Musical Monday: Phantom of the Opera (1943)

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It’s no secret that the Hollywood Comet loves musicals.
In 2010, I revealed I had seen 400 movie musicals over the course of eight years. Now that number is over 600. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

This week’s musical:
Phantom of the Opera (1943) – Musical #816

Studio:
Universal Pictures

Director:
Arthur Lubin

Starring:
Claude Rains, Nelson Eddy, Susanna Foster, Edgar Barrier, Leo Carrillo, Jane Farrar, J. Edward Brombeg, Fritz Feld, Hume Cronyn, Nicki Andre

Plot:
Composer Erique Claudin (Raines) is failing in his career. He is a violinist with the Paris Opera, but his career is declining due to an ailment in his hand that’s affecting his work, and he is unable to sell a manuscript he composed. When he’s fired, he is also broke as he has spent all of his earnings to anonymously fund the singing lessons of Christine DBois (Foster), who is the understudy to the primadonna (Farrar). While Erique is smitten with Christine, she has also captured the attention of police detective Raoul Daubert (Barrier) and Paris Opera baritone, Anatole Garron (Eddy). When Erique suffers from an affliction to the face, he hides in the sewers of the Paris Opera House and works to ensure Christine’s success, even if it means murder.

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Musical Monday: Up in the Air (1940)

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It’s no secret that the Hollywood Comet loves musicals.
In 2010, I revealed I had seen 400 movie musicals over the course of eight years. Now that number is over 800. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

This week’s musical:
Up in the Air (1940) – Musical #858

Studio:
Monogram Pictures

Director:
Howard Bretherton

Starring:
Frankie Darro, Marjorie Reynolds, Mantan Moreland, Gordon Jones, Lorna Gray, Tristram Coffin, Clyde Dilson, Dick Elliott, John Holland, Carleton Young, Alex Callam, Maxine Leslie, Ralph Peters

Plot:
When a primadona radio singer, Rita Wilson (Gray), is killed during a rehearsal, police try to figure out who shot her in the locked studio. Radio employees Frankie (Darro) and Jeff (Moreland) the police find the murderer, while also trying to boost new singer, Anne (Reynolds).

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Musical Monday: Freshman Year (1938)

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It’s no secret that the Hollywood Comet loves musicals.
In 2010, I revealed I had seen 400 movie musicals over the course of eight years. Now that number is over 800. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

This week’s musical:
Freshman Year (1938) – Musical #857

Studio:
Universal Pictures

Director:
Frank McDonald

Starring:
Constance Moore, William Lundigan, Dixie Dunbar, Mark Daniels (billed as Stanley Hughes), Ernest Truex, Frank Melton, Marc Cramer, Don Defore (uncredited), Alan Ladd (uncredited), Fay McKenzie (uncredited), Arthur O’Connell (uncredited),
Themselves: Tommy Wonder, The Lucky Seven, The Murtagh Sisters, The Diamond Brothers

Plot:
As the school year begins at Carleton College, the freshman class tries to navigate their new collegiate life. Particularly, Bob Potter (Lundigan), Jay Hill (Daniels) and Tex Hodges (Melton). The trio hopes to get asked to pledge with an elite fraternity, but when only Bob is asked, he declines in solidarity with his friends. Bob also developes a money making scheme that backfires. When a student flunks their exam, they can pay $10 to retake it. Bob creates flunk insurance to help with the $10 fee, but when everyone flunks a test, Bob finds himself $800 in the hole. Their girlfriends (Dunbar, Moore) hatch a plan for the student to put on a show to earn the money back.

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Musical Monday: Collegiate (1935)

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It’s no secret that the Hollywood Comet loves musicals.
In 2010, I revealed I had seen 400 movie musicals over the course of eight years. Now that number is over 600. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

This week’s musical:
Collegiate (1935) – Musical #836

Studio:
Paramount Pictures

Director:
Ralph Murphy

Starring:
Joe Penner, Jack Oakie, Ned Sparks, Francis Langford, Betty Grable, Lynne Overman, Henry Kolker
Themselves: Betty Jane Cooper, Bob Crosby, Mack Gordon, Harry Revel

Plot:
Jerry Craig (Oakie) inherits an all-girl school from his aunt and can’t sell the school. They also meet Joe (Penner), who has amnesia but somehow has a great deal of money and is their financial benefactor. To make the school profitable and with the use of Joe’s money, Jerry and his pals (Sparks, Overman) transform the school into a charm school. Jerry also overcomes one road block: Miss Hay (Langford), who was his aunt’s secretary and is protective over the school.

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Musical Monday: Freshman Love (1936)

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It’s no secret that the Hollywood Comet loves musicals.
In 2010, I revealed I had seen 400 movie musicals over the course of eight years. Now that number is over 600. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

This week’s musical:
Freshman Love (1936) – Musical #845

Studio:
Warner Bros.

Director:
William McGann

Starring:
Patricia Ellis, Warren Hull, Frank McHugh, Mary Treen, Joseph Cawthorn, Alma Lloyd, George E. Stone, Henry O’Neill, Anita Kerry, Johnny Arthur, Walter Johnson, Joe Sawyer, Florence Fair, Spec O’Donnell, Dick Purcell (uncredited), Lloyd Bridges (uncredited)

Plot:
The rowing team at Billings College is failing and Coach Hammond’s (McHugh) job is on the line if the team doesn’t improve. The college president’s daughter, Joan Simpkins (Ellis), takes it upon herself to recruit new talent for the rowing team. One is wealthy Bill Wilson (Hull), but when Bill’s dad (Cawthorn) doesn’t want his son to go to Billings, Bill goes under cover to still attend the school.

