Monday, April 2, 2018

The Time, the Place and the Girl (1946), 6 Color

The stuffy manager of lovely opera singer Vicki Cassel and her uncle, a classical conductor, is determined to close down the noisy nightclub that's next door to the Cassels' home. The ... 
1h 45min | Musical, Comedy, Romance | 28 December 1946 | Color
Director: David Butler
Stars: Dennis Morgan, Martha Vickers, Janis Paige, Jack Carson, S.Z. Sakall, Alan Hale, Florence Bates.
LeRoy Prinz ... choreographer


In the Tap! Appendix for Condos Brothers, the last multi-brother credit. Onscreen credit is The Condos Brothers; IMDb lists "Frank," "Harry." In his last film, Nick adds a new flashy step near the end. Here's their dance on YouTube.

Official Warner Archive release, but the color has a green dominance.

Soundtracks, all Music by Arthur Schwartz, Lyrics by Leo Robin (32 custom chapters, no menu):

  • ch4. I Happened to Walk Down First Street, Performed by Jack Carson, Dennis Morgan, Janis Page and Angela Greene
  • ch11. A Solid Citizen of the Solid South, s/d by JP & chorus in tropical makeup, JC in blackface, danced by Condos Brothers (in tropical makeup)
  • ch14. Oh, But I Do, Sung by Dennis Morgan 
  • ch20. Through a Thousand Dreams, sung by DM, MV, chorus girls, floating piano
  • ch23. A Gal in Calico, Performed by Dennis Morgan, Jack Carson, Martha Vickers (dubbed by Sally Sweetland), gymnastic dancers and rope trick dancers.
  • ch29. A Rainy Night in Rio, Performed by Jack Carson, Dennis Morgan, Janis Page and Martha Vickers (dubbed by Sally Sweetland), Chandra Kaly and His Dancers, bookended by large ensemble
  • ch31. Through a Thousand Dreams reprise, chorus girls
  • ch31. Oh, But I Do reprise, Sung by chorus, Dennis Morgan, Janis Page, Jack Carson, Martha Vickers (dubbed by Sally Sweetland)
I know the song A Rainy Night in Rio from Looney Tunes, with Bugs Bunny singing, in either Long-Haired Hare ('49) or Mutiny on the Bunny ('50) or both. He doesn't do the whole song. I'm frequently surprised at how long it takes Termite Terrace to incorporate Warner songs in their output. 

The twists here on the usual "we need help putting on the show":  the neighbors to the nightclub protest the rehearsal noise (I'd think the nighttime performance noise would be a problem too. Didn't they have zoning laws to prevent noisy businesses adjacent to residences in NYC?), so they get an injunction. The protesters are family of young pretty opera singer MV. They had a oilman backer, but they leave town. So SZS, grandfather of MV, puts up the money. But FB has put limits his spending while she's out of town (she doesn't know about his backing the show). So they run out of money, and they back out. Oilman comes back, and his showgirl wants MV's part.

MV, engaged to her manager, pursues DM, who wants to remain unattached. JP chases JC, and flirts a lot with Cuddles.

It's a mezzo-mezzo quality script/cast/production. Without the Condos Brothers, I may never have bought the disc.

Warner, dir. Butler; 6

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