Category Archives: Musical Monday

Musical Monday: Pepe (1960)

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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:
Pepe (1960) – Musical #637

Studio:
Columbia Pictures

Director:
George Sidney

Starring:
Cantinflas, Dan Dailey, Shirley Jones, William Demarest, King Cotton the Horse
Themselves: Billie Burke, Ann B. Davis, Greer Garson, E.E. Fogelson, Bing Crosby, Maurice Chevalier, Michael Callan, Richard Conte, Bobby Darin, Sammy Davis Jr., Jimmy Durante, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Hedda Hopper, Joey Bishop, Ernie Kovacs, Janet Leigh, Tony Curtis, Peter Lawford, Jack Lemmon, Jay North, Kim Novak, André Previn, Donna Reed, Debbie Reynolds, Edward G. Robinson, Cesar Romero, Frank Sinatra,

Plot:
When his horse Don Juan (King Cotton) is sold, Pepe (Cantinflas) goes to Hollywood to get him back from has-been movie star and director Ted Holt (Daily). Along the way, Pepe meets a bevy of stars and Suzie Murphy (Jones) who wants to become a star but is jaded by the entertainment business.

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Musical Monday: Song of Freedom (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:
Song of Freedom (1936) – Musical #639

Studio:
British Lion Films

Director:
J. Elder Wills

Starring:
Paul Robeson, Elisabeth Welch, Esme Percy, Robert Adams, Joan Fred Emney, Robert Adams, James Solomon, George Mozart, Jenny Dean, Cornelia Smith, Ronald Simpson, Bernard Ansell

Plot:
John Zinga (Robeson) works on the English docks and wants to travel to Africa to learn more about his heritage. While driving by, composer and impresario Gabriel Donozetti (Percy) hears John singing in the street. Struck by his voice, Donozetti seeks out John to make him an opera star. With the encouragement of his wife Ruth (Welch), John reluctantly accepts; seeing that this career could allow him the opportunity to travel to Africa. After one performance during an encore, John sings a piece of a song that he has known all his life, but isn’t sure of the origins. A professor in the audience tells John that the song is a war song for an African tribe and that John may be king based on a pendant that John has worn since childhood. John and Ruth travel to the small African island so he can lead the island and his people, but they aren’t welcomed with open arms.

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Musical Monday: Jazz Boat (1960)

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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:
Jazz Boat (1960) – Musical #641

Studio:
Columbia Pictures

Director:
Ken Hughes

Starring:
Anthony Newley, Anne Aubrey, Lionel Jeffries, David Lodge, Bernie Winters, James Booth, Joyce Blair, Leo McKern
Themselves: Ted Heath and his Music, Jean Philippe

Plot:
Bert (Newley) brags to Spider (Booth) and his gang that he is an experienced jewel burglar. He’s not, but he gets mixed up in the gang’s jewel heist. After the robbery, he tries to outrun the gang, and they all end up on the jazz boat.

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Musical Monday: Here Come the WAVES (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.

This week’s musical:
Here Come the WAVES (1944) – Musical #640

Studio:
Paramount Studios

Director:
Mark Sandrich

Starring:
Bing Crosby, Betty Hutton, Sonny Tufts, Ann Doran, Noel Neill, Gwen Crawford, Catherine Craig, Anabel Shaw (billed as Marjorie Henshaw), Mona Freeman (uncredited)

Plot:
Susan (Hutton) and Rosemary (Hutton) are twin sister singers. Rosemary is more serious, and Susan is a bit more energetic and in love with famous singer Johnny Cabot (Crosby), a crooner who women go crazy for. Susan and Rosemary join the WAVES (the women’s reserve of United States Naval Reserve). Shortly after, Johnny is also drafted into the Navy. When Susan doesn’t want Johnny to be sent for active duty, she hatches a plan.

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Musical Monday: Flower Drum Song (1961)

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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:
Flower Drum Song (1961) – Musical #160

Studio:
Universal International Pictures

Director:
Henry Koster

Starring:
Nancy Kwan, James Shigeta, Benson Fong, Jack Soo, Miyoshi Umeki, Juanita Hall, Reiko Sato, Patrick Adiarte, Kam Tong, Victor Sen Yung, Soo Yong, James Hong, Ching Wah Lee, Virginia Ann Lee (uncredited), Cherylene Lee (uncredited)

Plot:
Mei Li (Umeki) and her father (Tong) arrive in San Francisco from Hong Konh. Through traditional customs, Mei Li was selected as a “picture bride” for Sammy Fong (Soo). When they arrive, they find that Sammy wasn’t expecting them and owns a night club and not interested in the bride selected for him, as he is in love with clubs lead performer, Linda Low (Kwan). He knows a family looking for a bride for their son Wang Ta (Shigeta). The story looks at tradition versus living a modern, American life.

