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:
Are You With It? (1948) – Musical #807

Studio:
Universal Pictures

Director:
Jack Hively

Starring:
Donald O’Connor, Olga San Juan, Martha Stewart, Lew Parker, Walter Catlett, Patricia Dane (billed as Pat Dane), Ransom Sherman, Louis Da Pron, Noel Neill, Julie Gibson, George O’Hanlon, Eddie Parks, Raymond Largay, Jody Gilbert, Howard Negley, Charles Bedell, Jimmie Dodd (uncredited), Sally Forrest (uncredited), Edward Gargan (uncredited),

Plot:
Milton Haskins (O’Connor) is a math wiz at the Nutmeg Insurance Company and rarely makes a mistake. But when one day he makes a decimal error, Milton leaves work feeling like a failure. He meets Goldie (Parker), who helps Milton become “with it” by hooking him up with a carnival and becoming a performer. Milton’s sweetheart, Vivian (San Juan), becomes concerned about Milton’s whereabouts and begins looking for him. Vivian also joins the carnival, and shortly after, strange and dangerous things begin to happen, and Milton begins to investigate.

Trivia:
• Based on the 1945 stage musical, “Are You With It” written by Harry Revel and Arnold B. Horwitt. None of the songs from the stage musical were used in the film.
• Lew Parker reprised his role from the stage production. This was also Parker’s first feature film.
• Peter Lind Hayes was originally announced as appearing in the films, but was not in the final production.
• Edmond O’Brien narrates the beginning of the film.

Highlights:
• The tap dance number in the bar with Donald O’Connor, Lew Parker and Louis Da Pron

Notable Songs:
• “Are You With It?” performed by Martha Stewart
• “What Do I Have to Do?” performed by Donald O’Connor
• “A Little Imagination” performed by Donald O’Connor
• “Daddy, Surprise Me” performed by Olga San Juan
• “I’m Looking for a Prince of a Fella” performed by Olga San Juan

My review:
This week’s Musical Monday is a kooky one! But maybe I’m not “with it” as the title implies.
ARE YOU WITH IT? (1948) stars Donald O’Connor and Olga San Juan. O’Connor, who started in films in 1937 as a child actor, was well on his way into adult roles, as he was 23 when this film was released. This is one of the films that the vibrant Olga San Juan made, but she stopped making films in 1949 when she was acting steadily.

In the film, Milton Haskins (O’Connor) is a math whiz at the Nutmeg Insurance Company and rarely makes a mistake. But one day he makes a mistake with an adding machine that leaves him feeling like a failure. He meets Goldie (San Juan), who helps Milton forget about “with it” by hooking him up with carnival owner Russ Willard (Lew Parker). Milton soon finds himself drawn to carnival life and becomes something of an attraction by performing numbers. Milton’s sweetheart, Vivian (Susan Ford), becomes concerned about Milton’s whereabouts and goes to find him at the carnival. Of course, zaniness ensues, shortly after, strange and dangerous people are found at carnivals.

Just like Martha Stewart says in her biofilm: be afraid of random. O’Connor and San Juan are the sweetheart leads. Martha Stewart (not that Martha Stewart) plays Vivian while Walter Catlett plays Mr. Whimser who fires Milton from his job at Nutmeg Insurance Company after Goldie.

Lew Parker is one of the most intriguing actors in this film but apparently the film wasn’t his first film. Parker had appeared on TV shows before appearing in this movie but would go on to be known for playing Ann Marie’s father on That Girl TV show! You may know Parker from his role later on TV show “That Girl” as Ann Marie’s father.

Lew Parker is one of the most intriguing actors in the film, especially because it was his first film. Parker also reprised his role from the stage production of this show, but apparently they didn’t want him to sing a few of the original songs. You may know Parker from his role later on the TV show “That Girl” as Ann Marie’s dad.

It was nice to see Martha Stewart in a leading role — especially since she had a brief career with only seven screen credits to her name. She did not sing too many good songs. Unfortunately, Stewart’s role was largely thankless.

While the film is a bit kooky, I have to admit there are some fun musical numbers. There is one cute and funny number with Olga San Juan looking at a magazine, while singing into her pillow. As she sings, Donald O’Connor appears on top of her bed and then dances around it.

I was thoroughly dazzled, though, by a tap number that shocked me in a bar. Donald O’Connor begins tapping, Lew Parker joins in, but I was downright shocked when he bartender played by Louis Da Pron joins in! Then O’Connor tap dances between two waiters who join him.

Yet again, this is another movie that isn’t streaming on a platform like Netflix or Prime and hasn’t received a commercial DVD release. But you can find it if you search for it – even if the quality isn’t the best.

While this may not be his best film, it’s fun. Donald O’Connor and Olga San Juan are well paired and fun together and dance well together.

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