Dangerous Nan McGrew is a 1930 Pre-Code American musical comedy film starring Helen Kane, Victor Moore and James Hall and directed by Malcolm St.
Released in April, the M-G-M production was in theatres two months before the Paramount picture, serving the public appetite for sound films featuring music.
[5] The New York Times panned Dangerous Nan McGrew, accusing producer Mack Sennett and Paramount of squandering its comedic potential.
In spite of casting genuine screen talent, and starring Helen Kane, “Dangerous Nan McGrew isn't funny.” Actor Stuart Erwin is chastened for “grimacing his way” through the part of Eustace Macy, and Helen Kane for “acting in a tediously cute manner.” The scenario is identified as formulaic: “The crooks are captured, the rewards distributed and the marriages consecrated.”[6] Biographer Ruth Anne Dwyer observes that director St. Clair skillfully incorporated a number of “signature” shots in which actors repeatedly open and close doors searching for one another.
Dwyer notes that Nan McGrew, though having “charming moments,” suffered from poor editing—a symptom of the new film stock that incorporated sound recording into the visual images: “The necessity of having to rely on others to edit was to hound St. Clair for the rest of his career.”[8]