1h 27min | Music | 7 November 1941
Director: Victor Schertzinger
Stars: Bing Crosby, Mary Martin, Brian Donlevy, Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson.
Eddie Prinz ... dance director (uncredited)
They should have provided a music-only track. This is gooooood stuff. Especially when we get St. James Infirmary, one of my faves.
It seemed as though I'd seen Schertzinger a lot in this quest, but not so much. This is only the 6th, only the 5th as director, 4th with BC, and he has only 1 more director credit after this, which I don't find online. He has almost as many Soundtrack credits (17 for I Remember You and 22 for Tangerine, both of which debuted in that last film, The Fleet's In ('42)) as Director credits (84 vs 89, starting in 1915). He died at age 53 in '41, heart attack.
Don't get excited about the cast list including Louis Armstrong, et al. They appear in a clip montage near the end. And Mantan Moreland is only in the early scene at Basin St. Don't be fooled by the Color mention: it's only a short sequence of color slides in the movie house where the band tries to play. Oddly, BC, who is singing off to the side in a spotlight, is not in color, only the slides. Is someone showing off their new optical printer?
I find the casting of Brian Donlevy a bit strange. I guess you don't need a musician to portray a cornet player who fights a lot. The crew list includes the cornet and clarinet doubles for BD and BC, but this is the only credit for each and their names are not familiar.
BC & MM sing, including together. She has a good style range: classical to blues. It's a shame she has only 12 film credits; of the 5 remaining, I own 4. The Soundtracks list 16 songs, the Scenes menu advertises 8 of them.
The plot illustrates the problem of nightclubs run by gangsters, and the control they exerted over performers. For that and the music, my prior 7 stands.
Paramount, dir. Schertzinger; 7
