The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

Not an awful film, but also not a great one. While Judy Garland doesn't disappoint, generally as an overall whole 'Everybody Sings' is one of her weaker films along with 'Presenting Lily Mars' and 'Little Nellie Kelly'.Judy is certainly the best thing about it. It was always going to be interesting seeing her before her iconic performance in 'The Wizard of Oz', and while it is not one of her best performance she is endearingly winsome, playful and heartfelt and sings an absolute dream. Not all the cast work, but Reginalds Owen and Gardiner are fun and despite having less than subtle characters they avoid being too hammy. Fanny Brice is mostly amusingly zany, and Lynne Carver is lovely.The songs aren't amazing and most don't stand the test of time, but they are still very pleasant, with enough fun and emotion, and well performed. They are mostly energetically and gracefully staged, again not outstanding but little of it is overblown and it's hardly static or indifferent either. 'Everybody Sings' looks good in crisp black and white, handsome enough without being lavish.As said though, not all the cast work. While Allan Jones sounds lovely, he comes over as a very wooden actor, while Billie Burke flutters shrilly to a very annoying degree. While the song and dance numbers are above average on the whole, "Swing Lo, Sweet Chariot" is not for the faint hearted (there are definitely worse examples of black-face and one is very much aware that they were popular then, but that doesn't mean people should like them) and the finale is over-cooked.Some of the script is witty and charming, others are excessively corny and sentimental, with some of the humour that works well in other media not working well on film (especially the "Baby Snooks" routine). The story is thin and old as the hills, with some parts that feel contrived and parts in the second half that drag.In summary, average film as an overall whole but Judy is great and the film is worth a one-time watch for her. 5/10 Bethany Cox

Love may have found Andy Hardy, but for teenager Judy Bellaire (Judy Garland), it's a thin line between love and hate for her selfish family. Expelled from private boarding school (for turning her music class into a swing session), Judy comes home to find her family uninterested in her problems. Fluttery mom Billie Burke is too busy in hamming it up with the reading of a play with Reginald Gardiner; Papa Reginald Owen, not quite the Wizard of Wall Street, is barking at everybody after bad business deals which left them broke, and sister Lynne Carver is in love with the singing cook (Allan Jones). Garland only wants to help the family and a singing gig at the nightclub where Jones performs on the side leads her to want to pursue a career in the musical theater. She fools her family into thinking she's going to Europe on a school trip and gets into a Broadway show produced by Jones' employer (Henry Armetta), determined to be "Little Miss Fix It" to save a family others would be dying to get out of.Even with Jones and Fanny Brice (as the wise-cracking maid) top-billed, it's Garland's show all the way, swingin' out five songs and stealing her way into your heart, even if the movie surrounding her isn't one of her earlier best. Some of Brice's material comes off dated and does not reflect what Streisand would do as her in "Funny Girl" and "Funny Lady". Garland does a cute but semi-tacky black face number (to "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" no less) and plays Little Lord Fauntleroy to Brice's Baby Snooks in the cute "Why? Because?" musical skit that is one of the highlights of the film. Poor Garland couldn't escape from MGM studio head Louis B. Mayer's description of her as his "little hunchback", being referred to by her character's mother Burke as "my poor ugly duckling".A nice surprise is the appearance of Monty Woolley literally playing "The Man Who Came to Dinner", actually the producer of a play that Burke longs to star in that gets a dinner invitation to share a squab which never arrives. As a result of all the noise, an irresponsible set of parents and a plot best described as not of this Broadway world, this film is only average, filled with some great moments, but an over-stuffed finale where an already wacky family goes even more batty.

I agree with most of the other comments: dull songs and a somewhat boring movie. I loved Fanny Brice as the Russian maid though: after watching her first scene I wondered "Who is that?" and looked it up. I had only heard of her through the movie "Funny Girl" (which I didn't like and couldn't sit through). The Baby Snooks number was awful, a total embarrassment: imagine a 46 year old woman dressed up like a toddler and speaking baby-talk! I'm surprised no one else has mentioned the jaw-dropping scene where Judy appears in black-face, her hair sticking up in cornrows all over her head, and sings a bouncy down-South number with all the usual racist stereotypical mannerisms of the time. Quite startling to see!

Allan Jones and Judy Garland star in one of those wacky backstage musicals that Warner Brothers was better known for in Everybody Sing. With a very talented cast doing the shtick they do best, Everybody Sings comes out as great entertainment.The only weakness in this film and it's a big one is the lack of any memorable songs. The best known one in the film is Cosi Cosa which Allan Jones had originally introduced in A Night At the Opera and he sings a couple of lines of, here. The stuff written for the film directly just doesn't measure up.If Judy doesn't put on a show as she usually does with Mickey Rooney, she does agree to star in a show to help her family who is going bankrupt. Her father is playwright Reginald Owen and her mother is actress Billie Burke who next year Garland would work with in The Wizard of Oz. Burke is one extravagant ham of an actress who is constantly reciting old play dialog in every given situation and she's very funny. Her extravagance is also driving Owen to the poor house.Employed at this house are cook Allan Jones who also sings at a nightclub during the evening and Fanny Brice. I can't quite decide who's funnier in this film, Burke or Brice. It's a good thing that Jones and Garland were the singers that they are because as straight players they could never have held a scene from either of these women.Everybody Sing is a great opportunity to see the great Fanny Brice perform. The image we have of her is from Funny Girl and Funny Lady and it's nice to see the real deal. Also Reginald Gardiner is quite good as a ham actor who's courting Lynne Carver, Garland's older sister who Jones is sweet on. I only wish some memorable songs came from this film it would have achieved greatness if some had.