That's Right - You're Wrong (1939) User Reviews

A short course in the Kollege of Musical Knowledge

[bobc-5 · 6/10 · 26 January 2003]

The head of a big Hollywood studio is tired of making movies which are artistic successes but commercial flops, so he comes up with the idea of filming the nation's hottest live act - Kay Kyser's Kollege of Musical Knowledge. One of his producers just happens to have 2 writers working on a script about a bandleader, so Kay Kyser and band are brought to Hollywood to become movie stars. Unfortunately, the script calls for the bandleader to be a romantic lead, which Kay Kyser obviously isn't. After a few humorous twists and turns, Kyser and band are back on the radio where they belong.

The movie within the movie which never gets made is actually the movie you're watching, and it is obviously little more than an excuse to get Kay Kyser's act on film. The highlight, however, is Kyser's screen test in which he's a romantic gondolier playing opposite studio star Sandra Sand (Lucille Ball). You have to be familiar with his stage personality to appreciate the absurdity of it, and you will be by the time this comic gem of a scene appears. There are some other good comic moments, but the production is otherwise pretty weak. The musical act itself is dated and not likely to appeal to a modern audience unless they happen to have nostalgic yearnings for pre-television radio shows. Nevertheless, Kay Kyser and his movie have a good-natured attitude and whimsical touch which can certainly lift your spirits if you give them the chance.

The best of the Kay Kyser films

[AlsExGal · 7/10 · 19 December 2009]

Most of the other Kay Kyser films that were done in the late 30's and early 40's require a significant historical perspective in order to enjoy them. First, in all of them you need to recognize something about Kyser's act itself, in some of them you need to know something about how the film industry figured into building civilian morale during World War II, and in still others you need specific knowledge of how particular stars were viewed by the public at that time so that the parodies that are part of the plot make sense. This one requires the least background knowledge, although you're not going to like this one if you don't enjoy the big bands of the 30's and 40's and the somewhat corny humor - by today's standards - that was part of the act.

This film has Kyser and his band going out to Hollywood to star in a film at the studio's request. Unbelievably, a plot has been picked out ahead of time by the studio without anyone knowing what Kyser looks like. He's been slated as a romantic lead, and the film's producer and the writers are horrified when they see that Kyser is not a classically good-looking guy. Kay has to deal with the fact that his band members seem to be going Hollywood on him, and the producer (Adolphe Menjou) has to find a way to manipulate Kay into wanting out of his movie contract without causing any hard feelings - the studio head is a big Kay Kyser fan. However, Kay turns the tables on Menjou's character quite comically.

Look for a very young Lucille Ball in a small part as Sandra Sand, the actress that has been chosen as the romantic lead for Kyser in his first film. The two are quite hilarious together in Kay's screen test, and Ms. Ball shows us a glimpse of the great comedienne she'll be on TV in the 50's and beyond.

Nostalgic but bland fun for anyone who can remember Kay Kayser and his band...

[Doylenf · 5/10 · 9 April 2007]

KAY KYSER was the equivalent of "Spike Jones" and his crazy musicians during the '40s era, his swing music and zany shenanigans winning him quite a number of fans who relished seeing him in seven Kyser films. This is the first that he made for RKO--and for added diversion there's LUCILLE BALL, DENNIS O'KEEFE, ADOLPHE MENJOU, EDWARD EVERETT HORTON, GINNY SIMMS and band regulars like ISH KABIBBLE for whatever laughter is available--unfortunately, not enough.

Not half as funny or original as the haunted house comedy YOU'LL FIND OUT which followed, this has a simple screenplay which has Hollywood producers yearning for something "down to earth" to appeal to the average movie-goer rather than anything "great". They pick Kyser as the popular band leader who can be induced to come to Hollywood and do his thing.

The music is all in the swing sound of the '40s--modern pop--and whether you like the film will depend largely on your musical taste. Kyser puts up resistance to becoming a film star. "Stay in your own backyard," is his motto, inspired by his grandmother's advice.

What follows is strictly farce with Kyser illogically paired with lovely LUCILLE BALL as a romantic gondolier by the Hollywood producers. With such a sprightly cast, you'd think David Butler would have whipped up a better script and provided better direction--but the viewer is soon aware that this is a minor item for Kyser's debut and even the musical numbers are less than inspiring.

Apparently grandma MAY ROBSON was right--stick to radio Kyser.

