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:
Priorities on Parade (1942) – Musical #828
Studio:
Paramount Pictures
Director:
Albert S. Rogell
Starring:
Ann Miller, Johnny Johnston, Jerry Colonna, Betty Jane Rhodes, Barbara Jo Allen (billed as Vera Vague), Harry Barris, Eddie Quillan, Dave Willock, Nick Cockrane, Rod Cameron, Arthur Loft, William Forrest, Warren Ashe, Charles Halton, Lee Shumway, Karin Booth (uncredited), Matt McHugh (uncredited), Cyril Ring (uncredited)
Specialty Performers: The Debonnaires
Plot:
Johnny Draper (Johnston) and his band want to perform in an aircraft defense plant; saying it would help with morale and production. While the plant’s leaders think it’s a good idea, they say they also can’t pay them only to play music and recommend that they work as defense workers at the plant. While the band agrees to work at the plant, the band’s glamorous singer, Donna D’Arcy (Miller), declines and finds a job singing in a nightclub. Johnny meets a lady welder, Lee Davis (Rhodes) who first seems tough as nails but then they fall in love. Problems arise when Donna comes to work at the plant.
Trivia:
• Ann Miller’s hair was dyed blonde for the film.
• Working title was “Priorities of 1942.”
Highlights:
• “Cooperate with Your Air Warden” number with Ann Miller’s dancing with her shadow
Notable Songs:
• “I’d Love to Know You Better” performed by Johnny Johnston and Ann Miller, reprised by Betty Jane Rhodes
• “Conchita, Marquita, Lolita, Pepita, Rosita, Juanita Lopez” performed by Johnny Johnston and Jerry Colonna
• “Kiss the Boys Goodbye” performed by Ann Miller
• “You’re in Love with Someone Else” performed by Betty Jane Rhodes
• “Cooperate with Your Air Warden” performed by Jerry Colonna and danced by Ann Miller
My review:
Don’t adjust your televisions, that is Ann Miller with blonde hair.
As I’ve noted many times, if you have read Comet Over Hollywood for any length of time, you already know I love a good World War II-era musical. PRIORITIES ON PARADE (1942) fits the bill.
In the film, Johnny Draper (Johnston) and his band want to perform in an aircraft defense plant; saying it would help with morale and production. While the plant’s leaders think it’s a good idea, they say they also can’t pay them only to play music and recommend that they work as defense workers at the plant. While the band agrees to work at the plant, the band’s glamorous singer, Donna D’Arcy (Miller), declines and finds a job singing in a nightclub. Johnny meets a lady welder, Lee Davis (Rhodes) who first seems tough as nails but then they fall in love. Problems arise when Donna comes to work at the plant.
For a great World War II themed musical we have:
Working in a defense plant
Women in manufacturing and defending it
A song about air wardens and black outs
The cast in this film is great. Ann Miller plays a great bad girl, who happens to be blonde. Miller later said that having her hair bleached was an unpleasant process and gave long term damage to her hair.
At one point, she calls up lady welder, Lee Davis (Betty Jane Rhodes), in front of a nightclub to pick fun of her. Rhodes gets the last laugh when she gives a speech, sharing the importance of women working in defense plants. The speech is great, even today, it shows women can do everything men can.
The songs and dances in this film are also lots of fun.
One of the best is the “Cooperate with Your Air Warden” number that features Miller dancing in the dark with her shoes, belt and hands illuminated as she dances with her shadow.
However, we were doing alright until the “Age of Machinery” number, which was just odd.
Overall, this brief musical is so much fun and filled with great songs.
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