Category Archives: Musical Monday

Musical Monday: Pennies from Heaven (1936)

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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.

pennies from heavenThis week’s musical:
Pennies from Heaven – Musical #193

Studio:
Columbia Pictures

Director:
Norman Z. McLeod

Starring:
Bing Crosby, Edith Fellows, Madge Evans, Louis Armstrong, Donald Meek, John Gallaudet, Nana Bryant, Tom Dugan,

Plot:
Larry Poole (Crosby), who lives like a roaming minstrel, is tasked with finding two people: Gramp Smith (Meek) and a little girl, Patsy Smith (Fellows). Larry was just released from jail and one of his fellow inmates on his way to the electric chair wants Larry to tell Gramp and Patsy that he killed Patsy’s father, and to give the pair some property. While Larry does this, a welfare worker, Susan (Evans), is working to check in on Patsy to see she if she is raised properly or will have to go to an orphanage.

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Musical Monday: The Shocking Miss Pilgrim (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 600. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

shocking miss pilgrimThis week’s musical:
The Shocking Miss Pilgrim (1947) – Musical #717

Studio:
20th Century Fox

Director:
George Seaton

Starring:
Betty Grable, Dick Haymes, Anne Revere, Allyn Joslyn, Gene Lockhart, Elizabeth Patterson, Elisabeth Risdon, Arthur Shields, Charles Kemper, Roy Roberts, Coleen Gray, Lillian Bronson (uncredited)

Plot:
Set in 1874, Cynthia Pilgrim (Grable) graduates as a star student from the Packard Business College of New York. She’s thrilled when she lands a typist job at the Pritchard Shipping Company in Boston. But her boss John Pritchard (Haymes) is not thrilled with having a woman in his office. And Cynthia discovers finding room and board in Boston as a working woman is a challenge. She gets involved in the suffrage movement, which Mr. Pritchard also doesn’t like.

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Musical Monday: Let’s Do It Again (1953)

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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 Do It Again (1953) – Musical #300

let's do it again

Studio:
Columbia Pictures

Director:
Alexander Hall

Starring:
Jane Wyman, Ray Milland, Aldo Ray, Leon Ames, Valerie Bettis, Karin Booth, Mary Treen, Tom Helmore, Dick Wessel, Kathryn Givney, Herbert Hayes

Plot:
Constance Stuart (Wyman) is a musical star and her husband Gary Stuart (Milland) is a composer for stage musicals. Gary told Constance he was going out of town, when really he was in town the whole time, attending jazz sessions and carousing. When he returns home one morning, he finds Constance left the night before with another man and hasn’t returned. When she arrives in her evening clothes and saying they had car trouble, he doesn’t believe her and the two separate. During their separation, Gary tries to win back Constance, even while she’s being romanced by another man (Ray).

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Musical Monday: Rise and Shine (1941)

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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.

rise and shine2This week’s musical:
Rise and Shine (1941) – Musical #433

Studio:
20th Century Fox

Director:
Allan Dwan

Starring:
Jack Oakie, Linda Darnell, George Murphy, Donald Meek, Milton Berle, Walter Brennan, Sheldon Leonard, Raymond Walburn, Emma Dunn, Donald MacBride, William Haade, Dick Rich

Plot:
To keep Clayton College open, they must have more students enroll. And the way to do that is have a winning football team. However, the star football player Boley Bolenciecwcz (Oakie) is facing scrutiny, because his grades aren’t up to snuff. Boley goes to stay with the family of student and cheerleader Louise Murray (Darnell), including her eccentric parents (Meek, Dunn) and grandpa (Brennan), so he can have a quieter atmosphere to study and sleep. However, a gangster (Leonard) wants Boley kidnapped, because he wants Notre Dame to win against Clayton.

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Musical Monday: Pigskin Parade (1936)

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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.

pigskin paradeThis week’s musical:
Pigskin Parade (1936) – Musical #179

Studio:
20th Century Fox

Director:
David Butler

Starring:
Stuart Erwin, Jack Haley, Patsy Kelly, Johnny Downs, Arline Judge, Betty Grable, Dixie Dunbar, Judy Garland, Tony Martin (billed as Anthony Martin), Grady Sutton, Julius Tannen, Fred Kohler, Jr.
Themselves: The Yacht Club Boys

Plot:
Texas State University is accidentally picked as the team to play against Yale in a big football game. When new coach Slug Winters (Haley) and his wife Bessie (Kelly) realize the football team is hopeless, they look for an answer. That comes in the form of hillbilly Amos Dodd (Erwin), who has never played football but can kick and throw like a dream. The only issue is getting Amos and his sister Sairy (Garland) enrolled in the college.

