A medical student who wants to be a crooner gets involved with a showgirl who has an ulterior motive.1h 44min | Musical | May 1945 | Color
Director: George Seaton
Stars: Betty Grable, Dick Haymes, Phil Silvers
Angela Blue ... assistant choreographer
Hermes Pan ... choreographer
bootleg, blurry copy.
In the Tap! Appendix for Betty Grable, and she does tap a little in one number.
I should like this better. I like the heavily used song, The More I See You (The More I Want You), even when these folks sing it and it's played again and again.
But even +I'm+ offended by BG's rendition of In Acapulco. She's saying Spanish phrases with ugly-American pronunciation. Ex: chicka linda instead of cheecka leenda (to write it phonetically without special symbols). If this is supposed to help the good neighbor policy, it might have the opposite effect. (This is also the number where she taps.)
But even +I'm+ offended by BG's rendition of In Acapulco. She's saying Spanish phrases with ugly-American pronunciation. Ex: chicka linda instead of cheecka leenda (to write it phonetically without special symbols). If this is supposed to help the good neighbor policy, it might have the opposite effect. (This is also the number where she taps.)
I'm not fond of DH, and even when the cast says on 2 different occasions that he's handsome, he's not. His voice is well-used here, and he's playing a good guy.
But the plot is a bit grating. DH is 6 months from completing his medical degree, and he helps a couple of people medically, but he wants to be in showbiz like his dad, But dad keeps pushing him back to medicine.
Then dad's girlfriend wants DH to exit, because dad cancelled their planned wedding so he can focus on DH. So gf enlists BG to romance DH and then dump him so he'll go away. As an inducement, gf offers BG her best mink coat, which BG covets, and keeps her motivated.
But BG falls for DH, and they marry, and _she_ directs him back to medicine.
True to H'wood norms, everyone is reconciled and happy at the end. And DH, in ambulance doctor uniform, sings in a mic offstage during the show.
I'm curious why Billy Rose was such a prominent off-screen character. He's mentioned often, and sends telegrams to our characters. He's supposedly starting other shows of various bizarre types in lots of disconnected locales.
I think it's a combination of the plot, the lack of dancing (if the Soundtracks are right, and I think they are, BG only dances twice, even though it has 20 songs performed by various cast members), and the mediocre print. But especially the plot. When I watch this again, I should do the songs performed list.
Fox, dir. Seaton; 6
