh enlisted man who is constantly at odds with his sergeant (Pat O'Brien).
Powell's life takes an unexpected twist when he is asked to chaperon the General's daughter (Ruby Keeler) about Hawaii.
In the process, they naturally fall in love--which is a bit of a problem since Keeler already has a steady boyfriend.
And, this steady is an officer who would like nothing more than to bust Powell.
However, because of Keeler's behind the scenes maneuvering, Powell is saved from court martial.Now Powell announces that he's tired of being bossed around by officers and wants to transfer to West Point!
Talk about an interesting reason to go to the US Army's military academy!
The rest of the film is like an entirely new film--with O'Brien and Powell's friends shipping off to China while Powell is sent from Oahu to upstate New York.
In the real world, the chances for Cadet Powell to ever see Keeler, O'Brien and the rest ever again would be slim...but of course this is NOT the real world!
And, speaking of unlike the real world, like most Hollywood films of the 1930s about the military academies, this one seems to NEVER have the students going to classes!
An odd cliché, I know.Just before graduation, Powell is put in charge of an annual song and dance and comedy show at the academy.
The guys on the committee with him want to put the Superintendent's daughter (Keeler) in the show--but Powell is against it as he's still angry at her.
He thinks she set him up to get into trouble back in Hawaii--not knowing that she really helped to bail him out behind the scenes.
During the production, they fall back in love, as they both truly care about each other--but they old back telling each other.
However, after the show her engagement to her old boyfriend is announced!
Well, finally Powell has had enough and bursts into her home--announcing his love.
But, as it's after hours and he is caught, he's in big trouble.
Will he STILL graduate and will he get the girl?
And, what excuse can they provide for bringing O'Brien back from China to West Point by the end of the movie?
This is a well made musical BUT it's hard to believe that it went on to be nominated for the Best Picture Oscar!
I must admit, though, that I am not a huge fan of musicals though I am a huge classic Hollywood fan.
There was one cute dance sequence, however, that I did like.
The dancing scene of the Hawaiians doing an almost Busby Berkeley-style dance number is ridiculous, it also is rather charming to watch.
Plus, you really need to see it--it IS well done despite its shortcomings..
Ruby does not dance.
Ruby does not dance.
I love dancing.
Lose another point.
Lose another point.
Balance eight out of ten possible points.
This means that the film rates pretty high, however.
Powell could sing.
Ruby could also, better than I expected, but of course no famous warbler like Powell.
I wanted Ruby to dance when she, as the general, has all the men gathered around her desk.
Dick is pretty rude in much of this film.
He needed his ears boxed by Scrapper.
He keeps getting away with wrong things.
Lots of things bounce right off him.
Worse for me, yet, is when Powell went from musicals to dramas and gumshoe boring filmic outings.
The Powell of 42nd Street fades from fun juvenile to wallflower aged oldster sexless senior citizen, it seems like.
I saw Ross Alexander in Midsummer Night's Dream.
Was Powell also in that?
Anyway, in real life Alexander later calls an end to his own life.
Ross is a lot of fun in Flirtation Walk.
This film was Great Depression era.
Besides all of the serious parts of this story, the cadets are tasked with putting on an annual show.
Did I hear Ruby talk about The New Deal?The characters were in military training for some future war; 1941 and Pearl Harbor wouldn't be here for awhile.
Powell early on is regular enlisted, trying to move up through the ranks the old- fashioned way.
He then goes to West Point, however, and through hard work strives to become an officer and a gentleman.
Scrapper has predicted Powell will eventually outrank him, and this is what happens.
The show: I knew that the second I heard about the 100th Night Show, I remembered the 1950 film outing called West Point Story, starring James Cagney, Doris Day, Gordon MacRae, Virginia Mayo, Gene Nelson and Alan Hale, Jr. Jimmy, a volatile washed-up Broadway director and dancer, gets roped into traveling to West Point and training the students to do the annual 100th Night Show.
Doris and MacRae sing about the Kissing Rock, and Gene Nelson does some great tap dancing.
Hale is dressed up like a huge woman, and Jimmy does an awesome tap dance when Gene gets injured.
Therefore, part of 1950 West Point Story I feel is some sort of remake of 1934 Flirtation Walk, 16 years earlier.
I am a degreed historian from the university, studies including military history and history of war.
I am also an actress, dancer, singer, makeup artist, fashion designer, film critic and movie reviewer.
I study the lives of actors and actresses.