Along Came Sally: A Strange Little Musical Caper

Should you watch it?

If you like old-school musical comedies where the plot is mostly an excuse to get to the next song, then sure, dive in. If you get annoyed by people acting in fake accents for 80 minutes, stay far away. It is not exactly high art, but it has a weird, frantic energy that I kinda dug.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Along Came Sally (1933) through its definitive frames.

Cicely Courtneidge is doing a lot of heavy lifting here. She is playing the lead who pretends to be this French starlet, and honestly, the sheer commitment to the bit is impressive. Or maybe just exhausting. I couldn't decide which.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Along Came Sally (1933) through its definitive frames.

The whole setup with the gangsters trying to squeeze the nightclub owner feels like it was borrowed from a much grittier movie, maybe something like Private Detective 62, but it stays surprisingly light. It is like they wanted to add tension but got scared halfway through.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Along Came Sally (1933) through its definitive frames.

Some random notes from my notebook:

• The nightclub sets look like they were made out of construction paper and hope.
• Every time the "French" accent slips, I laughed way harder than I should have.
• The musical numbers just… appear. There is zero transition. One minute they are arguing about mobsters, the next they are singing. It is jarring, but somehow it works?
• Wait, why is the club owner from Chicago? The movie doesn't really explain that, and I don't think it cares.

I found myself thinking about Amature Nite while watching this, mostly because of that same "let's just put on a show" desperation. There is a specific kind of 1930s charm to movies that are this thin on logic but heavy on personality. It is not trying to be a Mathias Sandorf epic, and that is probably for the best.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Along Came Sally (1933) through its definitive frames.

The kidnapping plot is the weakest part. It feels like the writers realized they needed a climax and just threw the characters in a basement. The pacing there? Woof. It just grinds to a halt.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Along Came Sally (1933) through its definitive frames.

Still, for a rainy afternoon? It is fine. Just don't expect it to change your life. 💃