Musical Monday: Paris in Spring (1935)

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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.

paris in the spring4This week’s musical:
Paris in Spring (1935) – Musical #769

Studio:
Paramount Pictures

Director:
Lewis Milestone

Starring:
Mary Ellis, Tullio Carminati, Ida Lupino, Lynne Overman, James Blakeley, Jessie Ralph, Dorothea Wolbert, Akim Tamiroff, Craig Reynolds, Joseph North, Jack Raymond, Jack Mulhall, Harold Entwistle, Sam Ash, Arnold Korff, Francis Ford (uncredited)

Plot:
Paul (Carminati) and Mignon (Lupino) both meet atop the Eiffel Tower, both in despair over love. Paul’s marriage proposal to nightclub singer Simone (Ellis) was turned down, and 17-year-old Mignon left her cousin Albert (Blakeley) at the alter when he didn’t think she was mature enough. Though Paul and Mignon originally considered jumping off the Eiffel Tower, instead they hatch a plan to make Simone and Albert jealous. In search of Mignon, Albert meets Simone, and then the two of them join forces to make Mignon and Paul jealous.

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Turner Classic Movies Classic Film Festival 2024

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tcmff

Covering TCMFF in 2023

I’ll be returning to the Turner Classic Movies Classic Film Festival to attend the 2024 event. This will be my ninth festival and it will be the 15th year that Turner Classic Movies has hosted the film festival.

This year’s festival theme is Crime and Justice in Film, and special guest stars will include Jodie Foster, Billy Dee Williams and Lesley Ann Warren, just to name a few.

More Eighty films will be screened during the festival, which will take place from Thursday, April 18, through Sunday, April 21.

Below are ways to follow my Hollywood adventures:
• X (formerly Twitter): @HollywoodComet
• Instagram: @CometOverHollywood
• Facebook: Facebook.com/CometOverHollywood

I’ll also be logging the films I watched on Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/HollywoodComet/

Screenshot 2024-04-17 070943

Musical Monday: April in Paris (1952)

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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.

april in parisThis week’s musical:
April in Paris (1952) – Musical #129

Studio:
Warner Bros.

Director:
David Butler

Starring:
Doris Day, Ray Bolger, Claude Dauphin, Eve Miller, George Givot, Paul Harvey, Herbert Farjeon, Wilson Millar, Raymond Largay, John Alvin

Plot:
S. “Sam” Winthrop Putnam (Bolger) is a by-the-book State Department diplomat. He plays by the rules and doesn’t believe in mistakes. However, even Sam isn’t above making an error. His mistake? Inviting chorus girl Ethel “Dynamite” Jackson (Day) to a Paris arts festival instead of actress Ethel Barrymore. Sam visits Ethel in New York City to break the bad news, as her friends are throwing her a bon voyage party as she leaves for France. As Sam tries to undo his mistake, his superior, Secretary Robert Sherman (Harvey), think that maybe having a chorus girl at the arts festival isn’t a bad idea after all, and could be great public relations.

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Musical Monday: Spring Parade (1940)

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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.

spring paradeThis week’s musical:
Spring Parade (1940) – Musical #768

Studio:
Universal Pictures

Director:
Henry Koster

Starring:
Deanna Durbin, Robert Cummings, S.Z. Sakall, Anne Gwynne, Mischa Auer, Henry Stephenson, Billy Lenhart, Kenneth Brown, Allyn Joslyn, Walter Catlett, Peggy Moran, Regindal Denny, Franklin Pangborn, Edward Gargan, Samuel S. Hinds, Leon Belasco,

Plot:
While at a festival, Hungarian girl Ilonka Tolnay (Durbin) has her fortune read that says her husband will be an artist and she will meet him in Vienna. She thinks this is ridiculous because she has never been to Vienna. After the festival, she falls asleep on a pile of hay. When she awakes, she finds that she actually was asleep on a cart driven by baker Latislav Teschek (Sakall) and is en route to Vienna. While initially upset, Ilonka realizes this may help her fortune come try. She stays with Latislav and his family, and eventually meets Corporal Harry Marten (Cummings), who happens to be a composer.

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Musical Monday: April Love (1957)

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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:
April Love (1957) – Musical #767

april love

Studio:
20th Century Fox

Director:
Henry Levin

Starring:
Pat Boone, Shirley Jones, Dolores Michaels, Arthur O’Connell, Matt Crowley, Jeanette Nolan, Bradford Jackson, Robert Adler (uncredited)

Plot:
When Nick Conover (Boone) has a brush with the law in Chicago, he is sent to Kentucky to stay with his aunt and uncle (Nolan, O’Connell) on their farm in Kentucky for the summer. Nick befriends their neighbors, Liz (Jones) and Fran (Michaels) Templeton, and becomes interested in harness horse racing.

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Musical Monday: Spring is Here (1930)

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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.

spring is here2This week’s musical:
Spring is Here (1930) – Musical #745

Studio:
First National Pictures, distributed by Warner Bros.

Director:
John Francis Dillon

Starring:
Lawrence Gray, Alexander Gray, Bernice Claire, Frank Albertson, Inez Courtney, Louise Fazenda, Ford Sterling, Natalie Moorhead, Gretchen Thomas (uncredited)
Themselves: The Brox Sisters (Bobbe Brox, Kathlyn Brox, Lorayne Brox)

Plot:
Betty (Claire) returns home at 5 a.m. after being out with her sweetheart, Steve (Lawrence Gray). That day, her father is furious, disapproving of Steve but approving of Terry (Alexander Gray), another young man who cares for Betty. But Betty doesn’t care for Terry, so her sister Mary Jane (Courtney) creates a plan to make Betty jealous.

