Category Archives: Musical Monday

Musical Monday: Easter Parade (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.

This week’s musical:
Easter Parade (1948) – Musical #31

Studio:
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Director:
Charles Walters

Starring:
Fred Astaire, Judy Garland, Ann Miller, Peter Lawford, Jules Munshin, Clinton Sundberg, Lola Albright (uncredited), Joi Lansing (uncredited), Jimmie Dodd (uncredited)

Plot:
When Nadine Hale (Miller) decides to leave her act with Don Hewes (Astaire), Don bets that he can find a new partner who can perform just as well as she does. Don finds Hannah Brown (Garland) performing in a pub and trains her to become a top-notch performer.

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Musical Monday: I’ll Remember April (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.

i'll remember april2This week’s musical:
I’ll Remember April (1945) – Musical #703

Studio:
Universal Studios

Director:
Harold Young

Starring:
Gloria Jean, Kirby Grant, Milburn Stone, Edward Brophy, Samuel S. Hinds, Jacqueline deWit, Hobart Cavanaugh

Plot:
When her father (Hinds) goes bankrupt, April Garfield (Jean) tries to get a job singing on the radio to help out financially.

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Musical Monday: You Were Never Lovelier (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 600. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

you were never lovelir5This week’s musical:
You Were Never Lovelier (1942) – Musical #66

Studio:
Columbia Studios

Director:
William A. Seiter

Starring:
Fred Astaire, Rita Hayworth, Adolphe Menjou, Isobel Elsom, Leslie Brooks, Adele Mara, Gus Schilling, Barbara Brown, Douglas Leavitt
Himself: Xavier Cugat, Lina Romay,

Plot:
Eduardo Acuña (Menjou) wants his daughters to be married in order of age. While his two youngest daughters are eager to be wed, his second eldest Maria (Hayworth) is indifferent. To instill some romance in her life, Eduardo arranges a ruse of a secret admirer, who she mistakes to be New York dancer Robert Davis (Astaire).

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Musical Monday: Frankie and Johnny (1966)

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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.

frankie and johnnyThis week’s musical:
Frankie and Johnny (1966) – Musical #681

Studio:
United Artists

Director:
Frederick De Cordova

Starring:
Elvis Presley, Donna Douglas, Harry Morgan, Sue Ann Langdon, Nancy Kovack, Audrey Christie, Robert Strauss, Anthony Eisley, Joyce Jameson, Jerome Cowan (uncredited), Eddie Quillan (uncredited), Naomi Stevens (uncredited)

Plot:
Johnny (Presley) is a singer on a riverboat. Much to the chagrin of his girlfriend Frankie (Douglas), Johnny gambles all of his salary away, because he’s constantly on a losing streak. A gypsy tells Johnny that a redhead will bring him luck. When redheaded Nellie Bly (Kovack) comes aboard, Johnny woes her, getting himself in trouble with Frankie, and Nellie’s boyfriend (and his boss), Braden (Eisley).

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Musical Monday: Top o’ the Morning (1949)

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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:
Top O’ the Morning (1949) – Musical #450

top o the morning

Studio:
Paramount Pictures

Director:
David Miller

Starring:
Bing Crosby, Ann Blyth, Barry Fitzgerald, Hume Cronyn, Eileen Crowe, John McIntire, Tudor Owen, Jimmy Hunt, Morgan Farley,

Plot:
When the Blarney Stone is stolen from an Irish village, an American insurance investigator Joe Mulqueen (Crosby) travels to Ireland to investigate. In Ireland, the local police Sergeant Briany McNaughton (Fitzgerald) is trying to investigate the case. Joe falls for McNaughton’s daughter Conn (Blyth).

