Banjo on My Knee

Plot

This lively riverboat musical shows off the vocal and terpsichorean talents of former Ziegfeld Follies star Barbara Stanwyck as it tells the tale of two newlyweds who must postpone their honeymoon when the groom gets in a fight with a villain, decks him and, believing he has killed him, flees upon a riverboat, leaving his bride to take up with a womanizing photographer. She and the cameraman head for New Orleans and this is where most of the action, music and romantic mayhem takes place. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Review

Barbara Stanwyck is a woman whose very presence would seem to make any film she appears in well worth watching, but Banjo On My Knee manages to disprove that assumption. That doesn't mean Stanwyck doesn't give it her very considerable all; hell, in Banjo she even sings and dances, something that's not normally in her bag of tricks. She's good at it, too; no, she won't make Judy Garland or Cyd Charisse sweat and fret in the (respectively) singing or dancing departments, but she's much more than capable and quite entertaining. And she's still Stanwyck -- ready to fling a quip or bring a tear with the best of them. But Nunnally Johnson's woefully inadequate screenplay is a big mess, and not a very believable one at that. The plot device that sets things in motion makes Joel McCrea's character look stupid and act irritating, and fine actor though he is, McCrea can't overcome this. John Cromwell's try-anything direction doesn't help matters, either. Buddy Ebsen and Walter Brennan provide some bright spots, but overall, Banjo is a dull and often annoying little would-be folk musical. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi

Cast

• Barbara Stanwyck - Pearl Holley
• Joel McCrea - Ernie Holley
• Walter Brennan - Newt Holley
• Buddy Ebsen - Buddy
• Helen Westley - Grandma

Walter Catlett - Warfield Scott; Tony Martin - Chick Bean; Katherine de Mille - Leota Long; Victor Kilian - Slade; Minna Gombell - Ruby; Spencer Charters - Judge Tope; The Hall Johnson Choir - choir; George Humbert - Jules; Hilda Vaughn - Burtha; Cecil Weston - Hattie; Louis Mason - Eph; Herbert Ashley; Davison Clark - Police Sergeant; Nick De Ruiz - Cook; Otto H. Fries; Theresa Harris - Blues Singer; Ben Hendricks, Jr.; Tom Herbert - Man in chair at Scott's; Salty Holmes - Jug Blower; Sid Jordan; Frank Marlowe - Sailor; Henry Otho - Policeman; Russell Powell - Bartender; Milburn Stone - Sailor; Eddy Waller - Truck Driver; Tom Mahoney; Jack Pennick; James Dundee - Sailor

Credit

Hans Peters - Art Director, Gwen Wakeling - Costume Designer, John Cromwell - Director, Hanson T. Fritch - Editor, H.T. Fritch - Editor, Harold Adamson - Composer (Music Score), Art Lange - Composer (Music Score), Jimmy McHugh - Composer (Music Score), Art Lange - Musical Direction/Supervision, Ernest Palmer - Cinematographer, Nunnally Johnson - Producer, Darryl F. Zanuck - Producer, Thomas K. Little - Set Designer, Roger Heman - Sound/Sound Designer, E. Clayton Ward - Sound/Sound Designer, Nathan Levinson - Sound Recordist, Nunnally Johnson - Screenwriter, Harry Hamilton - Book Author

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