Saturday, February 17, 2018

Thank Your Lucky Stars (1943), 5

Two producers are putting together a wartime charity show with an all-star cast but the egotism of radio personality Eddie Cantor disrupts their plans.
2h 7min | Comedy, Musical | 25 September 1943
Director: David Butler
Stars: Eddie Cantor, Dennis Morgan, SZ Sakall, EE Horton, Joan Leslie and dozens of Warner stars as themselves.
LeRoy Prinz ... dance numbers created and staged by (as Leroy Prinz)

Watched online; good print.

1st of 9 films for Dinah Shore.

It's a revue with a plot. Eddie Cantor in a dual role as himself and as an actor wannabe who can't get work because he's a dead ringer for EC. But that resemblance helps him get work for his friend DM.

Stars in order of appearance:
  1. Dinah Shore sings the title song with an orch on a radio broadcast.
  2. Cuddles Sakall & EE Horton as producers who want to sign DS for their charity show, but she's under contract to EC, and they don't want him.
  3. Don Wilson as the radio show MC.
  4. John Garfield sings Blues in the Night customized for his tough-guy persona, and EC as his choking victim.
  5. EC sings Now's the Time to Fall in Love, and we meet his other self on the street, soliciting  movie star tour passengers.
  6. Dir. David Butler & Prod. Mark Helinger talk as themselves with ~EC on the street.
  7. Dennis Morgan plays a character in the story, meets ~EC on the street.
  8. Joan Leslie as a songwriter wannabe meets her & DM's crooked agent as he's skipping town.
  9. Spike Jones and his City Slickers perform a novelty version of Ochi Tchornya (which MUST have been in public domain, since it's used a LOT) in Gower Gulch, a Hooverville for the H'wood aspirants, built from discarded movie sets. (Per Wikipedia, GG is the nickname for the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Gower Street in Hollywood.)
  10. JL does an excellent impression of Ida Lupino for DM. Her Cagney impression is not great.
  11. DM, JL perform with Spike Jones et al: I'm Riding for a Fall 
  12. Mike Mazurki as EC's trainer, doing his exercises for him. Cuddles & EEH approach EC for DS's services, and EC sings We're Staying Home Tonight to sell them on his services.
  13. Jack Carson and Alan Hale sing/dance I'm Goin' North. Yes, AH dances, sort of. Dress rehearsal.
  14. Ann Sheridan and chorus girls sing Love Isn't Born (It's Made) in dress rehearsal.
  15. DM, JL sing No You, No Me at restaurant.
  16. Humphrey Bogart acting tough gets out-toughed by Cuddles.
  17. DS sings The Dreamer as a farmgirl in dress rehearsal.
  18. Hattie McDaniel, Willie Best, Rita Christiani, Jess Lee Brooks and others perform Ice Cold Katy.
  19. Ruth Donnelly plays a nurse in a mental hospital with EC as an accidental patient.
  20. DS sings How Sweet You Are in performance as 1861 belle saying goodbye to soldier beau. Ensemble dancing.
  21. Errol Flynn sings/prances That's What You Jolly Well Get with others in merchant marine pub, which brags about his (likely false) war exploits. In performance.
  22. Bette Davis sings They're Either Too Young or Too Old in performance visiting a nightclub. 
  23. The Dreamer reprised by Ida Lupino, Olivia de Havilland (dubbed by Lynn Martin) and George Tobias as hep cats.
  24. Good Night, Good Neighbor sung by DM, danced adagio by Alexis Smith, Igor Dega and Arnold Kent 
  25. ~EC imitates EC in the show, songs are reprised.
Previously rated 4 on 3 Jun 2014. I've acquired a tolerance/taste for Eddie Cantor from this quest. It likely helped to document the stars/scenes today; when I enjoy a musical, I have to do this task in ffwd after watching the film. Without the documentation distraction, I'm sure this film would be pretty tedious. I really don't like non-musical people crossing into musical territory. I prefer professionals doing what they've trained to do. I'll bump it up to 5 for now.

Warner, dir. Butler; 5
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