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Musical Monday: Juke Box Rhythm (1959)

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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.

juke box rhythmThis week’s musical:
Juke Box Rhythm (1959) – Musical #360

Studio:
Columbia Pictures

Director:
Arthur Dreifuss

Starring:
Jo Marrow, Jack Jones, Frieda Inescort, Brian Donlevy, Marjorie Reynods, Hans Conried, Karin Booth, Fritz Feld, Edgar Barrier, Robert Banas (uncredited)
As themselves: George Jessel, Earl Grant Trio, The Nitwits, Johnny Otis, The Treniers, Wally Stewart

Plot:
Princess Ann (Morrrow) travels from Europe to buy her coronation wardrobe in New York City. Her proper aunt, Countess Margaret (Inescort), disapproves of the trip and rock and roll music. When Ann sneaks out to listen to rock music in the hotel, she briefly dances with Riff Manton (Jones) and they are photographed. Riff’s dad, George Manton (Donlevy), is trying to put on a show, but with no funds. Riff’s father and mother (Reynolds) are having marital issues and Riff is worried is dad will go to another wealthy woman (Booth) for money. As a way to bring them together, Riff woos Princess Ann with hopes that he can make money for his parents.

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Musical Monday: Little Nellie Kelly (1940)

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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.

little nellie kellyThis week’s musical:
Little Nellie Kelly (1940) – Musical #238

Studio:
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Director:
Norman Taurog

Starring:
Judy Garland, George Murphy, Charles Winninger, Douglas McPhail, Arthur Shields, Rita Page, Forrester Harvey, James Burke, George Watts, Joseph Crehan (uncredited), Milton Kibbee (uncredited), Sidney Miller (uncredited), Addison Richards (uncredited), John Raitt (uncredited), Mel Ruick (uncredited)

Plot:
Nellie (Garland) and Jerry (Murphy) want to marry and move to the United States from their home country of Ireland, but her father Michael (Winninger) doesn’t think Jerry is a proper suitor for his daughter. Nellie goes against her father’s wishes and marries Jerry anyways. All three move to the United States, where they become citizens and build a life, but with Jerry and Michael still at odds. Years later, when Nellie and Jerry’s daughter, little Nellie (also Garland) is a teenager, history repeats itself when Michael once again has strong opinions about the young men in his granddaughter’s life.

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Musical Monday: If I Had My Way (1940)

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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.

if I had my way2This week’s musical:
If I Had My Way (1940) – Musical #747

Studio:
Universal Pictures

Director:
David Butler

Starring:
Bing Crosby, Gloria Jean, Charles Winninger, El Brendel, Allyn Joslyn, Claire Dodd, Donald Woods, Moroni Olsen, Nana Bryant, Kathryn Adams, Verna Felton (uncredited), Rafael Alcayde (uncredited), Rod Cameron (uncredited)
Specialty Acts: Six Hits and a Miss, Julian Eltinge, Trixie Friganza, Grace La Rue, Eddie Leonard, Blanche Ring, Paul Gordon

Plot:
Construction workers Buzz Blackwell (Crosby), Fred Johnson (Woods) and Axel Swenson (El Brendel), are about to complete their work on the Golden Gate Bridge. When Fred is killed in an accident, Buzz and Axel take Fred’s young daughter Patricia (Jean) to New York City to live with her uncle, Jarvis Johnson (Joslyn). Not wanting to take responsibility, Jarvis Johnson sends Patricia to her great aunt and uncle, Joe and Marian Johnson (Charles Winninger, Nana Bryant), who welcome the child with open arms. While Buzz is ready to move on to another construction project in Arizona, Axel spends all their money while drunkenly buying an unsuccessful restaurant. Buzz works to transform the restaurant into a vaudeville-themed café to help support Patricia.

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Watching 1939: Should a Girl Marry? (1939)

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In 2011, I announced I was trying to see every film released in 1939. This new series chronicles films released in 1939 as I watch them. As we start out this blog feature, this section may become more concrete as I search for a common thread that runs throughout each film of the year. Right now, that’s difficult.

should a girl marry21939 film:
Should a Girl Marry? (1939)

Release date:
June 8, 1939

Cast:
Anne Nagel, Warren Hull, Mayo Methot, Weldon Heyburn, Aileen Pringle, Lester Matthews, Helen Brown, Sarah Padden, Gordon Hart, Edmund Elton, Robert Elliott, Claire Rochelle, Arthur Loft, Harry Hayden, Bess Flowers

Studio:
Crescent Pictures Corporation
Distributed by Monogram Pictures

Director:
Lambert Hillyer

Plot:
Margaret Wilson (Nagel) was born with a secret, but doesn’t know it. She was born in prison and adopted by the Wilsons (Padden, Hart), who have kept the secret from Margaret, who has had a happy childhood and is engaged to young Dr. Benson (Hull). But when a friend, Betty Gilbert (Methot) of Margaret’s birth mother is released from jail, the friend’s no good husband sees a get-rich-quick scheme with blackmailing the Wilsons. In tandem, Dr. Benson is in the running of being selected as the head doctor at the hospital, but another doctor will do anything to ruin his career.

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