Author Archives: Jnpickens

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About Jnpickens

Classic film lover and reporter in North Carolina.

Musical Monday: Sailor Beware (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.

sailor beware4This week’s musical:
Sailor Beware (1952) – Musical #788

Studio:
Paramount Pictures

Director:
Hal Walker

Starring:
Jerry Lewis, Dean Martin, Corinne Calvet, Marion Marshall, Robert Strauss, Leif Erickson, Don Wilson, Vince Edwards, Skip Homeier, Dan Barton, Mike Mahoney, Mary Treen, Donald MacBride (uncredited), Elaine Stewart (uncredited), James Dean (uncredited)
Herself: Corinne Calvet
Cameo: Betty Hutton

Plot:
Bumbling Melvin Jones (Lewis) and smooth operator Al Crowthers (Martin) both enlist in the U.S. Navy. Shenanigans ensue as Melvin’s shipmates bet that he can kiss actress Corinne Calvet (herself) once they arrive in Hawaii.

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Musical Monday: Swingtime Johnny (1943)

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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:
Swingtime Johnny (1943) – Musical #789

Studio:
Universal Pictures

Director:
Edward F. Cline

Starring:
Harriet Nelson (billed as Harriet Hilliard), Patty Andrews, Maxene Andrews, Laverne Andrews, Peter Cookson, Tim Ryan, Matt Willis, William “Bill” Phillips, Tom Dugan, Ray Walker
Themselves: Mitch Ayres and His Orchestra

Plot:
Jonathan Chadwick (Cookson) is the owner of a pipe organ plant. Due to wartime conditions, the plant is converted into a munitions plant. Nightclub singers, Linda (Hilliard-Nelson) and the Andrews Sisters (themselves) leave their jobs at the club to help the war effort and work at the factory. Linda becomes Jonathan’s secretary, and the two become friendly. When the plant is threatened to close, Linda realizes someone is taking advantage of Jonathan.

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Musical Monday: About Face (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.

about face2This week’s musical:
About Face (1952) – Musical #382

Studio:
Warner Bros.

Director:
Roy Del Ruth

Starring:
Gordon MacRae, Eddie Bracken, Dick Wesson, Virginia Gibson, Phyllis Kirk, Aileen Stanley Jr., Joel Grey, Larry Keating, Cliff Ferre, John Baer, Mabel Albertson (uncredited)

Plot:
The senior cadets at Southern Military Institute are months away from graduation. Tony Williams (MacRae), Boff Roberts (Bracken) and Dave Crouse (Wesson) get in the usual trouble as they have a plebe cadet, Bender (Grey), runs their errands. The three pals also butt heads with Lt. Jones (Ferre), who tries to woo their girls. Boff and his girl, Alice (Kirk), are also secretly married and have a baby on the way.

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Musical Monday: Duffey’s Tavern (1945)

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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.

duffys tavernThis week’s musical:
Duffey’s Tavern (1945) – Musical #787

Studio:
Paramount Pictures

Director:
Hal Walker

Starring:
Ed Gardner, Barry Fitzgerald, Victor Moore, Marjorie Reynolds, Barry Sullivan, Charles Cantor, Eddie Green, Ann Thomas, Howard Da Silva, Billy De Wolfe, Walter Abel, Frank Faylen (uncredited), Matt McHugh (uncredited), Noel Neill (uncredited),
Themselves: Bing Crosby, Betty Hutton, Paulette Goddard, Alan Ladd, Dorothy Lamour, Eddie Bracken, Brian Donlevy, Sonny Tufts, Veronica Lake, Arturo de Cordova, Cass Daley, Diana Lynn, Robert Bencley, William Demarest, Joan Caulfield, Gail Russell, Hlen Walker, Jean Heather, Maurice Rocco, Dennis Crosby, Gary Crosby, Lindsay Crosby, Phillip Crosby, Olga San Juan,

Plot:
During World War II, a record manufacturer closes down because a shortage of Shellac. While the factory is closed, the out of work employees eat for free and drown their sorrows at Duffy’s Tavern on credit, which is run by Archie (Gardner). The record company owner, Michael O’Malley (Moore), tries to find finances and a way to open the plant. Archie and O’Malley also learn that a bevvy of celebrities will be in town, they ask them to host a benefit for out of work soldiers returning from the war.

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Musical Monday: The Beach Girls and the Monster (1965)

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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 Beach Girls and the Monster (1965) – Musical #786

Studio:
American Academy Productions

Director:
Jon Hall

Starring:
Jon Hall, Sue Casey, Walker Edmiston, Elaine DuPont, Arnold Lessing, Read Morgan, Carolyn Williamson, Gloria Neil, Kal Roberts, Clyde Adler, Dale Davis, Margo Lynn Sweet

Plot:
While a group is dancing and surfing on the beach, a girl is killed by a sea monster. As more teens are killed, oceanographer Dr. Otto Lindsay (Hall) is brought in on the case, though police just feel it’s a murderer. At the same time, Dr. Lindsay’s son Richard (Lessing) is reluctant to settle down into a career with his dad, wanting to surf and have fun, and Dr. Lindsay’s wife, Vicky (Casey), is being unfaithful.

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Musical Monday: Anything Goes (1956)

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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.

