Wednesday, June 6, 2018

The Girl Next Door (1953), 7- Color

Stage-and-night club star Jeannie Laird (June Haver) buys her first home, and everyone who is anyone comes to her first garden party only to be blinded by smoke from next door. Jeannie ... 
1h 32min | Comedy, Musical | 13 May 1953 | Color
Director: Richard Sale
Stars: Dan Dailey, June Haver, Dennis Day, Billy Gray, Cara Williams.
Richard Barstow ... choreographer 

In the Tap! Appendix for Dan Dailey (DD). If he tapped, so did JH.

16th and final film credit for JH. Her bio trivia says she was in a convent Feb-Sep '53, a reaction to a fiance who died; no filming dates for this movie. She marries Fred MacMurray Jun '54.

DD has several more films, including 5 musicals.

1 more musical for Billy Gray.

I'd recommend watching the featurette "Discovering the Girl Next Door" before the film next time, or make sure you pay better attention to the dancing. The other 2 featurettes, on DD and on BG, are worth the few minutes they last as well.

Songs performed (25 chapters with menu):

  • ch1. We Girls of the Chorus, Performed by June Haver (dubbed by Beryl Davis) and female chorus during the opening credits
  • ch1. The Great White Way, Performed by an off-screen chorus during the opening credits
  • ch2-3. A Quiet Little Place in the Country, Performed by June Haver (dubbed by Beryl Davis)
  • ch5. If I Love You a Mountain, Performed by Dennis Day
  • ch7. I'd Rather Have a Pal Than a Gal Anytime, Performed by Dan Dailey and Billy Gray "washing"
  • ch9. You're Doin' All Right, Performed by Dan Dailey and June Haver (dubbed by Beryl Davis) in her backyard.
  • ch11. Nowhere Guy, Performed by June Haver (dubbed by Beryl Davis), then danced by June Haver, Dan Dailey and male dance chorus in DD's head, set on nightclub stage
  • ch14. I'm Mad About the Girl Next Door, Performed by Dan Dailey, Danced by Dan Dailey and June Haver in the empty nightclub
  • ch18. You, Performed by Dennis Day, Dan Dailey and June Haver (dubbed by Beryl Davis)
  • ch21. You(I)'d Rather Have a Pal / I'm Mad About the Girl Next Door (medley), Performed by Dan Dailey, June Haver (dubbed by Beryl Davis) and Billy Gray in a daydream forest
  • ch23. If I Love You a Mountain, Also performed by Dennis Day and Cara Williams
  • ch24. ...the Girl Next Door reprise by Dennis Day and choir, danced by DD & JH in her backyard
  • ch??. The Great White Way, Danced by Dan Dailey and June Haver 

Pleasant and different: DD is a stay at home, work at home, single-parent (widowed) dad, and international stage star JH buys the house next door. The musical numbers do NOT come from her large-stage career; one that starts there quickly turns into DD's daydream. What I remembered from this is JH+DD dancing in her backyard. They also dance in 2 daydream sequences and in an empty nightclub. He's a lot taller than she (5'1"), which isn't always great. The story is more about BG adjusting to his dad (DD) falling for JH when BG+DD have been a tight unit for years. JH's showbiz career seems like an excuse for her to dance, and he (a cartoonist) dances because she does.

We get 2 animation sequences by UPA embedded in the film.

Fox was smart enough to use both DD's acting and musical performance talents. This intimate musical is a good outing for him and for us. JH brings beauty, glamour, and dancing chops too. While I respect the studio making a differently-centered musical, I don't love those in-home-conflict stories. (Us against the world, yes. us against each other, no.)

Fox, dir. Sale; 7-
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