David Butler apparently had a penchant for writing stories about Hollywood studios and turning personalities into movie stars. For better treatment of this theme, check out his IT'S A GREAT FEELING with Doris Day as the wannabee star being pushed for stardom by Jack Carson and Dennis Morgan.

This one is strictly for Kyser's fans.

KYSER'S BEST!

[yessdanc · 5 September 2003]

THAT'S RIGHT, YOU'RE WRONG is the first Kyser feature (there were 7) and I think his best. The plot is rather formulaic, but with a couple of cute twists. I recently purchased director David Butler's script (I'm a Kyser 'kollector') and followed along as i watched the film. There was a song cut, and dialogue as well. Turns out Louella Parsons and then columnist Ed Sullivan were to be in the film alongside Hedda Hopper, Jimmy Fidler et al. Songs are great, band great, Lucille Ball great. Could be this is a bit corny by today's standards, but who cares? It's a fun, innocent flick that presented all the (then) on-air radio characters of the extremely popular Kyser band- Ish Kabibble, Harry Babbitt, Ginny Simms, and Sully Mason, as well as Kyser, visually for the first time.

Charming Comedy

[atlasmb · 7/10 · 24 October 2021]

Bandleader Kay Kyser is an unlikely film star, but here they manage to tailor the script perfectly to his personality and talents. Which is ironic, since the plot is about movie producers having difficulty finding a story that fits his persona.

Kyser is energetic, enthusiastic and full of Middle American corn. He dances around a bandstand and handles punch lines like a pro. As testament to his talent, consider the section late in the film when they stage an entire radio quiz show and it is one of the best parts of the film.

The band and its singers provide a soundtrack that is very enjoyable. If you like big band music, like me you'll find yourself daydreaming about how much fun it would have been to attend one of their shows, either in an audience or on tour.

Ginny Simms deserves special mention for her mellifluous voice.

It's all Kay Kyser

[richard-1787 · 6/10 · 21 February 2021]

Yes, I know Lucille Ball is in this movie, but if you blink, you'll miss her. She's in one mildly funny scene.

Otherwise, this movie revolves around band leader Kay Kyser. He's an engaging guy, so he more or less carries the picture.

What he doesn't carry is the musical numbers, which are all forgettable and can be skipped. Given that there are a fair number of them, that's unfortunate.

An introduction to the wacky world of Kay Kyser and his Kollege of Musical Knowledge

[estherwalker-34710 · 6/10 · 30 October 2021]

Saw this on TCM. Had no idea that band leader and radio personality Kay Kyser headed a series of 7 RKO films, around 1940. This film, available free at YouTube will give you a taste of Kyser's personality and comedic talent...........The first and last parts give you a sampling of what Kyser's radio program Kollege of of Musical Knowledge was like: a mix of music and low key comedy, including a sampling of the portion that gives the film it's title, and a comedic sketch for the live radio audience.......... In between, his band members convinced him to take up a Hollywood offer to do some pictures with him and his band and singers. Actually, most of the time is taken up with trying to devise a good script for such a film. E. E. Horton and Hobart Canonaugh serve as the dunce script writers, who fail to come up with anything other than an improbable screenplay where Kay plays a romantic gondolier from the isle of Capri, who woos the princess Angelica(Lucille Ball), overlooking the canal where he is. She lets down a rope ladder for Kay to climb up to her window. Kay plays it for slapstick laughs, giving the producer, played by charismatic Adolphe Menjou, a massive headache. Adolphe is his usual bombastic self. Dennis O'Keef plays Kay's tall band manager, while Kay's actual band manager for many years : M. A. Bogus, plays his usual somewhat comical Ish Kubble character, with Three Stooges' Moe's bangs as his outstanding visual characteristic............Veteran actress May Robson play's Kay's Grandma, from Rocky Mount, N. C., where Kay actually spent his youth, accounting for his southern lingo and informal manner. She adds some humor and common sense advice. .............Kay had a male and female singer attached to his band, who do a bit singing here and there. They were the gorgeous Ginny Simms, with the million dollar smile, and Harry Babbit. Unfortunately, the songs are all quite forgettable. I was already familiar with Ginny in the later Technicolor films "Broadway Rhythm" and "Night and Day", in which she sings a variety of well recognized classic songs. Somehow, she never became a big name film singing star.

fun comedy with kay kyser

[ksf-2 · 7/10 · 25 October 2021]

A very typical but enjoyable kay kaiser film.... he manages to work in great music, a pretty thin plot ( in this case, the story of an orchestra making a film in hollywood!) and some pretty silly but fun comedy. Some amazing co-stars.. adolphe menjou. Edward horton. And lucy! And there's a really fun musical quiz. I think that's what set kyser apart from other contemporary musicians -- he wanted it to be fun! And it was. This was the first of several films he and the band would make over the next couple years. Shows on turner classics now and then. It's a fun one! Directed by david butler... made three films with kay kyser!

