AllMovie

Artists and Models is only a middling musical, but it's somehow much more enjoyable than it should be. Certainly this is not due to the screenplay, which is the same sort of goofy claptrap that is found in dozens of other period musicals, especially those which are essentially vaudevilles with a thin storyline tying the specialty acts together. Yet the plot is a wee bit more developed than usual in these pics, and some of the comic bits are actually amusing. And while the score is far from stellar, it's quite pleasant, especially the handful of Burton Lane tunes that tickle the ear without lingering there for a very long time. Friedrich Hollander's "Whispers in the Dark" is quite lovely, especially as sung by the irreplaceable Connee Boswell. Judy Canova and Ben Blue are lively as all get out, and Martha Raye and Louis Armstrong stomping through "Public Melody No. 1" is a treat. That last song, by the way, marked the first film contribution of Vincente Minnelli and also caused a scandal among some filmgoers for showing a white woman and a black man performing together. Ida Lupino is worth watching, if wasted, but the film's biggest asset is star Jack Benny, demonstrating his perfect timing and generating laughs simply from the way in which he pauses.