1h 53min | Comedy, Musical | 21 March 1946 | Color
Director: Norman Z. McLeod
Stars: Danny Kaye, Virginia Mayo, Vera-Ellen, Steve Cochran, Eve Arden, Walter Abel, Lionel Stander, Fay Bainter.
Bernard Pearce ... dances
Watched online, blurry.
I had a bootleg copy; it froze midway. Disc had big black splotches visible in the tracks. Tossed it.
I had a bootleg copy; it froze midway. Disc had big black splotches visible in the tracks. Tossed it.
In the Tap! Appendix for Vera-Ellen.
First of 4 film credits for Bernard Pearce, all as DD (by some title or other). I especially like the stunts VE does in her first number, for example: she's tossed up to a roof, landing in splits, then tumbles down to the ground (with chorus boys guiding her) and lands in splits there too.
In her second number, VE changes from toe shoes back into her tap shoes during a cut in the film. They're designed to look the same, and I missed the transition TO the toe shoes. But I remember in Happy Go Lovely ('51), while she's performing onstage, she goes offstage and comes back too quickly with different shoes. This is far more fantastic. But after we accept B.Berkeley's surreal "stages" in 42nd Street ('33), all bets are off.
Kay Thompson is listed as Actress (Matron), and also as vocal arranger.
Performances (no chapters, not sure of sequence):
First of 4 film credits for Bernard Pearce, all as DD (by some title or other). I especially like the stunts VE does in her first number, for example: she's tossed up to a roof, landing in splits, then tumbles down to the ground (with chorus boys guiding her) and lands in splits there too.
In her second number, VE changes from toe shoes back into her tap shoes during a cut in the film. They're designed to look the same, and I missed the transition TO the toe shoes. But I remember in Happy Go Lovely ('51), while she's performing onstage, she goes offstage and comes back too quickly with different shoes. This is far more fantastic. But after we accept B.Berkeley's surreal "stages" in 42nd Street ('33), all bets are off.
Kay Thompson is listed as Actress (Matron), and also as vocal arranger.
Performances (no chapters, not sure of sequence):
- The Sunflower Song, Performed by The Goldwyn Girls (uncredited)
- Hey! What's Your Name?, Performed by Vera-Ellen (uncredited) (dubbed by Suzanne Ellers (uncredited)), Frankie Laine (uncredited) and male chorus
- The Blue Danube Waltz, Hummed by Eve Arden several times, Played at the title fight
- You're The Cause of It All, Sung by Virginia Mayo (uncredited) (dubbed by Betty Russell (uncredited))
- The Sunflower Song, Performed by The Goldwyn Girls (uncredited) (is this the same as the opening song, with different lyrics?)
- I Love An Old Fashioned Song, Sung by Virginia Mayo (uncredited) (dubbed by Betty Russell (uncredited)) and an unidentified man
- Josie, Performed by The Goldwyn Girls (uncredited) and male chorus, and danced by Vera-Ellen (uncredited)
- Pavlova, Performed by Danny Kaye (uncredited)
Eve Arden's blouse and vest (when she's coaching DK in the outdoor ring) has such square shoulders, it looks inspired by zoot suits.
This is a remake of the Harold Lloyd talkie The Milky Way ('36). I remember enough to know this is very close remake; I remember the outdoor boxing ring in both. The character names are the same, and Lionel Stander plays Spider in both films! But the original is not a musical.
This is ok fare; you get what you expect from DK, especially when you see a song with a Russian name as the title.
The real reason to watch this is the Vera-Ellen dances, and for EA's wisecracks. Walter Abel also does some good comic reactions. And LS is always welcome. Fay Bainter even gets in on the physical comedy when DK "trains" her to box, which pays off near the end.
This is a remake of the Harold Lloyd talkie The Milky Way ('36). I remember enough to know this is very close remake; I remember the outdoor boxing ring in both. The character names are the same, and Lionel Stander plays Spider in both films! But the original is not a musical.
This is ok fare; you get what you expect from DK, especially when you see a song with a Russian name as the title.
The real reason to watch this is the Vera-Ellen dances, and for EA's wisecracks. Walter Abel also does some good comic reactions. And LS is always welcome. Fay Bainter even gets in on the physical comedy when DK "trains" her to box, which pays off near the end.
Goldwyn, dir. McLeod; 6
