Category Archives: Musical Monday

Musical Monday: The Glenn Miller Story (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.

This week’s musical:
The Glenn Miller Story (1954) – Musical #91

Studio:
Universal Studios

Director:
Anthony Mann

Starring:
James Stewart, June Allyson, Harry Morgan, Charles Drake, George Tobias, Barton MacLane, Sig Ruman, Irving Bacon, Kathleen Lockhart, James Bell, Katherine Warren, Kevin Corcoran (uncredited), Marion Ross (uncredited)
Themselves: Frances Langford, Louis Armstrong, Gene Krupa, Ben Pollack, Barney Bigard, James Young, Marty Napoleon, Arvell Shaw, Cozy Cole, Babe Russin, The Modernaires, The Archie Savage Dancers

Plot:
A biographical film on trombone player and music arranger Glenn Miller (Stewart) and his courtship and marriage to wife Helen (Allyson). The film follows as he forms a band, looks for a unique sound, and his growing success until he joins the military and is lost in action in Dec. 1944 during World War II.

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Musical Monday: Rhapsody in Blue (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.

This week’s musical:
Rhapsody in Blue (1945) – Musical #211

Studio:
Warner Bros.

Director:
Irving Rapper

Starring:
Robert Alda, Joan Leslie, Alexis Smith, Charles Coburn, Julie Bishop, Albert Bassermann, Morris Carnovsky, Rosemary DeCamp, Herbert Rudley, Darryl Hickman, Mickey Roth, Andrew Tombes, Will Wright, Johnny Downs, Gower Champion (uncredited)
Themselves: Oscar Levant, Paul Whiteman, Hazel Scott, George White, Al Jolson, Elsa Maxwell, Anne Brown, Tom Patricola

Plot:
A biographical film on composer and musician George Gershwin (Alda). The film follows his rise to fame to his death in 1937.

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Musical Monday: That’s Entertainment! (1974)

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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:
That’s Entertainment! (1974)

Studio:
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Director:
Jack Haley, Jr.

Starring:
As themselves narrating: Frank Sinatra, Elizabeth Taylor, Peter Lawford, James Stewart, Mickey Rooney, Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor, Debbie Reynolds, Fred Astaire, Liza Minelli, Bing Crosby

Plot:
A feature film documentary celebrating 50 years of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, featuring film clips from 1929 into 1958.

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Musical Monday: Trail of Robin Hood (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:
Trail of Robin Hood (1950) – Musical #642

Studio:
Republic Pictures

Director:
William Witney

Starring:
Roy Rogers, Trigger, Penny Edwards, Gordon Jones, Clifton Young, Emory Parnell, Ed Cassidy, Carol Nugent, Bullet the Dog, Foy Willing, Cheryl Rogers (uncredited), Ralph Bucko (uncredited), Roy Bucko (uncredited), Lane Bradford (uncredited)
As themselves: Jack Holt, Rex Allen, Allan “Rocky” Lane, Monte Hale, William Farnum, Tom Tyler, Ray Corrigan, Kermit Maynard, Tom Keene, George Chesebro

Plot:
Actor Jack Holt (himself) is spending his retirement from films running a Christmas tree farm. His goal is to sell the trees at a low rate so all children can have a holiday tree. The problem is a competing Christmas tree farm, owned by J. Corwin Aldridge (Parnell), tries to put Holt out of business so they can beat him to market – his low prices will cause people not to buy their trees. Soil conservationist Roy Rogers (himself) comes to help Holt, and Aldridge’s daughter Toby (Edwards) arrives to work about Rogers and Holt.

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Musical Monday: The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm (1962)

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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 Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm (1962) – Musical No. 654

Studio:
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Director:
Henry Levin, George Pal (the fairy tales)

Starring:
Laurence Harvey, Karlheinz Böhm (billed as Karl Boehm), Claire Bloom, Barbara Eden, Walter Slezak, Oskar Homolka, Martita Hunt, Ian Wolfe, Bryan Russell, Tammy Marihugh
Fairy tale characters: Russ Tamblyn, Yvette Mimieux, Jim Backus, Beulah Bondi, Clinton Sundberg, Sandra Bettin, Robert Foulk, Terry-Thomas, Buddy Hackett, Otto Kruger,

Plot:
A biographical film on brothers Jacob Grimm (Böhm) and Wilhelm Grimm (Harvey). Jacob and Wilhelm have been hired by the Duke (Homolka) to write a family history of his life. But the more serious Jacob frequently pulls the workload, while Wilhelm is more fanciful and finds more importance in documenting fairy tales.
Mixed into the biographical narrative are fairy tales that are acted out as one of the narrative characters tells them. These include:
– The Dancing Princess
– The Cobbler and the Elves
– The Singing Bone.

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Musical Monday: In the Good Old Summertime (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 500. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

This week’s musical:
“Meet Me After the Show” – Musical #25

Studio:
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Director:
Robert Z. Leonard

Starring:
Judy Garland, Van Johnson, S.Z. “Cuddles” Sakall, Buster Keaton, Spring Byington, Clinton Sundberg, Marcia Van Dyke, Lillian Bronson, Liza Minnelli, Joi Lansing (uncredited), Chester Clute (uncredited), Anna Q. Nilsson (uncredited), Charles Smith (uncredited)

Plot:
A musical remake of the 1940 film “Shop Around the Corner,” “In the Good Ole Summertime” takes place in the early 1900s in Chicago. Veronica Fisher (Garland) is corresponding through letters with an unknown man.

