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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Musical Monday: You Can’t Run Away From It (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.

You Can’t Run Away From It, poster, US poster art, from left: June Allyson, Jack Lemmon 1956. (Photo by LMPC via Getty Images)

This week’s musical:
You Can’t Run Away From It (1956) – Musical #302

Studio:
Columbia Pictures

Director:
Dick Powell

Starring:
June Allyson, Jack Lemmon, Charles Bickford, Paul Gilbert, Jim Backus, Stubby Kaye, Jacques Scott, Henny Youngman, Allyn Joslyn, Louise Beavers, Jack Albertson, Madge Blake (uncredited), Barrie Chase (uncredited)

Plot:
Ellie Andrews (Allyson), an heiress who marries playboy and racecar driver, Jacques Ballarino (Scott). Ellie’s wealthy Texas rancher father, A. A. Andrews (Bickford) disapproves and tries to keep them apart. When Ellie escapes her father to make her way back to Jacques, she meets reporter Peter Warne (Lemmon), who helps her travels cross country to Houston, in hopes of breaking a big story.

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Musical Monday: Square Dance Jubilee (1949)

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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

This week’s musical:
Square Dance Jubilee (1949) – Musical #852

Studio:
Produced by Donald Barry Productions
Distributed by Screen Guild Productions

Director:
Paul Landres

Starring:
Don Barry, Mary Beth Hughes, Wally Vernon, Max Terhune, John Eldredge, Thurston Hall, Chester Clute, Tom Tyler, Tom Kennedy
Themselves: Spade Cooley and His Band, Cowboy Copas, The Broome Brothers, Smiley and Kitty, Johnny Downs, Herman the Hermit, The Elder Lovelies

Plot:
Talent scouts Don Blake (Barry) and Seldom Sam Jenks (Vernon) travel across the west, aiming to have a true western experience, to find musical acts for a television show, Square Dance Jubilee. Along the way, Don and Sam get entangled with western criminals.

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Musical Monday: Montana Moon (1930)

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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:
Montana Moon (1930) – Musical #851

Studio:
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Director:
Malcolm St. Clair

Starring:
Joan Crawford, Johnny Mack Brown (billed as John Mack Brown), Dorothy Sebastian, Ricardo Cortez, Benny Rubin, Cliff Edwards, Karl Dane, Lloyd Ingraham, Mary Carlisle (uncredited), Claudia Dell (uncredited)

Plot:
Joan Prescott (Crawford) is a wealthy party girl, whose father (Ingraham) is a cattle rancher in Montana. While on a train trip with the family’s guests, Joan’s sister, Lizzie (Sebastian), confides that she’s in love with Jeff Pelham (Cortez) and asks her sister not to steal this boyfriend, as she has with many others. When Joan realizes Jeff is interested, she hops off the train to help out her sister and meets cowboy Larry Kerrigan (Brown). After a whirlwind romance, Joan brings Larry to meet her rich family and society friends and the two quickly realize Larry doesn’t fit in.

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Musical Monday: Twilight in the Sierras (1950)

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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:
Twilight in the Sierras (1950) – Musical #850

Studio:
Republic Pictures

Director:
William Witney

Starring:
Roy Rogers, Trigger, Dale Evans, Estelita Rodriguez, Pat Brady, Fred Kohler Jr., Russ Vincent, George Meeker
Themselves: Riders of the Purple Sage, Foy Willing

Plot:
Roy Rogers is a state parole officer, trying to help convicts recently released from prison a new life. One is Ricardo Chavez (Vincent), who gets conned into returning to crime by creating counterfeit money when his sister (Rodriguez) is kidnapped. Roy and deputized Pat Callahan (Evans) work to uncover the counterfeit ring.

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Musical Monday: Rodeo King and the Senorita (1951)

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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:
Rodeo King and the Senorita (1951) – Musical #849

Studio:
Republic Pictures

Director:
Phillip Ford

Starring:
Themselves: Rex Allen, Koko the Horse
Mary Ellen Kay, Buddy Ebsen, Bonnie DeSimone, Roy Barcroft, Don Beddoe, Jonathan Hale, Buff Brady

Plot:
Rex Allen (as himself) is set to take over as star in a rodeo, when Pablo Morales (Brady), dies. Steve Lacey (Barcroft), is angered as he anticipated making himself the star. Allen also takes over caring for Pablo’s daughter, Juanita Morales (DeSimone). Meanwhile, Juanita comes to love Allen’s horse, Koko. When Allen has a similar riding accident to what killed Pablo, he begins to wonder if he was murdered and if Steve is behind it.

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Musical Monday: Kismet (1955)

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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:
Kismet (1955) – Musical #50

Studio:
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Director:
Vincente Minnelli

Starring:
Howard Keel, Ann Blyth, Dolores Gray, Vic Damone, Monty Woolley, Sebastian Cabot, Jay C. Flippen, Mike Mazurki, Jack Elam, Ted de Corsia, Barrie Chase (uncredited), Jamie Farr (uncredited), Aaron Spelling (uncredited), Bernie Hamilton (uncredited), Patricia Dunn (uncredited), Wonci Lui (uncredited), Reiko Sato (uncredited)

Plot:
In a case of mistaken identity, a poet (Keel) is confused with a notorious beggar, who has put curses on people. Through a series of events, the Poet makes his way into the palace, as the Wazir (Cabot) is convinced he has actual powers. The Poet’s daughter, Marsinah (Blyth), disapproves of him working for the Wazir. Marsinah catches the eye of the Caliph (Damone), who immediately falls in love with her, but she doesn’t know his true identity, believing he’s a gardener.

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Musical Monday: You Can’t Have Everything (1937)

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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:
You Can’t Have Everything (1937) – Musical #615

Studio:
20th Century Fox

Director:
Norman Taurog

Starring:
Alice Faye, The Ritz Brothers, Don Ameche, Charles Winninger, Gypsy Rose Lee (billed as Louise Hovick), Arthur Treacher, Tony Martin, Phyllis Brooks, Wally Vernon, Jed Prouty, Lynne Berkeley (uncredited), Paul Hurst (uncredited)
Themselves: Louis Prima, Tip Tap & Toe, David Rubinoff (billed as Rubinoff)

Plot:
The great-granddaughter of Edgar Allan Poe, Judy Poe Wells (Faye), wants to be a playwright. But Judy excels more at singing than writing. Broadway producer George Macrae (Ameche) meets Judy and hears her sing. Knowing she hates his plays, he keeps his identity a secret, while trying to get her to star in one of his musical shows.

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