3/5 entertaining--but where's the restoration ???
  by Matthew G. Sherwin (last seen screaming at Amazon customer service)
Reaching for the Moon is a good movie, but it could have been much, much better with some changes. Bebe Daniels does a great job in this film; but poor Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. just doesn't cut it--his higher-pitched voice simply doesn't match my expectations for a tough guy who could still do remarkable acrobatics at the age of 47! His character, a wealthy businessman, seems rather manic at times, too. The plot, however, moves along at a rather good pace and actually I was never bored--the film is entertaining despite the "so-so" quality of the print and the crackling sound in a few scenes which also detracts from the quality of the movie. On the bright side again, there's a great performance by Edward Everett Horton as Roger, the valet to the wealthy businessman in this story.

When the action begins, we quickly meet wealthy aviatrix Vivian Benton (Bebe Daniels) who is engaged to the somewhat stuffy Sir Horace Partington Chelmsford (Claud Allister); she's having a farewell sailing party with her female friends at a fancy hotel in New York. When she lays eyes on Wall Street tycoon Larry Day (Douglas Fairbanks) who is also at that same hotel for a dinner in his honor, Vivian wants to capture Larry and maybe even make him her own despite her engagement to Sir Horace. The next day she sails into Larry's office and although she doesn't make it too far initially, things do start to happen.

Larry, for all his financial success, knows next to nothing about women so his valet Roger (Edward Everett Horton) coaches him in some very funny scenes. Eventually Larry is so interested in running after Vivian that he hops the ship to England she's taking with her father and friends in an attempt to woo her.

The plot can go anywhere from here. No spoilers--watch and find out!

There are, however, a few things that I do want to point out to you--Bing Crosby makes his earliest released film appearance in Reaching for the Moon although he only sings one quick song about 46 minutes into the picture. This film was also one of the very last film performances for Douglas Fairbanks, Sr.; he didn't a smooth transfer from silent movies to "talkies" probably because of his voice and his age limiting him to fewer and fewer acrobatic stunts. In addition, it's interesting to see how the stock market crash of 1929 is initially referred to as a "panic;" it's only later in the film that we see just how bad the market crash really was.

Reaching for the Moon deserves a restoration; it's not that bad a film and even though the plot is somewhat thin it's entertaining. I recommend this movie for fans of the actors in it although the quality of the print and the sound is average at best. It's also an interesting movie for people who enjoy early "talkies."

2/5 Fast Fading Fairbanks!
  by Jery Tillotson (new york city)
Great art deco sets! Ravishing gowns! Maniacal performance by yet another victim of the "talkies" --Douglas Fairbanks Sr.
One watches in amazement as Fairbanks appears more a circus acrobat than a Wall Street millionaire. He runs, jumps, leaps, hangs from chandeliers, screams and hollars--non-stop.
He laughs at everything. If someone opens a door, he laughs. If someone offers him a drink, he laughs. Yet, it isn't a good-natured laugh. It's more like hysteria or sheer terror.
When he actually sits still and tries to be serious, one cringes. In one scene with Bebe Daniels (Dear Lord, but she does try her best)Fairbanks looks at her in terror and blabbers: "I love you more than anyone in the whole world."
In another hysterical scene, he mistakenly imbibes an energy elixir. This sends him racing around the room like a shreiking ape.
Mercifully for everyone, he quit movies after yet another ill-conceived movie--a travelogue. It's a tragedy that this vastly entertaining performer, who deserved his world-wide adulaton, ended his career when his type of star vehicles were no longer being made.


3/5 Fun film but definitely not restored!
  by Joane of Canada
This is a fun film with a chance to see Douglas Fairbanks doing some of his famous acrobatics--in the unlikely role of a financier! I got the film mostly for the Art Deco decor and period costumes but they are hard to see properly because this film has not been remastered or restored and is full of blips and fuzziness. The story itself is a typical '30s love story. As well, unusually for a vintage film, the only other feature is the original trailer and there is no background info. If it came out in a restored clean version, I'd probably replace this one. In the meantime, I'd rather have it than not. An early Bing Crosby sings a song in a nightlife scene.

1/5 Dime Store Restoration for Million Dollar Film
  by Peter Mintun (New York, NY USA)
Shame on PASSPORT VIDEO for this unenlightened packaging of a film that deserves better. Many of us waited patiently for the DVD release of REACHING FOR THE MOON. This glamorous film boasted some of the biggest film stars of the era (Bebe Daniels, Fairbanks, SR., Edward Everett Horton), and was co-written by America's greatest song writer, Irving Berlin. This film also represents the historic studio founded by Hollywood royalty (Pickford, Fairbanks, Sr., Chaplin and D.W. Griffith). The unique, modernistic set design was by the illustrious William Cameron Menzies. So considering all those important factors, it is a crime that PASSPORT VIDEO released this in such compromised condition. The audio and the video are both second rate. To further insult the educated film fans, the DVD claims to include the "original theatrical trailer." When this film was released, Bing Crosby originally had LAST BILLING on the credits. The trailer was obviously made several years later, when the Studio used Crosby's accumulated fame as an excuse to reissue the film!

3/5 It could have been much better
  by calvinnme (Fredericksburg, Va)
This movie was supposed to be a musical, but by 1930 audiences had tired of at least the "All Singing" part of "All Talking, All Singing, All Dancing" movies. Virtually everyone's first talking picture was a musical, and there just wasn't enough good music to go around. I read somewhere that theatres were even putting up signs in the cases of movies that sounded like they might be musicals with statements that read "This is not a musical" so as not to repel audiences. This situation lasted until 1933.

In this case, the movie probably would have been much better if it had gone through with the originally planned musical format. The introductory titles show that the music was written by Irving Berlin, and the cast even includes crooner Bing Crosby, who was so good in "The King of Jazz" that came out that same year. Instead, there is only one musical number two-thirds of the way into the film, and that is the only place we get to see or hear Bing Crosby. On top of that, Bebe Daniels, the lead actress, was a much better singer than she was an actress. Thus making this a romantic comedy of sorts really took away from what she could have brought to the movie.

What you're left with is a little bit more than a shell of a movie. It seems like nobody bothered to fill in the blanks left by the depletion of the would-have-been musical numbers. I give this movie three stars instead of two mainly because of the historical value. Douglas Fairbanks would make only two more movies after this one. Someone else has already mentioned the factor his voice played in the end of his talkie career. It is worth mentioning that his voice isn't outright bad, but it just doesn't match the swashbuckling image he had developed during the silent era. Like John Gilbert, his voice seemed somewhat helium-affected compared to what you're expecting. It is great fun to see him doing some of his trademark acrobatic moves during the film, and it's hard to believe a man of almost 50 could still be so agile and have such a youthful and vigorous appearance. Particularly entertaining is Edward Everett Horton as the valet. He had a good career in silent films, but he would do even better as a character actor in the age of talking pictures where dialogue really allowed him to shine as a well-meaning if somewhat befuddled character in a myriad of films. Also, various sets in the film show off some fine and interesting examples of 1930 architecture, and it is interesting to see how the early stages of the depression were interpreted by people at the time. In 1930 the stock market sell-off is still portrayed as a "panic" and a temporary set-back that has merely bankrupted a few high-rolling financiers.