Cheer Up!

Stanley Lupino and Roddy uighes have written a musical play, been thrown out of every theatrical office in the city and are stone cold broke. Sally Gray -- whose character's name is Sally Gray -- can't even get an audition and is likewise stony. So is the kindly couple who take her in. Fortunately, she comes up with the idea of turning their home into a hotel. When she is at another hotel talking it up for prospective guests, she is accosted, and is rescued by Lupino. This causes an agent to look her up and offer to bankroll her until she has a paying career; the report is that Kenneth Kove, the son of the biggest backer of plays rescued her. When she runs into Lupino, she thinks he's Kove and he thinks she's the answer to his dreams in every way.

It's a typically silly mistaken-identity plot, but that's not the point of the movie. Lupino's physical-comedy antics are kept under control, and are very funny in moderate doses, when not performed as if he's done this one a hundred times in the West End and a couple of thousand in the provinces. Miss Gray is fresh-faced and lovely and gets a solo dance number, with lots of high kicks and a splendid set. Even the minor players get their chances to shine at least briefly. There's little in this musical comedy that's new and startling (except for Miss Gray's shiny dress!), but it's all put together well and will keep you entertained for the hour or so of the show.