review for Alexander's Ragtime Band on AllMovie

Alexander's Ragtime Band was the subject of some mild ridicule in its day from critics who commented that, despite the fact that the time frame of the film covers a couple of decades, the stars never aged. But Alexander doesn't pretend to be realistic; it's a delightful little morsel of a film that's the cinematic equivalent of comfort food. And aside from the slightness of the script -- its roundabout love triangle is perfunctory, if effective -- there's little to complain about. There's a bountiful two dozen Irving Berlin songs to ease viewers over the bumpy patches, and not a clunker in the bunch. How can there be when they include the likes of such classics as the sorrowful "Remember," the joyous "Blue Skies," the infectious "Easter Parade," and the rousing "Heat Wave?" This is a score that can stand on its own; that it has two such powerful performers as Alice Faye and Ethel Merman to interpret many of them is a bonus. This is not to overlook Jack Haley and Don Ameche, who do more than respectable jobs, but their numbers simply pale in comparison with Merman's jivey "Pack Up Your Sins" or Faye's sinuous "Now It Can Be Told." The cast is also up to par in the dialogue scenes, even if Tyrone Power is a slightly behind the rest of the leads. Alexander doesn't aim high enough to be one of the screen's great musicals, but it's bright, lively fun.