1h 36min | Musical, Comedy | 18 June 1943 | Color
Director: Walter Lang
Stars: Betty Grable, George Montgomery, Cesar Romero, Phil Silvers, Charles Winninger.
Angela Blue ... assistant choreographer
Ruth Fanchon ... dance supervisor (as Fanchon)
Hermes Pan ... choreographer / specialty dancer (uncredited)
bootleg, decent copy
Added later: have official release now. Gonna put both in the binder, because again I'm not happy with the OR print (too dark).
In the Tap! Appendix for Betty Grable, Hermes Pan.
This isn't just a musical. It's a MUSICal. And in Glorious Technicolor, with apt costumes/sets.
Soundtracks with performances; chapter references for my bootleg copy (6 min chunks). Title* means writers Rainger/Robin, who got a title card in the opening credits, likely writing these for this film. All others are one-offs (in terms of this film) and can be found on IMDb; none has year published, so not clear which, if any, are true to the time of the story. (?xx? was not in the Soundtracks.)
- ch1, Coney Island*, sung by chorus/quartet as performance/participation in music hall
- ch1, Put Your Arms Around Me, Honey (I Never Knew Any Girl Like You),, sung/wiggled by BG onstage, danced by BG & chorus
- ch2, Who Threw the Overalls in Mistress Murphy's Chowder, sung by CW, PS, GM
- ch4, ?In My Harem?, sung by PS, danced by chorus & specialty
- ch5, When Irish Eyes Are Smiling, sung/danced by BG and Irish quartet mostly in background
- ch6, Cuddle Up a Little Closer, sung/wiggled by BG in rehearsal, reprised slower
- ch7, Cuddle Up a Little Closer, sung slow by BG onstage in hidden ankle&handcuffs
- ch8, medley, sung/danced by BG & chorus onstage
- Winter, Winter*
- Pretty Baby (danced with pantomime horse)
- ch9, Get the Money*, sung by PS on piano in office
- ch9, Miss Lulu from Louisville*, sung/danced onstage by BG in "tropical" makeup, with chorus in blackface (but not white lips)
- ch9, Take It from There*, sung onstage by BG with male sextette
- ch11, Cuddle Up a Little Closer, sung/danced by Phyllis Kennedy
- ch11, Coney Island reprise, sung by BG, GM & others on the beach at night
- ch12, Take It from There*, sung in audition by BG
- ch15-16, There's Danger in a Dance*, sung/danced by BG, chorus, with specialties by HP and by a tango dancer. (HP & BG partner dance much better than in prior films.)
- ch16, Take It from There*, sung by BG as encore to finale
This is lovely: using current music made to seem oldtimey to tell the story of bygone days. And the setting in the past means we avoid the war, except in the final title card.
And yes, there's a plot too. GM & CR are old friends/rivals in show biz. GM comes to CR's music hall to claim half ownership, and to improve the show. BG is the star, and he has plenty of suggestions for her. She resists, but after being forced to do it his way, sees the wisdom. (You have to make everyone in the audience think you're singing just to him.) As everyone prospers, a Hammerstein comes by to see her, with an offer to do a show on a more legit stage. GM pulls a stunt to prevent her getting the offer. After that's reconciled, and GM has ambition to open his own bigger place, CR pulls a similar stunt. Eventually everything & everyone is sorted out properly. The End. Buy Bonds.
And yes, there's a plot too. GM & CR are old friends/rivals in show biz. GM comes to CR's music hall to claim half ownership, and to improve the show. BG is the star, and he has plenty of suggestions for her. She resists, but after being forced to do it his way, sees the wisdom. (You have to make everyone in the audience think you're singing just to him.) As everyone prospers, a Hammerstein comes by to see her, with an offer to do a show on a more legit stage. GM pulls a stunt to prevent her getting the offer. After that's reconciled, and GM has ambition to open his own bigger place, CR pulls a similar stunt. Eventually everything & everyone is sorted out properly. The End. Buy Bonds.
GM is yet another leading man who doesn't sing/dance (I strongly suspect his singing was dubbed, at least he doesn't try to dance), but he is much more pleasant than V.Mature.
Fox, dir. Lang; 8-
