1h 39min | Comedy, Musical, Romance | 3 July 1948 | Color
Directors: Michael Curtiz, Busby Berkeley
Stars: Jack Carson, Janis Paige, Doris Day, Don DeFore, Oscar Levant, S.Z. Sakall.
Busby Berkeley ... choreographer
Watched online; excellent print.
I stopped to look at my post about music/als in b/w vs. color:
Statistics on American Musical Films
because color is becoming so common that I'm forgetting to add that to the title, and this is such a 'B' cast that I'm a little shocked that Warner made this in color. (Contrast this with Fox downgrading Carmen Miranda to b/w after the war.) On my stats page, you see that color really doesn't become dominant, or even reliably 50+% at any point (I stopped recording stats at 1963). But, of course, most of what's online is ripped from dvd, or vhs, and home video sales are likely better for color films, so fewer b/w films have been released. I might go back and extend the list another decade; I noticed that Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein was released in '74, and I remember something about the studio resisting b/w.
First of 39 films for DD. She is luminous. Sunny face & personality, excellent figure, glorious sultry voice that's different from any I've heard in the films so far. No surprise that she gets 2 films in '49, 3 films in '50, and 5 in '51 (but a max of 2/yr thereafter.) From her Soundtracks listing: performer: "Put 'em in a Box, Tie 'em with a Ribbon (and Throw 'em in the Deep Blue Sea)", "It's Magic", "It's You or No One", "I'm in Love", "She's a Latin from Manhattan". She sings It's Magic more than once, and it really is magic.
I'm curious about BB's credit "musical numbers creator and director." By looking at the thumbnail previews on the video timeline, I see only 1 real musical number (Avon Long's song The Tourist Trade), which has some visual interest beyond the usual, and a very brief (too brief) visual spectacle 6.5 minutes before film's end with mirrors, balloons and lots of chorus girls and movement.
Statistics on American Musical Films
because color is becoming so common that I'm forgetting to add that to the title, and this is such a 'B' cast that I'm a little shocked that Warner made this in color. (Contrast this with Fox downgrading Carmen Miranda to b/w after the war.) On my stats page, you see that color really doesn't become dominant, or even reliably 50+% at any point (I stopped recording stats at 1963). But, of course, most of what's online is ripped from dvd, or vhs, and home video sales are likely better for color films, so fewer b/w films have been released. I might go back and extend the list another decade; I noticed that Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein was released in '74, and I remember something about the studio resisting b/w.
OK, back to this film. The plot synopsis left out something important: JP sends DD on the cruise under JP's identity so she can stay in NYC to spy on her husband DDF.
First of 39 films for DD. She is luminous. Sunny face & personality, excellent figure, glorious sultry voice that's different from any I've heard in the films so far. No surprise that she gets 2 films in '49, 3 films in '50, and 5 in '51 (but a max of 2/yr thereafter.) From her Soundtracks listing: performer: "Put 'em in a Box, Tie 'em with a Ribbon (and Throw 'em in the Deep Blue Sea)", "It's Magic", "It's You or No One", "I'm in Love", "She's a Latin from Manhattan". She sings It's Magic more than once, and it really is magic.
I'm curious about BB's credit "musical numbers creator and director." By looking at the thumbnail previews on the video timeline, I see only 1 real musical number (Avon Long's song The Tourist Trade), which has some visual interest beyond the usual, and a very brief (too brief) visual spectacle 6.5 minutes before film's end with mirrors, balloons and lots of chorus girls and movement.
It's a shame that JP didn't get to perform here. Wow, she has only 6 Soundtracks films. She works with DD again in Please Don't Eat the Daisies ('60) in another jealousy storyline.
The plot is completely predictable, and therefore tedious. Stops in Cuba and Trinidad are all in studio. OL doesn't play any Gershwin, but appears to accompany DD sometimes. He's in love with DD (in her real identity), but it's unrequited. She falls for JC while posing as JP. Of course DDF decides to join his wife on her supposed trip, so we get Uncle Cuddles and all the principals down in Rio. IMDb says filming locations include Cartagena, Colombia, Rio de Janeiro and Bahia, Brazil. I don't think we had acting there, just 2nd unit/stock footage (possibly shot for this film).
All points above a flat 6 are for DD.
Warner, dir. Curtiz; 7+
