Sunday, March 4, 2018

Sensations of 1945 (1944), 6+

Father and son press agents fail to see things eye to eye, in the final screen appearance of comedian W.C. Fields.
1h 26min | Musical | 30 June 1944
Director: Andrew L. Stone
Stars: Eleanor Powell (EP), Dennis O'Keefe, C. Aubrey Smith, Eugene Pallette.
David Lichine ... choreographer
Charles O'Curran ... choreographer

Bootleg copy, poor quality, but the dances come through. This is the re-release, without "of 1945" on the title.

In the Tap! Appendix for EP; her last film until a cameo in '50.

Soundtracks lists 9 songs, all Music by Al Sherman, Lyrics by Harry Tobias, but nothing about who performed them.

Performances (16 chapters, about 5.5 min each, no menu):

  • ch1. EP and David Lichine dance a pseudo-apache number. DL identified from Google images, esp. this site. Woody Herman and orch play.
  • ch4. WH & orch play.
  • ch4-5. Circus performance with jugglers, acrobats, unicyclist, rollerskating spinners, a "drunken" tightrope walker, performing bears.
  • ch6. Tightrope walker crosses great gulch.
  • ch8. Cab Calloway & orch performs 2 numbers, projected on the side of a building in NYC.
  • ch9-10. Two pianists perform classical music with swing. The woman is probably Dorothy Donegan. The man might be Gene Rodgers. People dance (jitterbug) in the street.
  • ch10. Duet sings a romantic song.
  • ch11. WH & orch sing/play, EP dances as a pinball in a human-sized machine. She kicks the pins to light them.
  • ch12. WC Fields does a comic skit.
  • ch13. Sophie Tucker talk/sings.
  • ch14. Finale begins with WH & orch.
  • ch15. more WH & women acrobat/tappers on ~3-foot risers, inspired by Nicholas Brothers steep staircase where they did the splits over each other. Very good stuff; lots of dancers & split-stunts. Good use of risers, floor and camera.
  • ch16. EP dances with a horse. The horse didn't dub his taps later: only EP's sounds are audible. After the horse is done, EP spins around a bit. The End.
The plot (publicity agents work to get their clients noticed) is a good excuse to trot out so many specialty acts. The production values look good. Too bad this was an indie production, and lost to public domain obscurity. (I suspect the Reel Vault release is no better than this copy; Amazon reviews seem to indicate such.) But I've put this on my wishlist in case someone finds a good source and releases a decent print. I like it.

Andrew L. Stone Productions, distr. UA, dir. Stone; 6+
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