Screenshot 2024-10-19 114732This week’s musical:
Anything Goes (1956) – Musical #785

Studio:
Paramount Pictures

Director:
Robert Lewis

Starring:
Bing Crosby, Donald O’Connor, Mitzi Gaynor, Zizi Jeanmaire, Phil Harris, Kurt Kasznar, Richard Erdman, Walter Sande, Archer MacDonald, Argentina Brunetti, Alma Macrorie, Dorothy Neumann, James Griffith, Macel Dalio (uncredited), Nancy Kulp (uncredited), Ruta Lee (uncredited)

Plot:
Broadway veteran Bill Benson (Crosby) is soon to be cast in a show with up-and-coming television star, Ted Adams (O’Connor). They just need to find a leading lady for the show. Separately, Bill signs Patsy Blair (Gaynor) as the leading lady and Ted signs Gaby Duval (Jeanmaire). The two then have to figure out how to pick the best actress and break the news to the girl not selected for the show.

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Musical Monday: Rio Rita (1942)

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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 500. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

Screenshot 2024-10-04 172405This week’s musical:
Rio Rita (1942) – Musical #532

Studio:
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Director:
S. Sylvan Simon

Starring:
Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Kathryn Grayson, John Carroll, Patricia Dane, Tom Conway, Barry Nelson, Peter Whitney, Arthur Space,
Themselves: Eros Volusia, Eros Volusia Brazilian Dancers

Plot:
Rita Winslow (Grayson) runs the Hotel Vista del Rio, which is located in Texas on the border of Mexico. She eagerly awaits for famous singer Ricardo Montera (Carroll) to arrive for his visit. Rita and Ricardo had a brief romance years before. To help manage the hotel, Rita hired Maurice Craindell (Conway), who is also a Nazi spy and using his work at the hotel as a cover. A bumbling pair Doc (Abbott) and Wishy (Costello) arrive at the hotel and unwittingly expose the Nazi spy ring.

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Musical Monday: Meet Danny Wilson (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.

This week’s musical:
Meet Danny Wilson (1952) – Musical #784

Studio:
Universal International

Director:
Joseph Pevney

Starring:
Frank Sinatra, Shelley Winters, Alex Nicol, Raymond Burr, Vaughn Taylor, Tommy Farrell, Donald MacBride, Barbara Knudson, Carl Sklover
Cameo Appearance: Jeff Chandler, Tony Curtis

Plot:
Danny Wilson (Sinatra) is a down-on-his-luck singer, but his luck turns when he meets Joy Carroll (Winters), who invites Danny and his pal, Michael Francis (Nicol), to have a drink with her. Joy’s boss, racketeer and club owner Nick Driscoll (Burr) hires Danny as a singer, which launches a successful career for Danny. But as Danny’s star rises, Nick is there to take a cut in the profit.

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Musical Monday: Beware (1946)

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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:
Beware (1946) – Musical #782

Studio:
Astor Pictures

Director:
Bud Pollard

Starring:
As himself: Louis Jordan
Other performers: Frank H. Wilson, Emory Richardson, Valerie Black, Milton Woods, Joseph Hiliard, Tommy Hix, Charles Johnson, John Grant, Walter Earle, Ernest Calloway, Dimples Daniels
Louis Jordan’s Tympany Band: Wild Bill Davis, Joshua W. Jackson, Aaron Izenhall, Carl Hogan, Jesse Simplain, Eddie Byrd

Plot:
Ware College loses their financial endowment when the grandson of the college’s founder, Benjamin Ware III (Woods). In an effort to raise money in order to stay open, Dean Hargreaves (Richardson) and Prof. Drury (Wilson) reach out to well-established alumni, such as students who went on to become lawyers or politicians. Former student Lucius Brokenshire Jordan (Jordan) is one student they didn’t reach out to, because they don’t know how to reach him and “He was always so involved with his saxophone.” Unbeknownst to them, Jordan is now a successful bandleader, traveling across the country on tour. When his train has a delay near Ware College, he stops in for a visit and realizes their financial troubles, and stays to help.

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Musical Monday: Grease 2 (1982)

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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.

grease 2This week’s musical:
Grease 2 (1982) – Musical #781

Studio:
Paramount Pictures

Director:
Patricia Birch

Starring:
Maxwell Caulfield, Michelle Pfeiffer, Lorna Luft, Adrian Zmed, Eve Arden, Sid Caesar, Tab Hunter, Connie Stevens, Didi Conn, Dody Goodman, Maureen Teefy, Allison Price, Pamela Adlon, Peter Frechette, Christopher McDonald, Leif Green, Dick Patterson, Matt Lattanzi

Plot:
It’s the first day of the 1961 fall term at Rydell High School. The tough crowd at the high school are the leather jacket wearing T-Birds and the pink satin jacket-wearing Pink Ladies. Pink Lady Stephanie (Pfeiffer) has grown tired of her T-Bird boyfriend Johnny (Zmed). Their group rules say that only T-Birds can date Pink Ladies, and while Stephanie has broken up with Johnny, she still wants a tough guy. Also on the first day of school, exchange student and cousin of Sandy (from the previous Grease) Michael Carrington (Caulfield) arrives and is immediately smitten with Stephanie. The problem is Stephanie won’t look at him if he’s not a leather-wearing, motorcycle-riding “cool rider.”

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