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:
Sweethearts on Parade (1953) – Musical #844

Studio:
Republic Pictures

Director:
Allan Dwan

Starring:
Ray Middleton, Lucille Norman, Eileen Christy, Bill Shirley, Estelita Rodriguez (billed as Estelita),
Clinton Sundberg, Harry Carey Jr., Irving Bacon, Leon Tyler, Marjorie Wood, Mara Corday, Elinor Donahue (uncredited), Mimi Gibson (uncredited)

Plot:
Kathleen Townsend (Norman) and her daughter, Sylvia (Christy), live a quiet and peaceful life in Kokomo, Indiana in the late 1800s. Sylvia misses having a father, Cam Ellerby (Middleton), who Kathleen left when Sylvia was a baby due his philandering ways. Years later, Cam and his traveling medicine show comes to Kokomo, the three are reunited.

Trivia:
• Final film of Eileen Christy and Lucille Norman. While Christy appears to have retired from acting entirely, Norman made a few television appearances and performed on the stage.
• Lucille Norman, who plays Eileen Christy’s mother, was only six years older than Christy.
• Working title was “Sweetheart Time.”
• Harry Carey Jr.’s singing voice was dubbed by Rex Allen. Allen was originally cast and had to drop out due to an eye injury, but his singing voice was still used.
• Director and executive producer Allan Dwan added his own lyrics to some of the songs, according to Dwan’s biographer.
• Bill Shirley’s second to last film. His final film was the voice of Prince Phillip in SLEEPING BEAUTY (1959)

Eileen Christy, Bill Shirley, Lucille Norman

Highlights:
• The excellent vocal talent exhibited in the film.
• Estelita Rodriguez

Notable Songs:
• “Long, Long Ago” performed by Lucille Norman
• “Flow Gently Sweet Afton” performed by Eileen Christy, Lucille Norman and Bill Shirley
• “Young Love” performed by Bill Shirley
• “Romance” performed by Lucille Norman
• “You Naughty, Naughty Man” performed by Estelita Rodriguez
• “Sweet Genevieve” performed by Harry Carey Jr., dubbed by Rex Allen
• “Wanderin’” performed by Bill Shirley and the chorus

Ray Middleton

My review:
It’s interesting to see the evolution of a director’s career. Allan Dwan began his career in 1911 in the early days of film. While under contract at 20th Century Fox in the 1930s, Dwan directed the studio’s top stars, like Shirley Temple in HEIDI (1937), or large scale films, like SUEZ (1936). But in the 1950s, Dwan found himself at the poverty row studio, Republic Pictures, making B and C-level films. But even still, Dwan still tried to make these high quality productions.

One of these films was this week’s Musical Monday, SWEETHEARTS ON PARADE (1953). In the film, Kathleen Townsend (Norman) and her daughter, Sylvia (Christy), live a quiet and peaceful life in Kokomo, Indiana in the late 1800s. Sylvia misses having a father, Cam Ellerby (Middleton), who Kathleen left when Sylvia was a baby due his philandering ways. Years later, Cam has fallen far from his grand opera days and runs as traveling medicine show. The show comes to Kokomo, the three are reunited.

The film almost feels reminiscent to the end of SHOW BOAT (1936), where Magnolia and her grown daughter are reunited with the down-on-his-luck Gaylord.

To be sure, this Republic Pictures musical isn’t top tier, but it’s fairly pleasant. The most stunning thing about the film is the excellent singing talent that is showcased here. We have the operatic talent of Lucille Norman and Eileen Christy, the smooth tenor of Bill Shirley and the deep, powerful baritone of Ray Middleton.

Lucille Norman doesn’t have nearly enough screentime, and she’s the actress I know best in this film. Norman is lovely and has a stunning voice. Oddly, though, she’s only six years older than Eileen Christy, who plays her daughter in the film.

Eileen Christy is also in beautiful voice and is adequately sweet and fresh. She reminds me of a mix of several musical actresses, though I can’t quite put my finger on exactly who.

Ray Middleton didn’t leave much of an impression as an actor, but his booming singing voice is quite impressive.

Who did leave an impression is Bill Shirley, who plays a pleasant love interest for Christy and has a lovely tenor. As it turns out, Shirley was the voice of Prince Phillip in Disney’s SLEEPING BEAUTY (1959).

It was also a pleasure to see Harry Carey, Jr., who I adore, who is a poetic character always speaking in rhyme. His singing voice is dubbed by Rex Allen, who is another Disney connection in this film. Allen is best known for narrating Disney’s nature films.

Estelita Rodriguez is also a highlight in this film, and all of the actors seem bland compared to her.

On the downside, this film does have one black face number. Another downside of this film is that the only version available to watch are quite washed out and not the best quality. You don’t get to see the full effect of the Republic Pictures TruColor.

Apparently while Peter Bogdonitvitch didn’t like the film, he did praised the dance numbers, according to Allan Dwan’s biographer.

While this isn’t the best musical you’ll ever see, it’s a pleasant 83 minutes. It also is interesting to see the evolution of Dwan’s career and what was a more lavish Republic Pictures production.

Other places you can follow Comet Over Hollywood: 

• Facebook
• Letterboxd
• X at @HollywoodComet
• Instagram
• BlueSky 
• Or e-mail us at cometoverhollywood@gmail.com