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Musical Monday: Born to Dance (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.

This week’s musical:
Born to Dance (1936) – Musical #124

Studio:
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Director:
Roy Del Ruth

Starring:
Eleanor Powell, James Stewart, Virginia Bruce, Una Merkel, Sid Silvers, Frances Langford, Raymond Walburn, Alan Dinehart, Buddy Ebsen, Reginald Gardiner, Barnett Parker
Themselves: Georges and Jalna

Plot:
Nora Paige (Powell) is a dancer, hopeful to make it in New York City. She meets sailor Ted Barker (Stewart) while he’s on leave and visiting the Lonely Hearts Club. His pal ‘Gunny’ Saks (Silvers) is looking for his wife Jenny (Merkel) who works at the club, and who he hasn’t seen in four years. Ted and Nora meet at the club and fall in love. But around the same time, Ted is ordered by his captain (Walburn) to take Broadway star Lucy James (Bruce) on a date after Ted saves her dog when it fell over board on their ship. Nora is hurt by the fabricated romance, and also finds herself in the same Broadway show as Lucy James.

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Musical Monday: Starlift (1951)

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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:
Starlift (1951) – Musical #653

Studio:
Warner Bros.

Director:
Roy Del Ruth

Starring:
Janice Rule, Dick Wesson, Ron Hagerthy, Richard Webb, Hayden Rorke, Howard St. John, Richard Crenna (uncredited), Ann Doran (uncredited)
Themselves: Doris Day, Gordon MacRae, James Cagney Virginia Mayo, Ruth Roman, Gene Nelson, Gary Cooper, Virginia Gibson, Phil Harris, Frank Lovejoy, Lucille Norman, Louella Parsons, Randolph Scott, Jane Wyman, Patrice Wymore, LeRoy Prinz, Tommy Noonan and Peter Marshall (as Noonan and Marshall)

Plot:
Cpl. Rick Williams (Hagerthy) grew up in the same town as now-famous actress Nell Wayne (Rule). When Nell and other movie stars are near their military base for a premiere, Rick’s buddy Sgt. Mike Nolan (Wesson) encourages Rick to seek her out to say hello, even though they didn’t really know each other. When Mike and Rick meet Nell, Doris Day and Ruth Roman, Mike lies that they are about to go overseas to see action in the Korean War so that the three actresses will accompany them back to the base. While visiting, the actresses are inspired to gather other Warner Bros. stars to return and entertain the troops preparing to go overseas or are returning. Meanwhile, Louella Parsons reports a romance between Rick and Nell, and the two begin to fall in love.

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Musical Monday: Rhythm Serenade (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:
Rhythm Serenade (1943) – Musical #652

Studio:
Columbia British Productions

Director:
Gordon Wellesley

Starring:
Vera Lynn, Peter Murray-Hill, Julien Mitchell, Charles Victor, Jimmy Jewel (billed as Jimmie Jewell), Ben Warriss, Joss Ambler, Rosalyn Boulter

Plot:
When her school closes, Ann Martin (Lynn) is determined to join the WRNS, the Women’s Royal Naval Service of Great Britain. Before she can join, her uncle thinks she would be better suited running a nursery for the children of women needed for wartime factory work. While locating a house for the nursery, Ann meets John Drover (Murray-Hill), a mysterious man in a nearby cottage. The two fall in love while Ann’s brothers (Jewel and Warriss) determine why he’s not in uniform.

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Musical Monday: The Amazing Mrs. Holliday (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:
The Amazing Mrs. Holliday (1943) – Musical #632

Studio:
Universal Studios

Director:
Bruce Manning and uncredited Jean Renoir

Starring:
Deanna Durbin, Edmond O’Brien, Barry Fitzgerald, Arthur Treacher, Harry Davenport, Grant Mitchell, Frieda Inescort, Elisabeth Risdon, Jonathan Hale, Esther Dale, Gus Schilling, Philip Ahn (uncredited), Irving Bacon (uncredited), Richard Loo (uncredited)
The Children: Christopher Severn, Yvonne Severn, Vido Rich, Mila Rich, Teddy Infuhr, Linda Bieber, Diane DuBois, Bill Ward

Plot:
Ruth (Durbin) is an American who grew up with China with her missionary parents. After they died, she worked at a school and helped war orphans. When China was invaded by the Japanese, Ruth and the orphans leave to get to a safer area. With the help of Timothy Blake (Fitzgerald), Ruth and the eight children sneak on to Commodore Holliday’s cargo ship headed for the United States. When the ship is torpedoed, Ruth, the children and Timothy survive, and the Commodore dies. In order to get the children safely into the United States, Ruth poses as the Commodore’s widow. She runs into problems when she moves into the Commodore’s mansion and meets his wealthy relatives and grandson, Thomas Holliday (O’Brien).

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