1h 34min | Drama, Musical, Romance | 29 November 1940
Director: Walter Lang
Stars: Alice Faye, Betty Grable, Jack Oakie, John Payne, Nicholas Brothers.
Seymour Felix ... dance stager
Al Siegel ... assistant dance director (uncredited)
bootleg, but a good print.
In Tap! Appendix for the Nicholas Brothers in The Sheik of Araby (1921) number. The whole number begins around 1:15:00, and NB appear in the middle-ish third of 6+ minutes. The choreography of the non-NB portions is very tame. Can't wait for Jack Cole to arrive in Hollywood; his first credit is appearing with his troupe in Moon Over Miami ('41).
Per the IMDb Soundtracks page: One love song (You Say The Sweetest Things (Baby)) premiered in the film. Otherwise the numbers are all period pieces from the era (mostly 1910s).
1st of 4 pairings of AF (b. 1915) & JP (b. 1912). They both act well, and are believable as love-at-first-sighters. The plot and writing are clearly focused on them, although Jack Oakie gets plenty to do and does plenty with it (I like him). The fuzzy lollipop goes to BG, who already starred in Down Argentine Way (this year), and acted well there. Here she's a repeatedly featured specialty act with lines. I wonder if she watches AF's performance in The Sheik of Araby number, and realizes what a wink, a knowing smile, a roll of the eyes, a wiggle of the head can add to the performance. I get the idea she is very focused on her feet and arm movements. AF is acting while she performs.
The film is pleasant, and conveys some of the history of the titular locale & era. Nicholas Brothers do a remarkable splits-stunt at the end of their routine, and some lovely tapping, but I don't like their costumes or the photography (or maybe it's the set that seems cluttered and cumbersome, or all of the above). Anyway, we just saw them in tuxedos (Down Argentine Way), so this is a little cringe-worthy (are they skinny eunuchs? I thought that's biologically impossible, that removing the testicles creates fat/beefy men.) I just talked myself out of a 7.
Fox, dir. Lang; 6+
