1h 32min || 2 December 1946 | Color
Director: Lloyd Bacon
Stars: John Payne, June Haver, Charlotte Greenwood, John Ireland, Clem Bevans.
Genres: Adventure | Drama | Family |
Watched online, blurry.
Soundtracks lists 4 songs, only 2 with performers, and I'm certain that We're Off to See the Wizard was NOT sung by either JH or JP, or anyone else; it was just instrumental. There's NO WAY that I'd nominate this for the Musical genre, but I'll leave it alone. All 3 top-billed are musical stars, so this would be of interest to their fans. But really disappointing as a Musical.
JP got a great bargain with this film. He's top-billed, is onscreen for less than 10% of the film, and is who JH and the girl (his sister) are worried about through the whole 1.3 hours we don't see him. This is the last Music/al of his career. Well, at least I got to hear him sing once more. This is 28th of 57 films for him, and the next one is Miracle on 34th Street ('47). He was active in film through '68, and tv through '75. In fact, his last tv episode is one of my favorite Columbo's: Forgotten Lady (1975) with Janet Leigh and Sam Jaffe. JP died in Malibu age 77 in '89.
I have no idea why this is labeled Fantasy. A boat gets put up on wheels to be towed the next morning. The sails are up, and a storm sets the boat moving. After getting stuck on an embankment (or something), it gets towed for a while, and then has to cross a small river. So they start sailing down the river, and eventually get stuck in shallow waters. Their encounter with the Coast Guard and a postcard they sent lets a rescue team find them. Far fetched? Yes. Fantasy? It's no Arabian Nights. No guardian angels help out. And no one claims to be a wizard.
They're worried about JP because this is set in '43-'44, and he's in the Navy. At one point they get a telegram that he's missing in action. So this is a "war" genre for that reason. No combat footage here.
Fox, dir. Bacon; 6
