Follow The Leader

Ed Wynn supplies the gags as a screechy-voiced waiter named Crickets who gets mixed up with a gang tagged "The Hudson Dusters." He does his best to find fame for Rogers and succeeds when Merman is kidnaped before the big show. The comedy is silly but pays off with a few good belly laughs. Paramount cast Merman in her first film role at the last minute, replacing Ruth Etting. Songs highlighted are "Satan's Holiday" (Sammy Fain, Irving Kahal), "Brother, Just Laugh It Off" (E.Y. Harburg, Arthur Schwartz, Ralph Rainger), "Broadway, the Heart of the World" (Lew Brown, Buddy DeSylva, Ray Henderson, from the original play).