Varsity Show (1937)

(On Cable TV, December 2022) I swear I’ve seen Varsity Show a year or two ago, but I can’t find any trace of it in my notes. Maybe I dismissed it as not being worth a review the first time around, but that’s not the case now. For one thing, I’m revisiting it with a greater appreciation for Dick Powell and his early crooner-idol phase. For another, I’m more informed about Busby Berkeley, whose imprint on the film’s finale is unmistakable. For a third thing, I’m perhaps better disposed toward silly college/showbiz comedies of the 1930s: it’s easy to burn out on those, but a second look at Varsity Show caught me in a favourable mood. The story is a blend of college comedy and Broadway musical, as students in a middling college want to put on a variety show and get the bright idea of hiring a celebrated alumnus (Powell) to modernize it. As it happens, that alumnus has fallen on hard times, and the idea of taking a few months off Broadway to work in an obscure college is exactly what he wants. The action, after a few shenanigans opposing “traditional” (1900s!) versus “modern” (1930s!) shows, eventually makes its way back to Broadway, where Berkeley takes care of the finale’s impressive choreography (inspired by college cheers) and everything ends on a good note. Powell plays the Broadway-shunned alumnus with his then-usual boyish good looks, singing prowess and irresistible charm. Varsity Show is not a shining moment for anyone involved in its production and easily gets lost in the shuffle of similar films (it’s a good thing it ends on a Berkely high note), but it’s fun to watch if you’re in the right mood—it’s peppy and fun and, in comparing the 1930s to 1900s notions of modernity, even has something to teach us about the sliding window of what is considered stuffy.