1h 32min | Comedy, Musical | 30 May 1947
Director: Alfred E. Green
Stars: Groucho Marx, Carmen Miranda, Steve Cochran, Gloria Jean.
Larry Ceballos ... choreographer
9 songs in the Soundtracks, 5 of them with CM singing, 4 with Andy Russell, only 1 with GJ, 2 for GM.
This is Groucho's first starring role without his brothers (he had a cameo in '36), and, per IMDb trivia, his first real-mustache role (it was always greasepaint before).
Groucho pairing with CM is interesting, because she is very good at holding our attention, so she fills the gap of missing Harpo+Chico in some ways. It's almost brave of GM to appear with her, because she's such a scene stealer. But even though I like her plenty, I don't get the same warm glow as I do when watching the brothers together.
I bring the baggage of knowing how the real CM dies, so seeing her character work so hard playing 2 performers is distracting, distressing, not fun, wince-worthy. That's completely unfair, because no one involved with creating this film knows that. But it's just like when Harpo pulls up his sleeve to reveal a tattoo on his forearm in Duck Soup ('33), and my brain makes a Holocaust connection, but the Nazis didn't start that until years later. I can't really see these films as if they were freshly released.
I am very spoiled now, expecting color during big musical numbers. So I miss that here.
But this is a pleasant film. I'm wrestling with 6+ or 7-. I'm feeling generous.
This is the 500th music/al that I've watched in this quest, begun 16.Sep.2017.
Beacon Productions, distr. UA, dir. Green; 7-
