"Pointed Heels" is a very talkative 70 minutes - always lovely visually, it boasts excellent production values. Fay Wray never looked more lovely and, as usual, she is not required to act. William Powell, in his first top-billed movie, was as dapper as he would ever be. Helen Kane was defiantly a presence to be reckoned with. Hopefully, she was never again forced to appear as a platinum blonde....even for comic effect. It's not funny. A strong personality and veteran performer, she could still tend to cloy - without proper direction. Proper direction is completely foreign to "Pointed Heels." The story concerns the love affair between hard working showgirl, Wray, and spoiled rich boy/composer Phillips Holmes. Skeets Gallagher and his wife, Kane, are in the musical show, Pointed Heels, that Wray and Holmes are also working on. William Powell is the kindly producer with an eye for Miss Wray and almost a determination to doom the show - for no particular reason. Inexplicably Wray ignores him and goes for the boring Holmes. Miss Kane and Mr. Gallagher work hard to make sense of the badly contrived musical numbers. Finally, they are thrown into the finale right after Powell has gotten them "stinko" drunk - to try to loosen them up and make them "less high class." Well, that's one way to do it. The embarrassing finale is sung and danced by the drunken Kane and Gallagher without benefit of a chorus line or any sort of backup. The considerable number of showgirls running around in the background gives one the feeling that there were chorus numbers filmed but somehow chopped from the movie by the (in this case) hack editor, Jane Loring. After Kane and Gallagher stagger through their closing number, Powell proclaims Pointed Heels, (the name of the show within the show), a "hit," which signals the end of the whole odious affair.
There are two clever songs, "Ain't Cha" and "I Have to Have You," both nicely tailored for the adorable Miss Kane. Too bad she wasn't allowed to do them her way. It would appear she did them while under orders rather than under direction. Then there is Holmes' "Unfinished Symphony" - which keeps threatening to finish. Fortunately the film finishes first. This movie is for 1. The Initiated, 2. The Die Hard Fan, and 3. the Film Student. This reviewer recommends it to these three overlapping groups...some of whom will probably love it. For those who wonder if there are actually any good prints in existence the answer is "yes." This film has been on television within the last 25 years. There is also a well founded rumor that a good nitrate print of it exists at the UCLA Archive. The existence of the original color sequences is uncertain, as this reviewer only has access to a 16mm black and white print which is complete but lacks the element of color. Pointed Heels was directed by A. Edward Sutherland. Written by Florence Ryers and John V. A. Weaver based on a story by Charles Brackett (long before his legendary collaborations with Billy Wilder). Editing by Jane Loring. Shame shame on A. Edward Sutherland and Jane Loring....the two heels most responsible for Pointed Heels. It could have been so much better. The real winners are those who did the art direction, sets and costumes....all of which are stunning. The best argument for the production's existence is the rare appearance of Helen Kane. Anyone familiar with her knows she was capable of a far better performance. Paramount musicals are often elusive, so one should seriously think twice before passing up an opportunity to see one...and that includes this one.
