1h 46min | Biography, Drama, Musical | 30 July 1949 | Color
Director: David Butler
Stars: June Haver, Ray Bolger, Gordon MacRae, Charles Ruggles, Rosemary DeCamp.
LeRoy Prinz ... choreographer
In the Tap! Appendix for Ray Bolger, June Haver. They tap quite a bit, and do some ballroom-ish dancing too. Not all of RB's dancing is comedic, fortunately, since that gets tiresome. JH does some ballet, including en pointe.
At least 12 songs performed listed in the Soundtracks, plus some from the score. It says 3 were performed by GM. 8 were performed by JH, 6 by RB. (For each performer, some were solo, some not.) The Soundtracks doesn't mention a dubber for JH, but the Miscellaneous crew does.
At least 12 songs performed listed in the Soundtracks, plus some from the score. It says 3 were performed by GM. 8 were performed by JH, 6 by RB. (For each performer, some were solo, some not.) The Soundtracks doesn't mention a dubber for JH, but the Miscellaneous crew does.
2nd of 18 films for GM (the 1st was not a musical); 13 are music/als. I've never liked him. We'll see if I warm up to him during this quest. This film left me neutral. He's only in the middle third of the film.
The ending is weird, signalling that Miller has some heart condition that's going to kill her during a performance, but just ends with a happy curtain call. Miller did die in 1936 at age 37. Wikipedia says from complications of nasal surgery; she hadn't been onstage since '34. She married twice more after Frank died in '20.
This is pleasant enough. The best parts are the dancing, although I'm on the fence whether it's terrific enough to include in my "worthwhile dancing" list. The story, although specific to a particular real-life star, is unbelievably trite by now. And then we get the show in which Miller starred onstage as an aspiring B'way singer/dancer, so a double-layer of backstager. Ugh.
The ending is weird, signalling that Miller has some heart condition that's going to kill her during a performance, but just ends with a happy curtain call. Miller did die in 1936 at age 37. Wikipedia says from complications of nasal surgery; she hadn't been onstage since '34. She married twice more after Frank died in '20.
This is pleasant enough. The best parts are the dancing, although I'm on the fence whether it's terrific enough to include in my "worthwhile dancing" list. The story, although specific to a particular real-life star, is unbelievably trite by now. And then we get the show in which Miller starred onstage as an aspiring B'way singer/dancer, so a double-layer of backstager. Ugh.
Warner, dir. Butler; 6+