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Musical Monday: Cinderella Jones (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:
Cinderella Jones (1946) – Musical #711

cinderella jones

Studio:
Warner Bros.

Director:
Busby Berkeley

Starring:
Joan Leslie, Robert Alda, Julie Bishop, William Prince, S.Z. Sakall, Edward Everett Horton, Charles Dingle, Ruth Donnelly, Elisha Cook Jr., Hobart Cavanaugh, Margaret Early, Johnn Mitchell, Chester Clute, Joseph Crehan (uncredited)
Himself: Don Wilson

Plot:
Singer Judy Jones (Leslie) is left a fortune when her eccentric explorer uncle dies. But there’s a catch. Judy has to marry a man with an IQ over 150. She leaves her bandleader sweetheart Tommy Coles (Alda) and heads to college to find a husband. She catches the eye of Professor Bart Williams (Prince), her roommate Oliver S. Patch (Cook), with Tommy still in the running.

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Musical Monday: Start Cheering (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 600. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

This week’s musical:
Start Cheering (1938) – Musical #665

start cheering

Studio:
Columbia Pictures

Director:
Albert S. Rogell

Starring:
Charles Starrett, Jimmy Durante, Walter Connolly, Joan Perry, Craig E. Earle (billed as Professor Quiz), Gertrude Niesen, Raymond Walburn, The Three Stooges, Broderick Crawford, Hal Le Roy, Ernest Truex, Virginia Dale, Chaz Chase, Minerva Urecal
Themselves: Jimmy Wallington, Louis Prima and His Band,

Plot:
Movie star Ted Crosley (Starrett) decides he’s done with films and wants to enroll in college, trying to keep the university a secret to avoid publicity. Unfortunately, Hollywood executives follow Ted and make his collegiate experience a publicity stunt, which doesn’t make Ted popular with the rest of the students.

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Musical Monday: Sing Me a Love Song (1936)

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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.

sing me a long songThis week’s musical:
Sing Me a Love Song – Musical #714

Studio:
Warner Bros.

Director:
Ray Enright

Starring:
James Melton, Patricia Ellis, Hugh Herbert, Zasu Pitts, Allen Jenkins, Nat Pendleton, Walter Catlett (uncredited), Granville Bates (uncredited), Hobart Cavanaugh (uncredited)

Plot:
Jerry Haines (Melton) is the heir to department store. Instead of taking an executive role, he wants to start in a regular job and work incognito so he can better get to know the store. Meanwhile, he romances Jean Martin (Ellis) in the music department and is constantly in trouble with the manager (Catlett).

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Musical Monday: Sweet and Low-Down (1944)

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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.

sweet and low downThis week’s musical:
Sweet and Low-Down (1944) – Musical #713

Studio:
20th Century Fox

Director:
Archie Mayo

Starring:
Benny Goodman (as himself), Linda Darnell, Jack Oakie, Lynn Bari, James Cardwell, Dickie Moore, Allyn Joslyn, John Campbell, Roy Benson, Buddy Swan (uncreated), Gloria Talbot (uncredited), Terry Moore (uncredited), Mae Marsh (uncredited), Beverly Hudson (uncredited), Dorothy Vaughan (uncredited)
Themselves: Morey Feld, Jess Stacy and Sid Weiss

Plot:
Benny Goodman (himself) and his band are performing in his hometown, when a child convinces him — by stealing his clarinet — to come listen to his trombone-playing brother, Johnny Birch (Cardwell). Goodman invites Birch to join his band, but Birch’s hot temper sometimes hinders his success. Goodman’s singer Pat Stirling (Bari) takes a liking to Birch, as does socialite Trudy Wilson (Darnell). Though Trudy meets Johnny under dubious settings — posing as a 14-year-old girl while she’s taking her nephew (Moore) to a military school prom.

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Musical Monday: Rose Marie (1954)

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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.

rose marie2This week’s musical:
Rose Marie (1954) – Musical #349

Studio:
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Director:
Mervyn LeRoy

Starring:
Howard Keel, Ann Blyth, Fernando Lamas, Bert Lahr, Ray Collins, Marjorie Main, Joan Taylor, Chief Yowlachie, Thurl Ravenscroft (uncredited)

Plot:
Rose Marie (Blyth) is living in the Canadian wilderness after her father dies. Mountie Sergeant Mike Malone (Keel) seeks out Rose Marie and takes her into his care, as she was left in his responsibility. After viewing her as a kid, Sergeant Malone realizes she’s not a child and falls in love with her. Then, Rose Marie meets trapper Jim Duvall (Lamas), and Rose Marie falls in love with him.

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