With Words and Music (DVD)

A bookie, Jimmie Allen, is infuriated when dance hall girl Pearl turns him down and bamboozles him out of his money. Fixed on getting revenge, Jimmie pretends to be a talent scout and casts Pearl in a deliberately shoddy staging of "The Mikado," using an out-of-work Gilbert and Sullivan troupe as his unsuspecting accomplices. Things don't go according to plan when the production quickly becomes the smash hit of Broadway. Now Jimmie has an entire theatre company looking to him for leadership, and a gorgeous leading lady in love with him.

Also known as The Girl Said No, With Words and Music's story of a small-time crook putting on a musical was a blend of the primary interests of director Andrew L. Stone. Boasting a forty-year career in Hollywood, Stone started as a skilled director of musicals like The Great Victor Herbert (1939) and Stormy Weather (1943) but later became known for realistic crime dramas such as A Blueprint for Murder (1953) and The Night Holds Terror (1955). With Words and Music's staging of Gilbert and Sullivan numbers was considered so impressive that it was nominated for a Best Sound Oscar at the 1938 Academy Awards. King Kong star Robert Armstrong is assisted by a fine cast of supporting players including Irene Hervey, Paula Stone and Richard Tucker.

• musical