Sunday, April 1, 2018

Blue Skies (1946), 7 Color

Jed Potter looks back on a love triangle conducted over the course of years and between musical numbers. Dancer Jed loves showgirl Mary, who loves compulsive nightclub-opener Johnny, who ... 
1h 39min | Comedy, Musical, Romance | 16 October 1946 | Color
Directors: Stuart Heisler, Mark Sandrich (uncredited)
Stars: Fred Astaire, Bing Crosby, Joan Caulfield, Billy De Wolfe.
Hermes Pan ... dance director
Dave Robel ... assistant dance director


In the Tap! Appendix for Fred Astaire.

BC & FA can act, so the plot is ok, but skippable. The real reason to watch is the...

Songs performed (20 chapters with menu), all Words and Music by Irving Berlin:

  • ch3. A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody (1919), Sung by Fred Astaire, Danced by Fred Astaire, Joan Caulfield, chorus
  • ch5. I've Got My Captain Working for Me Now (1920), Sung by Bing Crosby
  • ch6. You'd Be Surprised (1919), Sung by Olga San Juan
  • ch7. All by Myself (1921), Sung by Bing Crosby, Joan Caulfield (dubbed by Betty Russell)
  • ch7. Serenade to an Old-Fashioned Girl (1946), Sung by The Guardsmen, Joan Caulfield (dubbed by Betty Russell)
  • ch8. Puttin' on the Ritz (1930), Sung and Danced by Fred Astaire
  • ch10. I'll See You in C-U-B-A (1920), Sung by Bing Crosby, Olga San Juan
  • ch11. A Couple of Song and Dance Men (1945), Sung and Danced by Fred Astaire, Bing Crosby
  • ch13. You Keep Coming Back Like a Song (1943), Sung by Bing Crosby, chorus
  • ch15. Blue Skies (1927), Sung by Bing Crosby
  • ch 15. medley:
    • The Little Things in Life (1930), Sung by Bing Crosby
    • Not for All the Rice in China, (1933), Sung by Bing Crosby
    • Russian Lullaby (1927), Sung by Bing Crosby
  • ch16. Everybody Step (1921), Sung by Bing Crosby, Danced by chorus
  • ch17. How Deep Is the Ocean? (1933), Sung by Bing Crosby, chorus
  • ch18. (Running Around in Circles) Getting Nowhere (1945), Sung by Bing Crosby
  • ch19. Heat Wave, Sung by Fred Astaire, Olga San Juan, Danced by Fred Astaire, Olga San Juan, chorus
  • ch20. medley:
    • Any Bonds Today? (1941), Sung by Bing Crosby
    • This Is the Army, Mister Jones (1942), Sung by Bing Crosby
    • White Christmas (1942), Sung by Bing Crosby
  • ch20. You Keep Coming Back Like a Song (1943), reprise by Bing Crosby, chorus
  • ? Always (1925), Performed by chorus
So we get a lot of songs, FA dances HP choreography, and the pretty girl is plausible but not dazzling.

This is only BC's 4th of 18 color music/als, 37th of 57 total.
This is the 20th of 31 total for FA, 3rd of 14 in color.

Paramount, dir. Heisler, Sandrich; 7