Disturbing yet enthralling

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

This is the first of only three films that Marilyn Miller made. Because she was the toast of Broadway, she didn't really need a Hollywood career and preferred the stage over films. Additionally, she had a drinking problem and died very young from the oddest of reasons....dying while undergoing surgery on her sinuses! So if you want to see her, this is one of your only chances.When the film begins, Sally (Miller) is a poor working girl and isn't very good at her job in the cafe. She aspires to sing and dance on stage but has yet to be discovered. The film follows her from being a waitress to being a star...and all the problems in between.Considering that it's based on the stage play "Sally" (also starring Miller) and it came out in 1929 (when sound technology was rather antiquated), the film is naturally incredibly stagy and the music is very old fashioned. While it played very well in the day, the music doesn't age all that well. It's made worse because late in the film it's one song after another after another...and they are quite tedious. Just a year or two later, sound films in Hollywood were a heck of a lot better and more timeless. Additionally, the film suffers a bit from being a black & white copy. Originally, it was filmed in Two-color Technicolor but only one brief musical sequence remains in color remains today...and it was only recently discovered.As for Joe E. Brown, this film came out before he was an established star and it looks in this movie as if Warner Brothers really didn't know what to do with him. He's much more a supporting character and plays, oddly, a broke playboy and member of the royalty who's working incognito in the cafe!Overall, this film is more of a curio...and oddity, as opposed to a film folks would want to see. Not a terrible film but a difficult one to love, that's for sure.

Marilyn Miller was the most famous Broadway musical star of the early part of the last century - too bad for most of us she died so young. She made three motion pictures in the late 20's/early 30's which survive and can give us an indication of what made her such an acclaimed talent.In 1929 she made "Sally" for First National (forerunner of Warner Bros.) in which she recreated one of her stage triumphs. It is good and with some competent back-up supporting actors, but I would say it is an incomplete document if one is trying to 'discover' Marilyn Miller. The story is familiar, about a waitress looking for her big show biz break with a romantic side-story, and she shows her star appeal as a passable singer, a better actress and an even better dancer. She is pretty in a familiar sort of way, but she wins you over with her vivacious, cheerful demeanor. The website rating is about right, and you get the feeling that being captured on film in an unremarkable story doesn't do her justice. I haven't seen her other films but I am reasonably certain that they do not capture the full impact of this legendary performer, either. I guess we'll just have to rely on historical sources and those three films.

Sally, based on the famous Jerome Kern-Otto Harbach-Guy Bolton stage musical, is an oddly-structured piece, at least in its film incarnation. For the first 20 or 30 minutes (I didn't count) there is no music, then it's one song after another until nearly the end, with an unusually long closing title card accompanied by the melody to what is arguably the best song in the piece, "Look for the Silver Lining." The soundtrack quality leaves much to be desired (as we can expect from 1929 technology), but the melodies manage to squeeze through without too much harm, as do most of the vocals sung mainly by the winsome Marilyn Miller and the technically robust Alexander Gray who, while not physically expressive, is able to convey great range and depth by sheer vocal skill, singing in the grand old manner of judiciously trilled R's and well formed vowels. Miller, as showbiz antiquarians know, was the toast of Broadway in the 1920's. It can be said that she has a certain kind of guileless charm exhibited in later decades by Diane Keaton or Meg Ryan in their youth, except that neither of them could dance or sing much. Miller's fancy footwork includes ballet, tap, high kicking and various acrobatics. Joe E. Brown in a supporting role gets a chance to show off his own impressive athleticism on the dance floor; in his late 30s here, he could still do a masterful cartwheel in his 50s. Pert Kelton makes a few wisecracks in a nothing role that basically requires her to act, well… pert.The plot drags interminably, the "jokes" land with heavy thuds and one can only be grateful for the generous inclusion of song, though only three Kern numbers make it into this film: the title song (natch), "Look for the Silver Lining" and "The Wild Rose." The balance of the music and lyrics, mostly undistinguished, come from other songwriting teams.If for no other reason, this is worth a look for the sake of the rarely seen Miller and Gray.

Sally is one of the few films that stars Marilyn Miller, a popular dancer on the Ziegfeld Stage. Her talent as a dancer is utilized here in this breezy film.Sally (Miller) is an orphaned waitress, but all she's ever really wanted to do in life is dance. She meets a wealthy man whose interest in her is strong (Alexander Gray) who helps her to get a job dancing at a nightclub. She is a great success. Also at the club is an ex-Duke (Joe E. Brown) whose hilarious arrogance provides some comedy. He is invited to a high class party where he is to meet a treacherous woman from his past, but since she refuses to show, Sally takes her place. The two pull off a scheme to trick the rest of the guests.The best actor is Brown, a funny character actor whose career spanned for decades. It is no wonder the other leads are practically forgotten today; their acting is quite wooden.The musical numbers can be dull; the singers have operatic voices, not those suited to popular music. However, Miller is able to show how dynamic she is as a dancer. She does a frantic jazz number with awkward steps that were popular in the 20s and she does a graceful ballet number with ease.Also of interest is a color sequence. However, when it begins and ends is very awkward. The film switches to color after a dance number has already started and off again after the number is over and the story has begun again.