Film preservationists have seen to it that a number of older movies of historical interest have been saved and preserved, to be studied and enjoyed again and again. One of the lost early films, however, is a 1930 feature musical called “Leathernecking”, starring Irene Dunne. It’s the story of a buck private, who falls in love with an English peer’s daughter. Naturally, as is the case with most of these farcical plots, there ensues a lot of masquerading, stuffy rivalries, and outrageous plot twists. Nothing out of the ordinary there, but what makes this a film worth discovering is that it was based on a 1928 musical called “Present Arms”, which had a score by non other than Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart…. Charles King, who starred in early MGM musicals, was the show’s lead actor, while the dance director, a young fellow by the name of Busby Berkely, played one of the supporting roles. He even got to perform one of the show’s biggest hit songs, “You Took Advantage Of Me”, a soon-to-be standard that I’d like to sing for you now…..

Film preservationists have seen to it that a number of older movies of historical interest have been saved and preserved, to be studied and enjoyed again and again. One of the lost early films, however, is a 1930 feature musical called “Leathernecking”, starring Irene Dunne. It’s the story of a buck private, who falls in love with an English peer’s daughter. Naturally, as is the case with most of these farcical plots, there ensues a lot of masquerading, stuffy rivalries, and outrageous plot twists. Nothing out of the ordinary there, but what makes this a film worth discovering is that it was based on a 1928 musical called “Present Arms”, which had a score by non other than Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart…. Charles King, who starred in early MGM musicals, was the show’s lead actor, while the dance director, a young fellow by the name of Busby Berkely, played one of the supporting roles. He even got to perform one of the show’s biggest hit songs, “You Took Advantage Of Me”, a soon-to-be standard that I’d like to sing for you now…..