1h 38min | Drama, Musical, Romance | 4 September 1942
Director: Archie Mayo
Stars: George Montgomery, Ann Rutherford, Glenn Miller, Lynn Bari, Carole Landis, Cesar Romero.
Nick Castle ... dances stager: Nicholas Brothers
The plot and the stars are skippable. But the music, and the finale with the NB dancing up the wall, where Harold somersaults and lands in a split, these are strong enough to recommend the film. According to commentary track, this was Nick Castle's idea. They trained Harold with ropes around his waist, eventually decided he was ready to solo, and only loosely held the ropes without telling him first. (No mention of Cagney's jumping up the wall in Yankee Doodle Dandy in June. No production dates in IMDb.) In the Tap! Appendix for NB.
Betty Hutton's sister Marion is one of 2 female vocalists for the band (she sings with the Modernaires), and when she starts hamming up the lyrics, she looks and gestures just like her sister. But most of the time she looks placid, and is more beautiful than BH.
Lynn Bari, although she sings, is dubbed here with a voice that nicely matches her own. Instead she plays the conniving b!tch who tries to undo GM's new marriage to AR to win him back, with some help from Carole Landis, who just connives for sport.
Cesar Romero does not dance here, and has limited screen time. Although he plays a womanizing heel, we never see him score. And he gets to play good guy at the end, helping AR and the band.
Cesar Romero does not dance here, and has limited screen time. Although he plays a womanizing heel, we never see him score. And he gets to play good guy at the end, helping AR and the band.
Songs:
- sc1: Moonlight Serenade, making the Glenn Miller title card redundant
- sc2: Chattanooga Choo-Choo, just played as a warm-up
- sc3: People Like You and Me
- sc6: At Last
- sc9: Bugle Call Rag; these lyrics are the only mention of the war, and promote service
- sc16: Serenade in Blue
- sc26: I've Got a Gal in Kalamazoo
- sc27: NB sing & dance to ...Kalamazoo
In the commentary track, AR (1917-2012) & Fayard Nicholas (1914-2006) say they are recording it 63 years after the film, which makes it 2005, the year of the dvd release. The track is as you would expect, given that they didn't interact in the film; they do sound like they were in the same room and interacting during the recording. They bring only personal memories of the film and other things. (AR talks about her youth, her start in radio, her favorite hamburger stand - the first Carl's, all in the Wilshire district.)
Fox, dir. Mayo; 7+