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Musical Monday: Rock, Pretty Baby (1956)

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It’s no secret that the Hollywood Comet loves musicals.
In 2010, I revealed I had seen 400 movie musicals over the course of eight years. Now that number is over 600. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

This week’s musical:
Rock, Pretty Baby (1956) – Musical #856

Studio:
Universal Pictures

Director:
Richard Bartlett

Starring:
Sal Mineo, John Saxon, Luana Patten, Shelley Fabares, Edward Platt, Fay Wray, Rod McKuen, John Wilder, Alan Reed Jr., Douglas Fowley, Bob Courtney, George Winslow, Duncan Richardson, Walter Reed
Themselves: Johnny Grant

Plot:
Jimmy Daley (Saxon) has a rock n’ roll combo with his friends (Mineo, McKuen, Reed Jr., Courtney). While Jimmy has ambitions of hitting it big, his parents (Wray, Platt) have different goals for them. Meanwhile, Jimmy has a contentious relationship with his girlfriend, Joan (Patten).

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Musical Monday: The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982)

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It’s no secret that the Hollywood Comet loves musicals.
In 2010, I revealed I had seen 400 movie musicals over the course of eight years. Now that number is over 600. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

This week’s musical:
The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982) – Musical #855

Studio:
Universal Pictures

Director:
Colin Higgins

Starring:
Burt Reynolds, Dolly Parton, Dom DeLuise, Charles Durning, Jim Nabors, Robert Mandan, Lois Nettleton, Noah Beery Jr., Theresa Merritt, Mary Jo Catlett

Plot:
The Chicken Ranch brothel has a long history and has been open for decades and is now under the proprietress of Miss Mona (Parton). The establishment has always been protected by the law, but Sheriff Ed Earl Dodd (Reynolds) and the town face scrutiny when investigative and sensationalist reporter Melvin P. Thorpe (DeLuise) airs on the news that there is a house of ill repute in Texas. Thorpe makes it his mission to get the Chicken Ranch shut down.

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Musical Monday: Cover Girl (1944)

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It’s no secret that the Hollywood Comet loves musicals.
In 2010, I revealed I had seen 400 movie musicals over the course of eight years. Now that number is over 600. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

This week’s musical:
Cover Girl (1944) – Musical #33

Studio:
Columbia Pictures

Director:
Charles Vidor

Starring:
Rita Hayworth, Gene Kelly, Otto Kruger, Eva Arden, Lee Bowman, Phil Silvers, Leslie Brooks, Jess Barker, Edward Brophy (uncredited), Stanley Clements (uncredited), Thurston Hall (uncredited), Barbara Pepper (uncredited), Milton Kibbee (uncredited)
As themselves: Jinx Falkenburg, Anita Colby,
Other models: Jean Colleran, Francine Counihan, Helen Mueller, Cecilia Meagher, Betty Jane Hess, Dusty Anderson, Eileen McClory, Cornelia B. von Hessert, Karen X. Gaylord, Cheryl Archer, Peggy Lloyd, Betty Jane Graham, Martha Outlaw, Susann Shaw, Rose May Robson

Plot:
Danny (Kelly) runs a nightclub in Brooklyn, NY, with beautiful Rusty Parker (Hayworth) as his lead dancer. Both are ambitious to make it big in show business, and it’s Rusty who hits it big. Vanity magazine is searching for a new face to be the cover model for a special anniversary magazine, and it’s Rusty who wins the contest. While she receives attention around New York City and is offers to appear in Broadway shows, Danny and her friends at her nightclub do not take kindly to her rise in fame.

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Musical Monday: Nob Hill (1945)

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It’s no secret that the Hollywood Comet loves musicals.
In 2010, I revealed I had seen 400 movie musicals over the course of eight years. Now that number is over 600. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

This week’s musical:
Nob Hill (1945) – Musical #854

Studio:
20th Century Fox

Director:
Henry Hathaway

Starring:
George Raft, Joan Bennett, Vivian Blaine, Peggy Ann Garner, Alan Reed, Edgar Barrier, B.S. Pully,
Emil Coleman, Mike Mazurki, Rory Calhoun (uncredited), Benson Fong (uncredited), Jean Wong (uncredited)

Plot:
At the turn of the century, Katie Flanagan (Garner) travels from Ireland to San Francisco to live with her uncle. When she arrives at the Gold Coast, the nightclub where he worked, she learns he has died. The club’s proprietor, Tony Angelo (Raft), and star performer, Sally Templeton (Blaine), take Katie under their wing and care for her. Katie also introduces Tony to Nob Hill society heiress, Harriet Carruthers (Bennett), who she met on the ship coming to the United States. Harriett falls for Tony and also convinces him to help back her brother who is running for political office. Tony’s relationship with Harriett and her brother puts him at odds with Sally and peers at the nightclub.

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Musical Monday: A Night at the Opera (1935)

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It’s no secret that the Hollywood Comet loves musicals.
In 2010, I revealed I had seen 400 movie musicals over the course of eight years. Now that number is over 600. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

This week’s musical:
A Night at the Opera (1935) – Musical #853

Studio:
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Director:
Sam Wood

Starring:
Groucho Marx, Chico Marx, Harpo Marx, Kitty Carlisle, Allen Jones, Walter Woolf King, Sig Ruman, Margaret Dumont, Edward Keane, Billy Gilbert (uncredited)

Plot:
Opera promoter Otis B. Driftwood (Marx) is hoping that wealthy Mrs. Claypool (Dumont) will invest in his opera company. The company’s stars, Rodolfo (King) and Rosa (Carlisle), are at odds because Rodolfo is in love with Rosa and Rosa is in love with tenor, Riccardo (Jones). When the opera company goes to the United States, Riccardo is a stowaway on the boat, with hopes of being with Rosa and the opera company. When the group arrives in the U.S., conflicts arise when Rodolfo feels threatened by the prescience of Riccardo.

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