On Our Way
Directors: King Vidor, Leslie Fenton, John Huston, George Stevens
Cast: James Stewart, Henry Fonda, Paulette Goddard, Dorothy Lamour, Burgess Meredith, Fred MacMurray

This example of all-star studio fluff circa 1948 has now been rereleased for home observation by the kind folks at Kino Video. Well, you might feel they're a little less kind after you watch it, but just an iota less.

Meredith plays a newlywed whose been telling his wife (Godard) that he's the Roving Reporter at the newspaper where he works. In reality, he's been manacled to the Want Ads desk for years, dealing mostly with lost cats and dogs. Egged on by his spouse to ask the question, "How has a baby changed your life?" Meredith places his job on the line by disguising himself as the Roving Reporter and going about finding out how a tot has transformed various folks' existences. He's certain that if he comes up with a great column, he'll be promoted to "Roving" status.

Well, off he goes, and each chat Meredith has with a stranger triggers off a flashback vignette. Fonda and Stewart play down-and-out band leaders whose tour bus breaks down in a small town. To repair the vehicle, they'll need to raise $200. How can they achieve that? Why by throwing a talent contest and letting the untalented mayor's son (played by a teenaged Our Gang's Alfalfa) win. A problem arises when a genuinely talented "babe" in a form-fitting swimsuit shows up and can really play the horn.

In the second, Lamour achieves stardom after a confrontation with a really spoiled child star. In the third, MacMurray and William Demerest play conmen who are out-conned by a ten-year-old gangster with the moniker of "Sniffles" Dugan.

The highlight is Lamour singing a spoof about her on-screen sarong persona. For some fetishists, seeing Meredith's shaven bare chest might supply another.

Trivia: John Huston started shooting the Fonda/Stewart segment but was pulled off because of prior commitments. George Stevens took over. Neither received on screen credit.