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:
And the Angels Sing (1944) – Musical #823

Studio:
Paramount Pictures

Director:
George Marshall

Starring:
Dorothy Lamour, Fred MacMurray, Betty Hutton, Diana Lynn, Mimi Chandler, Raymond Walburn, Eddie Foy Jr., Frank Albertson, Mikhail Rasumny, Frank Faylen, Tom Kennedy, Matt McHugh (uncredited)

Plot:
The Angel family is made up of four daughters – Nancy (Lamour), Bobby (Hutton), Josie (Lynn) and Patti (Chandler) – who live with their father (Walburn). The girls have a dynamite singing act, but none of them want to work as singers, because they have other career ambitions. However, they also want to help earn money so their father can start a soybean farm. After one performance, Bobby gambles and doubles how much the girls earned. Unscrupulous bandleader, Happy Morgan (MacMurray), romances and uses Bobby to get her funds so his band can go to New York. When the sisters find out, they travel to New York City to confront Happy and get their money back.

Trivia:
• Diana Lynn’s singing voice was dubbed by Julie Gibson. However, Lynn’s character plays the piano in the film. Lynn was a trained pianist.
• The title is based on the 1939 Benny Goodman song, “And the Angels Sang,” but the song is only used over the title.
• One of two films co-starring Mimi Chandler. This was her last film. Chandler was the daughter of Kentucky senator, Happy Chandler.
• Working title was “Four Angels”
• Frank Faylen replaced Doodles Weaver in the film as the nightclub dancer who dances with Dorothy Lamour.
• Actor Cully Richards was set to appear in the film, but had to be replaced because he enlisted in the military.
• Considered to be a remake of “Sing, You Sinners” (1938), which was about three singing brothers and their mother. Fred MacMurray appeared in both films.

Highlights:
• Fred MacMurray singing, playing the saxophone and singing
• Diana Lynn playing the piano
• The singing Sister Act
• The “Knocking on Your Own Front Door” number
• Betty Hutton’s “His Rocking Horse Ran Away” number

Notable Songs:
• “His Rocking Horse Ran Away” performed by Betty Hutton
• “Knocking on Your Own Front Door” performed by Betty Hutton, Dorothy Lamour, Mimi Chandler and Diana Lynn, dubbed by Julie Gibson
• “My Heart is Wrapped in Gingham” performed by Fred MacMurray
• “Bluebirds in My Belfry” performed by Betty Hutton
• “When Stanislaus Got Married” performed by Fred MacMurray and Eddie Foy Jr.
• “How Does Your Garden Grow” performed by Betty Hutton, Dorothy Lamour, Mimi Chandler and Diana Lynn, dubbed by Julie Gibson

My review:
From FOUR DAUGHTERS (1938) to MOON OVER MIAMI (1942), I love a movie about sisters. Perhaps it’s because I’m one of three daughters myself.

So I was immediately a sucker for AND THE ANGELS SING (1944), not to mention the cast! Dorothy Lamour, Betty Hutton, Diana Lynn AND Fred MacMurray? Who could ask for anything more?

Admittedly, the plot is just okay, but the songs are top notch.

The film follows the Angel sisters Nancy (Lamour), Bobby (Hutton), Josie (Lynn) and Patti (Chandler), who have a sensational singing act, but the girls don’t want to pursue this as a career. Nancy works in an office and hopes to marry her steady boyfriend (Albertson), Bobby wants to be a reporter, Josie dreams of being a pianist, and Patti wants to be an actress. All of them are trying to earn and save money so their dad (Walburn) can have a soybean farm.

When Bobby signs them up to perform in a local club one night, they get tied up with fresh and unscrupulous bandleader Happy Morgan (MacMurray), who makes passes at Nancy. He then turns on the charm with Bobby, when he wants to get some cash away from her to help his band to get to New York City, promising her a fake job as the band’s singer. When the sisters learn how Happy swindled Bobby, they follow him to New York City to confront him to get their money back. Nancy takes charge to confront Happy, and they also fall for each other. Confusing things, Bobby thinks Happy is in love with her too.

AND THE ANGELS SING (1944) is a remake of SING, YOU SINNERS (1938), which features three brothers and a mother. Bing Crosby plays the Betty Hutton role in the film, and Fred MacMurray appears in both.

Lamour, Hutton, Lynn and Chandler are fun as the sisters and are charming as a singing quartet. Their voices blend beautifully, with Lynn’s singing voice dubbed by Julie Gibson.

While this film is partially an ensemble story, Dorothy Lamour is really the leading lady here and the most famous of the crew at this time. Lamour is funny and lovely, per usual, and sings the plum song, “It Could Happen to You,” which was written for the film and became a hit after Lamour introduced it in the film.

However, you can’t deny that it’s Betty Hutton who runs away with the film, performing two show stoppers: “Bluebirds in my Belfry” and “His Rocking Horse Ran Away,” a song that was associated with Hutton for the rest of her career.

I know Betty Hutton isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but I’ve loved her as a teen. I love her unapologetic energy. When I first ran across her, she was the polar opposite of the other refined actresses I loved, and enjoyed her desire to standout.

When the film was released, critics agreed (even the usually grumpy Bosley Crowther) that Hutton stole the show, especially because of her songs.

“If the whole show were up to this number (“Rocking Horse”), it would be a sensational affair … Miss Hutton, too, takes doubtful honors for the performance of what fun the picture has,” wrote Crowther, who was critical of the overall film but praised Hutton’s performance.

I love Diana Lynn, and a special highlight is that we get to see her play the piano, an instrument she was trained in. However, she has little to do in this film, which is unfortunate. I always love to see her perform, as she usually provides the best comedic zingers. She does get to deliver a rationing joke: “When they start rationing hangovers, this family is going to get a C card.”

If you haven’t heard of Mimi Chandler, that’s understandable. She was only in two films and this was her final film. The daughter of Kentucky Senator Happy Chandler, a Nov. 30, 1942, article touted that Mimi Chandler was signed to a seven-picture Paramount deal after director David Butler saw her while filming KENTUCKY (1938) and asked her to perform a screentest.

Chandler was only in two films (HENRY ALDRICH SWINGS IT, AND THE ANGELS SING) and married Major John Cabell in May 1944, shortly after this film was released in April 1944. While I couldn’t find a reason why she retired from films, I imagine it’s because of her marriage.

While Fred MacMurray plays an unsavory character in AND THE ANGELS SING, a highlight is that we get to see MacMurray go back to his roots when he started out in a jazz band. In the film, MacMurray gets to play the saxophone and also sing. I honestly love that MacMurray played the saxophone in his films or TV roles whenever he got the opportunity for the rest of his career.

Unfortunately, MacMurray plays a rather sleezy role. He also has to do something in the film that I can’t stand – run between two dates that are happening at the same time.

I adore Frank Albertson, but his role is very small in this, unfortunately.

While this film has excellent songs and a wonderful cast, the plot itself is just okay. It’s a bit exasperating as Fred MacMurray runs between both sisters. But truthfully, the songs outweigh the subpar plot.

Paramount Pictures films can sometimes be hard to find, but if you search around online, you may be able to find this one uploaded somewhere.

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