1h 42min | History, Musical | 10 July 1946 | Color
Director: Otto Preminger
Stars: Jeanne Crain, Cornel Wilde, Linda Darnell, William Eythe, Walter Brennan, Constance Bennett, Dorothy Gish.
Dorothy Fox ... choreographer
Watched online, ok print for the small screen.
Notice that the top 4 billed in this Musical all have singing dubbers. None are called upon to move more than social dancing, although I think there was some folk dancing that needed a choreographer, but not with the principals.
Songs performed; all music by Jerome Kern, with lyrics by Yellen, Robin (2 songs), Hammerstein and Harburg; may not be in order of appearance:
- The Right Romance, Sung by Jeanne Crain (dubbed by Louanne Hogan)
- Up with the Lark, Sung by Jeanne Crain (dubbed by Louanne Hogan), Linda Darnell (dubbed), Barbara Whiting, Buddy Swan, Constance Bennett and Walter Brennan
- All Through the Day, Sung by Larry Stevens, Jeanne Crain (dubbed by Louanne Hogan), Linda Darnell (dubbed), William Eythe (dubbed by David Street) and Cornel Wilde (dubbed by Ben Gage)
- In Love in Vain, Sung by Jeanne Crain (dubbed by Louanne Hogan) and William Eythe (dubbed by David Street)
- Cinderella Sue, Sung and danced by Avon Long and children, buskers in the bar where WB gets drunk
The songs are specific to the story, but are not necessary to it, so this falls short of being an Integrated Musical in my, er, book.
LD deliberately tried to steal CW from JC, even though she already had a local doctor (WE) as her fiance. And WE wanted her back? I predict trouble ahead for that marriage. And younger sister JC decides to fight fire with fire. Does this sort of plot reflect real life, or shape it?
WB, and his ambitions as an inventor, his troubles with his boss, plus CB's efforts on his behalf, were far more interesting than the romantic manipulations of LD and JC. I found the invention itself rather odd: why do you need one clock with many faces to show you the time across the country? Won't multiple clocks do the trick just as well? Especially when some regions don't observe daylight savings.
I find it strange that just because this film is anchored by a real event (the Centennial Exposition, which I'm assuming is real), that it gets the genre History. I don't remember any history being discussed, not even why France would want/deserve a pavillion at the fair. And we get the inside look at that pavillion: a model of the city of Paris? Then a costume ball? What was the rest of the Exposition like? Do we get a ring-toss booth and cotton candy? Perhaps a Tunnel of Love?
Fox, dir. Preminger; 6
