The staff of a record factory drown their sorrows at Duffy's Tavern, while the company owner faces threats of bankruptcy.1h 37min | Comedy, Musical | 28 September 1945
Director: Hal Walker
Stars: Ed Gardner, Victor Moore, Marjorie Reynolds, Barry Sullivan, Charles Cantor.
Billy Daniel ... dance director (as Billy Daniels)
Watched online, blurry print.
In the Tap! Appendix for Johnny Coy. Should also list Miriam Franklin (aka Miriam Nelson from her marriage to Gene), who danced with him. Their 4 minute story mimed in dance starts at about 69 minutes in to the story. This is her 6th of 9 acting credits, but she has over 50 choreography credits split between movies and TV. This is already the 5th of 8 credits for Johnny Coy.
Soundtracks only lists 4 performed songs. Seems like we got more than that.
Danny Dare, usually the choreographer, gets his 1st of 8 production credits here (associate producer).
This is retread of the idea of Star Spangled Rhythm ('42), except the Paramount stars are used for a block party to raise money. The stars are too numerous to repeat here.
This is the only film for radio star Ed Gardner, who also gets writing credit. This film is based on his radio character & show. His heavy Brooklyn accent paired with multiple malapropisms per sentence is grating. Damon Runyon he ain't.
The plot line of the record company is skippable. Although I like VM, he's not so charming, portraying a lazy/incompetent company owner.
If MR danced, I missed it. She plays VM's daughter.
I'm not sure if I've ever liked Barry Sullivan, and if that's caused by the types of characters he plays. Here he's a returned vet who's rather nasty about VM having let the record company slip away. He's the one who brings it back to life, but I don't like him.
Betty Hutton and Cass Daley each have a song, and neither is something I need to see again.
Other than Johnny Coy's number, the only reason to fire this up is Bing Crosby's number Swinging on a Star, which he shares with a lot of the stars. But he's prominent enough to make it worthwhile. It's the finale for the film.
Paramount, dir. Walker; 6-
