If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

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

Alice Faye's heyday was from the mid 1930s to the early 1940s when she introduced a myriad of standards in that mellowed, honeyed voice of hers but Fox never seemed to do the right thing by her - maybe she was just too nice. There was always a newer, flashier star she had to share the limelight with - not always but it sure seemed like it!! Initially she served part of her apprenticeship playing second fiddle to Fox's biggest star Shirley Temple, then in the 1940s Betty Grable was getting the studio excited. Even when she did do a movie "On the Avenue" and got to sing a swag of songs she made popular, Madeline Carroll was in it to be paired with Dick Powell and Faye had to be content with a "sugar daddy"!! and when she was coaxed into doing a movie, "Fallen Angel", that she felt would take her career in a new direction suddenly sultry Linda Darnell's part was built up at the expense of her own. "Hello Frisco, Hello" was also a comeback - she was happily married to Phil Harris and had given birth to a daughter the year before - but this time everything worked out in her favour. In the two years she had been absent from the screen she had lost none of her public appeal or the ability to put over a song.With a medley of old time tunes the movie introduces the naughty, bawdy San Francisco of the early 1900s and a slick singing team from Sharkey's Saloon who sing "Lindy Lou", "Hello Frisco, Hello" and "You'll Never Know", hoping the act can push them into the big time but it only gets them fired. They start to put on free street shows ("Ragtime Cowboy Joe", "Sweet Cider Time"). Johnny (John Payne) is the wheeler dealer of the group and is able to put on a legitimate show due to "protection" money he is able to get from the saloons - they pay him and he keeps the street shows away from their premises.If any film was enhanced by Technicolor it was this one. The richness of the decor and the brightness of the costumes will leave you agog!! It would take a whole review to describe Alice Faye's costumes - her "Grizzly Bear" outfit includes a red ostrich feather hat and matching muff. She may not give an Academy Award performance but she looks absolutely gorgeous in these turn of the century gowns. It can't be all fun and games and Lyn Bari, as Bernice Croft, makes a beautiful "other woman" from Nob Hill. This is the crowd Johnny aspires to and of course comes unstuck.One of the highlights (for me) is Faye's "personality" rendition of "They Always Pick on Me". The songs (and beautiful costumes) keep coming - "Bedelia", "Has Anybody Here Seen Kelly" etc. Faye plays Trudy and Bernice's brother Ned takes a special interest in her, bringing a very interested English impresario to listen to her sing and whisk her off to the continent where she becomes the toast of London. Trudy returns to America to find all of Johnny's clubs closed - after marrying Bernice he turns his back on the Barbury Coast and pours all his money into bringing Grand Opera to San Francisco. Needless to say Trudy finds him down and out but with a little wheeling and dealing (involving Laird Cregar as a blustering prospector) he is put on his feet again for the encore of "Hello Frisco, Hello" and "You'll Never Know".Jack Oakie had been making audiences laugh since talkies first came in - his career was given a boost when Chaplin gave him the role of "Il Duce" in "The Great Dictator" but this movie saw him almost at the end of his career.

Wonderful music and sumptuous color mark this great 1943 film. The song You'll Never Know won the academy award that year and deservedly so.This is a sparkling musical where John Payne really shines as Johnny Cornell, a street hustler, who goes from rags to riches. While I thought that Clark Gable would have been fabulous in the part, Payne is quite good here.Alice Faye seemed to just get better and better. Continuing her tradition in "Alexander's Rag Time Band," she goes through a lot to get her man.Jack Haley and June Havoc give great musical support to Payne and Fay. Havoc looks just like Lucille Ball in several scenes. Hard to believe that just 4 years later, she portrayed Jewish secretary Elaine Wales in "Gentleman's Agreement." I guess that's what acting is all about.The devil here is Lynn Bari, a socialite from Knob Hill who is wiped out only to marry an up and coming Cornell and then take him for a financial ride.Of course, love conquers all at the end but you will feel so good after seeing this film. They just don't make musicals like this anymore.

One of the best musicals ever to come out of Fox and one of the top Alice Faye showcases. Never mind the plot, just set back and enjoy the sultry velvety voice of the most beautiful Alice Faye, the finest song stylist ever to come out of Hollywood .This beautiful film introduced the Academy Award winning song-"You'll Never Know" which Faye sings three times in the picture. This haunting song was reprised the following year by her in the wartime musical "Four Jills in a Jeep". It has been recorded countless times, however no one sings it like Faye. She pulls the heart strings in a professional fashion.If you are not familiar with Alice Faye, do yourself a favor and discover why she was the Number #1 Box-Office star over Bette Davis in the early 1940's. I highly recommend this lavish musical entertainment.

Of all Alice Faye's 20th Century-Fox musicals, "Hello Frisco, Hello" is probably my favorite. It is certainly the one that deserves to be called enchanting. The only other memorable Faye musicals that come to mind are "On the Avenue"(1937), "Alexander's Ragtime Band"(1938), "That Night in Rio"(1941) and "Wake Up and Live"(1937). "Hello Frisco" is a feast for the eyes and ears, breathtakingly photographed in Technicolor. The colors, the period costumes, and director Bruce Humberstone's nostalgic evocation of San Francisco's Barbary Coast at the turn of the century - are sublime. It also abounds in one gloriously tuneful song or dance number after another. There are lots to choose from including "Strike Up the Band," "Has Anybody Here Seen Kelly?" and "Ragtime Country Joe", but Faye's memorable rendition of "You'll Never Know" is the best of them all. IT works as a perfect combination of Faye's sweet vulnerability and honesty. Faye's co-star John Payne is equally marvellous as Johnny Cornell. Contrary to a previous reviewer's remarks about Payne's stiffness, I didn't find him really that stiff. A bit stoic, maybe, but his Johnny Cornell is in perfect harmony with Faye's sweet Trudy Evans. And I can't imagine anyone else playing that role or doing a better job. In all, a Glorious delight.