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Musical Monday: Roberta (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.

robertaThis week’s musical:
Roberta (1935) – Musical #106

Studio:
RKO Studio Pictures

Director:
William A. Seiter

Starring:
Irene Dunne, Ginger Rogers, Fred Astaire, Randolph Scott, Helen Westley, Claire Dodd, Ferdinand Munier, Luis Alberni, Victor Varconi

Plot:
Former American football hero, John Kent (Scott), travels to Paris with his pal Huck Haines (Astaire) and Haines’s jazz band. Huck and his band fail to secure a job, and the group is down on their luck. John seeks help from his Aunt Minnie (Westley) who runs an exclusive fashion house, immediately falling for her assistant Stephanie (Dunne). The jazz band finds success with the help of a phony countess (Rogers). But things get complicated when John inherits the fashion house.

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Musical Monday: Stars Over Broadway (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.

This week’s musical:
Stars Over Broadway (1935) – Musical #700

stars on broadway3

Studio:
Warner Bros.

Director:
William Keighley

Starring:
Pat O’Brien, James Melton, Jane Froman, Jean Muir, Frank McHugh, Eddie Conrad, William Ricciardi, Marie Wilson, Frank Fay, E.E. Clive
Himself: Jack Dempsey, the Morgan Family

Plot:
Theatrical agent Al McGillevray (O’Brien) is on the ropes and unsuccessful. He’s about to end it all until he hears the singing voice of porter Jan (Melton). Al is reinvigorated and wants to try to put over Jan King as a singer. Training his voice, he finds him a steady gig. But success goes to Jan’s head and starts to tumble.

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Musical Monday: Reet, Petite, and Gone (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.

This week’s musical:
Reet, Petite, and Gone (1947) – Musical #702

Reet Petite

Studio:
Astor Pictures

Director:
William Forest Crouch

Starring:
Louis Jordan & The Tympany Five, June Richmond, Milton Woods, Bea Griffith, Lorenzo Tucker, Pat Rainey, Vanita Smythe, David Bethea

Plot:
Sklyer Jarvis (Jordan) is on his death bed and remembering his lost love. He wants his son, bandleader Louis Jarvis (also Jordan), to marry Honey Carter (Griffith), the daughter of Skyler’s former girlfriend. The marriage is the only way Louis will inherit his father’s fortune. Unfortunately, Skyler’s unscrupulous lawyer (Tucker) tries to change Skyler’s will and keep the couple apart.

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Musical Monday: Ski Party (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.

ski partyThis week’s musical:
Ski Party (1965) – Musical #696

Studio:
American International Pictures

Director:
Alan Rafkin

Starring:
Frankie Avalon, Dwayne Hickman, Deborah Walley, Yvonne Craig, Aron Kincaid, Michael Nader, Bobbie Shaw, Patti Chandler, Luree Holmes, Robert Q. Lewis, Steven Rogers, Mikki Jamison, Salli Sachse
Themselves: James Brown, Lesley Gore, The Hondells
Cameo: Annette Funicello

Plot:
Todd (Avalon) and Craig (Hickman) are unsuccessful with women, especially compared to campus hunk Freddie Carter (Kincaid). To better understand women, learn how Freddie wins women, and get closer to the girls they like —Linda (Walley) and Barbara (Craig) — Todd and Craig join a college ski trip. Part of this involves dressing up like English co-eds, Nora and Jane.

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Musical Monday: Thin Ice (1937)

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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.

thin ice 2This week’s musical:
Thin Ice (1937) – Musical #701

Studio:
20th Century Fox

Director:
Sidney Lanfield

Starring:
Sonja Henie, Tyrone Power, Joan Davis, Arthur Treacher, Raymond Walburn, Sig Ruman, Alan Hale, Leah Ray, Melville Cooper, George Givot

Plot:
An international conference is held at the ski resort, Grand Hotel Imperial in St. Christophe in the Alps, where a pact will be signed. Prince Rudolph (Power) pretends to be ill to create tensions before the pact is signed and goes skiing. While on skis, he meets the hotel’s skate instructor Lili (Henie). The two fall in love without Lili knowing who he is.

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