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:
I’ll Remember April (1945) – Musical #703

Studio:
Universal Studios

Director:
Harold Young

Starring:
Gloria Jean, Kirby Grant, Milburn Stone, Edward Brophy, Samuel S. Hinds, Jacqueline deWit, Hobart Cavanaugh

Plot:
When her father (Hinds) goes bankrupt, April Garfield (Jean) tries to get a job singing on the radio to help out financially.

Trivia:
• Working title was “Mike Goes to a Party.”
• Based on the short story, “Amateur Night” by Bob Dillon

Notable Songs:
• “I’ll Remember April” performed by Kirby Grant and Gloria Jean
• “Cha-Da-Boom-Di-Oodle-Aye” performed by Gloria Jean
• “Dawn”
• “Hittin’ The Beach Tonite”

My review:
Actress, singer Gloria Jean started out as a child actress and was able to cross the difficult threshold of child star into adult stardom.

With a beautiful singing voice, pleasant screen prescience and beauty, it’s surprising to me that actress Gloria Jean wasn’t a bigger star at a larger studio in her adult years.

“I’ll Remember April” (1945) is a pleasant, though perhaps convoluted, film, but with a running time at 63 minutes, it isn’t exactly a prestige film.

Gloria Jean plays the daughter of a wealthy man who has lost all of his money because of a bad investment. To help out, she works to become a radio singer to help earn money. Of course, she is performing under an alias, since her father’s name is well known.

The print of this film that I watched was not the best, with garbled sound and a fuzzy picture. Which unfortunately seems to be the quality of most Gloria Jean films—for some reason her pictures have slipped through the cracks.

In addition to some fun songs, character actor Edward Brophy is a highlight in this film.

Unfortunately, while this film is entertaining, it’s also largely forgettable.

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