Musical Monday: The Milkman (1950)

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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:
The Milkman (1950) – Musical #846

Studio:
Universal Pictures

Director:
Charles Barton

Starring:
Donald O’Connor, Jimmy Durante, Piper Laurie, Joyce Holden, William Conrad, Henry O’Neill, Paul Harvey, Jess Barker, Elisabeth Risdon, Frank Nelson

Plot:
Wealthy Roger Bradley (O’Connor) wants a job, but his father (O’Neill) who owns a milk company. Roger goes to work as a milkman for a competing milk company, where milkman Breezy Albright (Durante) takes him under his wing. Complications arise when Roger falls for the daughter of his employer (Laurie) and can’t expose who he is. He then gets mixed up with a murderous gambling ring.

Trivia:
• A special screening of THE MILKMAN (1950) was held at the World Wide Convention and Exposition of the Milk Industry Foundation in Atlanta, GA on Oct. 17, 1950, with 15,000 attendees.
• Jimmy Durante was on loan from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer for this film
• Jimmy Durante co-wrote all the songs in the film with Jackie Barnett
• First film of Joyce Holden
• Establishing shots filmed in San Francisco

Highlights:
• When Jimmy Durante says “You’ve heard of Iturbi haven’t you?”
• The “That’s My Boy” number
• “You must remain innuendo” instead of incognito

Notable Songs:
• “That’s My Boy” performed by Jimmy Durante and Donald O’Connor
• “Nobody Wants My Money” performed by Jimmy Durante
• “The Early Morning Song” performed by Donald O’Connor
• “It’s Bigger Than Both of Us” performed by Jimmy Durante, Donald O’Connor, Piper Laurie, Joyce Holden

My review:
It can be a pleasant surprise when you think you’re just about to watch a comedy and it turns out to be a musical!

It’s especially a delight when that musical co-stars Donald O’Connor and Jimmy Durante.

In the film, Donald O’Connor plays a wealthy play boy, Roger Bradley, who wants a job. His father (Henry O’Neill) owns a major milk company, but refuses to give him a job. Roger goes to work as a milkman for a competing milk company, where milkman Breezy Albright (Jimmy Durante) takes him under his wing. Complications arise when Roger falls for the daughter of his employer (Piper Laurie) and can’t expose who he is. Then he gets mixed up with a murderous gambling ring.

The plot is truly as wild as it sounds: we start with a rich guy wanting to work and having to go undercover to do so, leading the love interest to believe he’s poor. Pretty standard stuff, right? Then we take a sharp left turn when gamblers and stolen jewels are mixed into the plot and Roger then gets mixed up in a murder. While the movie makes many twists and turns, it’s still a good time. But things were going much better before characters started hiding jewels in milk bottles.

While I enjoy Donald O’Connor, I’ll admit that it’s Jimmy Durante who stole the show. I guess this shouldn’t be surprising. Durante is funny and always has all the best songs. I especially enjoyed his performance of “Nobody Wants My Money.”

Piper Laurie and Joyce Holden truthfully didn’t have much to do and were just pleasant window dressing.

If I’m being honest, I thought this movie was going to be annoying. But despite some convoluted plot points, it ended up being a good time.

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