That's right, it's long!

[mark.waltz · 4/10 · 6 May 2015]

Bandleader Kay Kyser ("College of Musical Knowledge") is a vintage entertainer of limited taste, and his group is also a mixed bag, so an entire film wrapped around the efforts of a fictional movie studio attempting to make a movie with him as star is going to face a bit of disbelief. Even in the 30's and 40's, he was probably not for everybody, even though his radio show was extremely popular. But that was only for half an hour or so, resulting in the fact that more than 90 minutes of him is simply too much.

Studio head Moroni Olsen has gotten word that America wants more of Kay which leaves producer Adolph Menjou and scriptwriters Edward Everett Horton and Hobart Cavanaugh scrambling to come up with a story for his basically unromantic looking mug. Their initial idea, a Venice gondolier, seems ridiculous, and when it is filmed (with Lucille Ball as leading lady), their qualms are proved right. That sequence is the funniest in the film, but the rest of the story (which has Kyser's band being slowly dismissed from being in the film) is slight even though it's obvious that his lead singer (Ginny Simms as herself) has much more musical talent than Lucy (who doesn't sing) could ever hope to have. The future queen of T.V. sitcoms is wasted here, so if you're out to see this because she's in it, save yourself the time (and thumb pressure on the remote control fast forward button) and head onto either "The Big Street" or her series of Columbia comedies where she was certainly much better used.

The funniest actress in the film is veteran scene stealer May Robson as Kyser's ultra-feisty granny who had played a very similar role (but more dramatically) as Janet Gaynor's grandmother in "A Star is Born" (where Menjou also played a producer). The musical numbers are either bland or overly silly, but when Simms sings a ballad, all of that is forgotten. In 1939, fans of Kyser were probably anxious to see what an actual taping of the show looked like, but the final sequence goes on way too long and a lot of the jokes instantly dated themselves. There is some authenticity in the Hollywood party which Kyser throws (making himself purposely looking absolutely ridiculous, almost effeminate) where such Hollywood reporters as Hedda Hopper, Sheila Graham, Erskine Johnson and Jimmy Starr take notes on the wacky but over-the-top activities going on. The film isn't really horrible, just a relic of a style of humor which disappeared way before the invention of that contraption called television.

Not in my backyard

[AAdaSC · 3/10 · 14 December 2023]

Film studio boss Moroni Olsen (Jonathan) wants a hit film and producer Adolphe Menjou (Delmore) has the solution. His idea is to bring popular radio entertainer Kay Kyser to the silver screen and he has an oven-ready script. Ok, over to Menjou for the successful film.

Unfortunately, the film fails to succeed on two counts - in the actual film and in reality. Kay Kyser isn't good-looking and so Menjou's idea is immediately scuppered as his oven-ready story has Kyser cast as a romantic gondolier, ie, good-looking. There is no way he can pull this off. Kyser is also a rather goody-2-shoes home-bod who brings his ghastly annoying grandmother May Robson along with him to the film studios. He would much rather stay in his own backyard. Thankfully, after a film's-worth of nauseating comedy (never funny), he goes back to his live radio show. This is the only enjoyable part of the film along with a short sequence of Kyser as a gondolier as a taster for the film which has Menjou in despair (his reactions are the funniest part of the film).

The songs are also butchered into silly child-like singing although singers Ginny Simms and Harry Babbitt have good voices and work well together when doing their thing, especially in the opening song.

I suggest you leave this film in any backyard you chance upon. Let the new owner deal with it.

Ginny is wonderful

[JohnHowardReid · 8/10 · 29 April 2007]

"Kay Kyser's Kollege of Musical Knowledge" was an extremely popular weekly radio broadcast when RKO signed Kyser and his band to this, their first film. The studio's faith in the bespectacled band-leader paid off handsomely at the box office, this initial effort grossing more than a million dollars in domestic admissions alone. All told, the studio netted around $520,000 in U.S./Canadian rentals after paying all print, advertising and distribution expenses. On a negative cost of $300,000 this returned a tidy profit which was split three ways: RKO, Butler and Kyser himself.

