Hitting a New High

HITTING A NEW HIGH puts the spotlight on LILY PONS and her coloratura soprano vocal range, but unfortunately has a plot that is beyond silly. For publicity purposes, JACK OAKIE and EDWARD EVERETT HORTON decide to perpetuate the idea that she was discovered in the African jungle, a bird girl who happens to have a gorgeous singing voice. Horton puts her under the tutelage of a voice teacher so that he can put her on display as his own singing discovery. From that point on, the plot is saddled with even more improbabilities until finally everyone is happy that Miss Pons has been anyone's discovery, so impressive is her singing voice.

Indeed, RKO made sure that she gets to sing several arias (superbly), trilling her way through difficult arias with great ease and charm. But she was never the most photogenic of singers and no amount of close-ups are able to disguise the fact that she is not your typical Hollywood glamor girl. However, despite the banality of the plot, she seems a good sport to play the "bird girl" with such gusto.

For plot purposes, most of the spotlight is on JACK OAKIE, EDWARD EVERETT HORTON and ERIC BLORE--which turns out to be a good thing when it comes to comic relief. Horton and Blore are particularly effective in their zany roles, both capable of injecting some good laughs into the script.

Summing up: Pleasant trifle does indicate that Miss Pons had one of the best soprano voices at the Met (for some thirty years), even if she was not quite star quality on the screen.