Category Archives: Musical Monday

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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Musical Monday: Boarding House Blues (1948)

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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.

boarding house bluesThis week’s musical:
Boarding House Blues (1948) – Musical #767

Studio:
All-American Pictures

Director:
Josh Binney

Starring:
Mom Mabley (billed as Jackie Mabley), Dusty Fletcher, Marcellus Wilson, Marie Cooke, Augustus Smith, Johnny Lee, Emory Richardson, Harold Cromer, Sidney Easton, Freddie Robinson, John “Spider Bruce” Mason, John Riano
Specialty Acts: Lucky Millinder and His Band, Una Mae Carlisle, Bull Moose Jackson, Berry Brothers, Lewis and White, Anistine Allen, Paul Breckenridge, Stump and Stumpy (James Cross and Eddie Hartman), Lee Norman Trio, Henry “Crip” Heard

Plot:
Mom (Mabley) runs a boarding house of entertainers in Harlem, and shares with her tenants that they are broke and the land lord is going to kick them. To help raise money for rent, the boarders put on a show.

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Musical Monday: Calendar Girl (1947)

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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.

calendar girlThis week’s musical:
Calendar Girl (1947) – Musical #578

Studio:
Republic Pictures

Director:
Allan Dwan

Starring:
Jane Frazee, William Marshall, James Ellison, Gail Patrick, Irene Rich, Kenny Baker, Victor McLaglen, Janet Martin, Gus Schilling, Franklin Pangborn

Plot:
Set in 1900, pals Johnny Bennett (Marshall) and Steve Adams (Ellison) leave their comfortable lives in Boston to try to make it in Greenwich Village as artists. Johnny wants to write songs and Steve is an artist. They land at a performer boarding house run by Lulu Varden (Rich). Both Johnny and Steve fall for dancer and singer Patricia O’Neill (Frazee) lives in the boarding house with her firefighter father (McLaglen), who doesn’t approve of her performing aspirations. Patricia prefers for Steve, who happens to have a girl (Patrick) back in Boston. Patricia also poses for Steve for a sensual painting that is used on the 1901 calendar.

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Musical Monday: Junction 88 (1948)

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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.

junction 88This week’s musical:
Junction 88 (1948) – Musical #766

Studio:
Century Theatrical Productions

Director:
George R. Quigley

Starring:
As themselves: Bob Howard, Pigmeat Markham, Noble Sissel
Also starring: Wyatt Clark, Marie Cooke, Gus Smith, Abbey Mitchell, Artie Belle McGinty, George Wiltshire, Herbert Junior, Alonzo Basan, Maude Simmons, Al Young, Augustus Smith, Augustus Smith Jr.
Billed as the choir: Eugene Thompson, Rumena Matson, Mable Berger, Delphine Roach, Henry Nelson

Plot:
Buster (Clark) is a songwriter, but doesn’t want anyone to know that he wrote this song. Buster loves Lolly (Cooke), but her father prefers hardworking men, and he fears that he wouldn’t look kindly at a songwriting career. Music agents (Howard, Markham) get ahold of Buster’s songs that are published under the pen name of Hewlett Green. The agents travel to the small town of Junction 88 to find Green, but no one in town knows who the mysterious Hewlett Green is.

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Musical Monday: Let’s Dance (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:
Let’s Dance (1950) – Musical #456

let's dance

Studio:
Paramount Pictures

Director:
Norman Z. McLeod

Starring:
Betty Hutton, Fred Astaire, Roland Young, Ruth Warrick, Lucille Watson, Gregory Moffett, Barton MacLane, Shepperd Strudwick, Melville Cooper, Harold Huber, George Zucco, Peggy Badley, Nana Bryant (uncredited), James Burke (uncredited), Bess Flowers (uncredited),

Plot:
During World War II, Kitty McNeil (Hutton) and Donald Elwood (Astaire) were a musical act that performed in USO shows. Donald was in love with Kitty, but she had already married a serviceman, so the two split up the act. The film fast-forwards to 1950 and we learn that Kitty’s husband was killed in the war, and she lives with his stuffy family in Boston. Kitty doesn’t like how his family wants her to raise her son, Richie (Moffett), and would like to leave. But her grandmother-in-law, Serena (Watson), won’t allow her to take her son with her and insists that they raise him. Kitty and her son run away to New York City so she can find work, and she reconnects with Donald. Donald and his nightclub coworkers help Kitty and Richie build a new life.

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Musical Monday: Song of Norway (1970)

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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.

song of norway3This week’s musical:
Song of Norway (1970) – Musical #764

Studio:
Produced by ABC Pictures Corp., distributed by Cinerama Releasing Corp.

Director:
Andrew L. Stone

Starring:
Toralv Maurstad, Florence Henderson, Christina Schollin, Frank Porretta, Harry Secombe, Robert Morley, Edward G. Robinson, Oscar Homolka, Frederick Jaeger, Henry Gilbert, Richard Wordsworth, Matt Mattox (uncredited)

Plot:
A biographical film on Norwegian composer, Edvard Grieg (Maurstad).

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Musical Monday: Star! (1968)

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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.

StarThis week’s musical:
Star! (1968) – Musical #240

Studio:
20th Century Fox

Director:
Robert Wise

Starring:
Julie Andrews, Richard Crenna, Michael Craig, Daniel Massey, Robert Reed, Bruce Forsythe, Beryl Reid, John Collin, Alan Oppenheimer, Richard Karlan, Garrett Lewis, Anna Lee (uncredited), Grady Sutton (uncredited), Jenny Agutter (uncredited)

Plot:
Biographical film on stage actress Gertrude Lawrence (Andrews).

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