As to whether the film is still entertaining today, that depends on whether you're a Kay Kyser fan and/or a Ginny Simms admirer. I put myself strictly in the latter class, though I must admit Kyser is quite tolerable here — and even mildly diverting, aside from the climactically generous (but specially staged for the movie) excerpt from his weekly radio program which wears my patience a little thin. Fortunately, Miss Simms does receive a large amount of the camera's attention (beautifully costumed and photographed she is too) and sings most of the songs as well. On the other hand, I'm happy to report that my pet hate, Merwyn Bogue (Ish Kabibble to you) receives comparatively little footage. Adolphe Menjou, typecast once again as a harassed film producer, gives a somewhat mechanical performance, but does contribute some amusing moments, as do Horton and Cavanaugh as a couple of egotistical scriptwriters.

I'm always a pushover for movies with a Hollywood background. The satire here is rather mild, but still reasonably entertaining. Especially the gondola screen test in which Lucy Ball (who has otherwise very little to do in this picture) finally gets some comic moments.

KYSER'S BEST!

[yessdanc · 6 September 2003]

THAT'S RIGHT, YOU'RE WRONG is the first Kyser feature (there were 7) and I think his best. The plot is rather formulaic, but with a couple of cute twists. I recently purchased director David Butler's script (I'm a Kyser 'kollector') and followed along as i watched the film. There was a song cut, and dialogue as well. Turns out Louella Parsons and then columnist Ed Sullivan were to be in the film alongside Hedda Hopper, Jimmy Fidler et al. Songs are great, band great, Lucille Ball great. Could be this is a bit corny by today's standards, but who cares? It's a fun, innocent flick that presented all the (then) on-air radio characters of the extremely popular Kyser band- Ish Kabibble, Harry Babbitt, Ginny Simms, and Sully Mason, as well as Kyser, visually for the first time.

Wonderful!

[theclassicmovies · 10/10 · 7 January 2007]

If I could rate this movie higher than a 10, I would. May Robson does a wonderful job at playing Kay's Grandma. She has told Kay several times to "stay in his own back yard". Well, that is some good advice that we all should listen to. The musical scene that the gang does for Stacy Delmor, played by Adolf Menjou and Tom Village, played by Edward Everett Horton is a riot. Everyone should see this movie. It is timeless with it's puns, it's laughs and it's music. Sandra Sand played by Lucill Ball, well all I can say is that part suits Ms. Ball. I would say that out of all of the Kay Kyser films I have seen (few as they are) this one is my favorite. You'll have to watch this film to see exactly what I am talking about. To para-phrase one of Kay's other movies... "You'll Find Out"... do watch this when you can.

A Delight

[dougdoepke · 15 July 2008]

This is Kyser's first film and it sparkles with bounce and personality. Credit director Butler for keeping things moving, and band members for showing that making music is not their only talent. Kyser himself is a delight with real comedic skill. I like the way he allows his plain looks to blend into the story-line; at the same time, it's rather refreshing to see a less-than-handsome face in the starring role. And, of course, there's the lovely and toothsome Ginny Simms, singing her way into my heart, at least. I gather Kyser's band were not concert performers like Goodman's, Dorsey's or Miller's, but were more for fun and sheer entertainment. They certainly succeed here.

The story itself amounts to a clever spoof on movie-making, with Menjou as the studio schemer, and includes assorted real-life gossipers of the day like Hedda Hopper. And, oh yes, mustn't forget the hilarious screen test, where Lucille Ball matches Kyser pratfall for pratfall. Knowing how her career will eventually turn out, this is a tasty glimpse of things to come. Then there's the old gal who plays Grandma (May Robson) who is a real hoot with genuine sass and sparkle. We also get about 20 minutes of the Kyser radio show Kollege of Musical Knowledge. It's enlightening for those of us not old enough to remember; however, I think 10 minutes would have been enough. Nonetheless, the movie never drags, and is really a lot more fun than many other musicals featuring bigger name bands and celebrities. All in all, "That's Right..." amounts to an unexpected movie delight.

a fun movie

[runtexas · 8/10 · 25 October 2021]

A really fun movie, worth watching, particularly if you are a fan of the pre WWII big bands. Other big bands, i.e., Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, also made musical movies at that time. The best thing about those movies is seeing and hearing the great big bands. Lucille Ball also does a great job in this movie.