Category Archives: Musical Monday

Musical Monday: The Opposite Sex (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 500. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

This week’s musical:
The Opposite Sex (1956) – Musical #175

Studio:
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Director:
David Miller

Starring:
June Allyson, Joan Collins, Dolores Gray, Ann Sheridan, Ann Miller, Leslie Nielsen, Jeff Richards, Joan Blondell, Sam Levine, Agnes Moorehead, Charlotte Greenwood, Bill Goodwin, Alice Pearce, Carolyn Jones, Harry James, Alan Marshall, Jim Backus, Dick Shawn, Barrie Chase (uncredited), Dean Jones (uncredited)

Plot:
Kay Hilliard (Allyson) is married to Broadway producer Steve Hilliard (Nielsen). She learns from her gossip at the beauty parlor that Steve is cheating on her with one of the girls in his show, Crystal Allen (Collins). Kay’s catty friends Sylvia (Gray) and Edith (Blondell) revel in the gossip while Amanda (Sheridan) tries to help Kay and encourages her not to get a divorce. Kay, a former radio singer, divorces her husband and restarts her career.

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Musical Monday: Because You’re Mine (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:
Because You’re Mine (1952) – Musical No. 604

Studio: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Director: Alexander Hall

Starring:
Mario Lanza, Doretta Morrow, James Whitmore, Bobby Van, Rita Corday (billed as Paula Corday), Dean Miller, Jeff Donnell, Spring Byington, Don Porter, Eduard Franz, Dabs Greer (uncredited)

Plot:
Renaldo Rossano (Lanza) is a famous opera singer who is drafted into the Army. His sergeant, Batterson (Whitmore) turns out to be a big fan of Rossano and gives him preferential treatment. Batterson also introduces Rossano to his sister Bridget (Morrow), hoping that Rossano can give her a break. Rossano helps out, hoping it will get him out of the Army and back on stage, but then he falls in love with Bridget.

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Musical Monday: Swing Fever (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:
Swing Fever (1943) – Musical No. 391

Studio: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Director: Tim Whelan

Starring: Kay Kyser, Marilyn Maxwell, William Gargan, Nat Pendleton, Curt Bois, Andrew Tombes, Maxie Rosenbloom, Morris Ankrum, Pamela Blake, Ava Gardner (uncredited), Karin Booth (uncredited)
Themselves: Lena Horne, Harry Babbitt, Sully Mason, Ish Kabibble, Trudy Erwin, Tommy Dorsey, Harry James

Plot:
Lowell Blackford (Kyser) wants to publish music for a symphonietta, but his desire to publish serious music is overshadowed by his hypnotic”evil eye” he can put on people to make them do what he wants. Fight promoter ‘Waltzy’ Malone (Gargan) wants to use Lowell’s skill to help his boxer win the championship. Malone uses attractive singer Ginger Gray (Maxwell) to help get Ginger to help convince Lowell to help them out.

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Musical Monday: On with the Show! (1929)

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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:
On With The Show! (1929) – Musical No. 605

Studio: Warner Bros.

Director: Alan Crosland

Starring:
Arthur Lake, Betty Compson, Joe E. Brown, Sally O’Neil, William Bakewell, Louise Fazenda, Sam Hardy, Ethel Waters, John W. Bubbles, Henry Fink, Otto Hoffman, Purnell Pratt, Josephine Huston, The Fairbanks Twins (Marion Fairbanks, Madeline Fairbanks)

Plot:
A performance stage troupe hopes to hit it big with their show “The Phantom Sweetheart.” They haven’t made it to Broadway and their actors haven’t been paid so their livelihood stands on the success of this performance. Offstage, the actors (Lake, Compson, Brown, Fazenda) and producer (Hardy) deal with a collector who wants to take the box office earnings or the scenery to pay for their debts. Midway through the show, the box office money is stolen and a ticket taker (Bakewell) is accused of stealing it.

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Musical Monday: Finian’s Rainbow (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.

This week’s musical:
Finian’s Rainbow (1968) – Musical #603

Studio: Warner Bros. – Seven Arts

Director: Francis Ford Coppola

Starring: Fred Astaire, Petula Clark, Tommy Steele, Don Francks, Keenan Wynn, Barbara Hancock, Al Freeman Jr., Ronald Colby, Dolph Sweet, Wright King, Vince Howard (uncredited)

Plot:
Father and daughter Irish immigrants Finian (Astaire) and Sharon (Clark) McLonergan travel to the American southern town of Rainbow Valley. Finian wants to bury his gold at Fort Knox thinking that it will grow more gold, but he is followed by a Leprechaun Og (Steele) who wants to retrieve the gold before he is turned human.

When a bigoted senator (Wynn) realizes gold is buried on the property, he tries to get the land from Finian.

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Musical Monday: Hallelujah (1929)

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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.

This week’s musical:
Hallelujah (1929) – Musical #600

Studio: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Director: King Vidor

Starring: Daniel L. Haynes, Nina Mae McKinney, William Fountaine, Harry Gray, Fanny Belle DeKnight, Everett McGarrity, Victoria Spivey, Matthew ‘Stymie’ Beard (uncredited), Sam McDaniel (uncredited), Clarence Muse (uncredited), Blue Washington (uncredited), Madame Sul-Te-Wan (uncredited)
Themselves: Dixie Jubilee Singers

Plot:
Zeke (Haynes) and Spunk (McGarrity) Johnson are cotton sharecroppers and go to town to sell their family’s portion of the season’s crop. While celebrating, Zeke meets Chick (McKinney) who sweet talks Zeke and woos him by dancing with him at a club. Chick is in cahoots with her boyfriend Hot Shot (Fountaine), and she causes Zeke to lose his money gambling. When a gun is pulled in an argument after losing his money, Zeke’s brother Spunk is killed. Fearful, Zeke runs away and turns around his life by becoming a pastor. Despite his new life, Zeke is still tempted by Chick.

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Musical Monday: The Duke Is Tops (1938)

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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.

This week’s musical:
The Duke Is Tops (1938) – Musical #599

Studio: Million Dollar Productions

Director: William L. Nolte

Starring: Ralph Cooper, Lena Horne, Laurence Criner, Neva Peoples, Monte Hawley, Vernon McCalla, Lillian Randolph (uncredited), Everett Brown (uncredited)
Themselves: Basin Street Boys, Cats and the Fiddle, Willie Covan

Plot:
Duke Davis (Cooper) is a talented performer but sets his own success aside to promote singer, Ethel Andrews (Horne). Ethel reaches success as the “Bronze Nightengale.” The problem is also that Duke is in love with Ethel, and their romance ends when Ethel goes to New York City for her career. As Ethel tries to succeed, Duke tries to make ends meet by traveling with a medicine show.

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