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Musical Monday: Delightfully Dangerous (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:
Delightfully Dangerous (1945) – Musical #638

Studio:
United Artists

Director:
Arthur Lubin

Starring:
Ralph Bellamy, Constance Moore, Jane Powell, Louise Beavers, Arthur Treacher, Ruth Tobey, Christian Drake (uncredited), Bess Flowers (uncredited), Harold Miller (uncredited)
Himself: Morton Gould

Plot:
Sherry Williams (Powell) is in school studying to be an opera singer. Sherry believes that her older sister Josephine (Moore) is a musical comedy star on Broadway. When Sherry travels to New York City to see her sister’s show, Josephine’s stage career isn’t quite what she expected.

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Musical Monday: Lillian Russell (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.

This week’s musical:
Lillian Russell – Musical #633

Studio:
20th Century Fox

Director:
Irving Cummings

Starring:
Alice Faye, Don Ameche, Henry Fonda, Edward Arnold, Warren William, Leo Carrillo, Helen Westley, Dorothy Peterson, Ernest Truex, Nigel Bruce, Lynn Bari, Eddie Foy Jr., Una O’Connor, Elyse Knox, Joan Valerie, Alice Armand, Irving Bacon, Diane Fisher, Joseph Cawthorn, Lew Fields, Joe Weber

Plot:
In a biographical musical of performer Lillian Russell (Faye), the story follows Helen Louise Leonard and her transformation to the big star Lillian Russell. After she is discovered in 1890 by Tony Pastor (Carrillo), Russell is rises to fame and has many suitors including Diamond Jim Brady (Arnold), Jesse Lewisohn (William), Alexander Moore (Fonda) and Edward Solomon (Ameche).

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Musical Monday: The Belle of New York (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:
The Belle of New York (1952) – Musical #239

Studio:
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Director:
Charles Walters

Starring:
Fred Astaire, Vera-Ellen, Marjorie Main, Keenan Wynn, Alice Pearce, Clinton Sundberg, Gale Robbins, Lyn Wilde (uncredited)

Plot:
Set in the early 1900s, Charlie Hill (Astaire) is a wealthy playboy who is often engaged but never married. Angela Bonfils (Ellen) works at a mission house, which is run by Charlie’s aunt (Main). When Charlie meets Angela, he falls in love and finds himself floating in the air. Anglea soon too finds herself floating on air (literally). As the two make plans to marry, Charlie worries he isn’t good enough for Angela.

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Musical Monday: Time Out for Rhythm (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.

This week’s musical:
Time Out for Rhythm (1941) – Musical #420

Studio:
Columbia Pictures

Director:
Sidney Salkow

Starring:
Rudy Vallee, Ann Miller, Rosemary Lane, Allen Jenkins, Richard Lane, Stanley Andrews, Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curley Howard, Blanche Stewart, Elvia Allman, Alan Hale Jr. (uncredited), Alex Romero (uncredited), Bess Flowers (uncredited)
Themselves: Joan Merrill, Glen Gray and His Casa Loma Orchestra, Eddie Durant’s Rhumba Orchestra, Six Hits and a Miss

Plot:
Danny Collins (Vallee) and Mike Armstrong (Lane) meet at random in a nightclub. Danny is a Harvard grad and Mike the agent of singer Frances Lewis (Lane), and Danny critiques Frances’s voice as she performs in the nightclub. Danny and Mike form a successful New York talent agency in an effort to make Frances a star, but she gets married and briefly leaves show business. Danny and Mike start rehearsing a groundbreaking television hour with Joan Merrill and jazz bands performing. But when Frances gets divorced, Mike wants the whole show reworked to star her, causing a rift between Danny and Mike.

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Watching 1939: Lucky Night (1939)

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In 2011, I announced I was trying to see every film released in 1939. This new series chronicles films released in 1939 as I watch them. As we start out this blog feature, this section may become more concrete as I search for a common thread that runs throughout each film of the year. Right now, that’s difficult. 

1939 film: 
Lucky Night (1939)

Release date: 
May 4, 1939

Cast: 
Myrna Loy, Robert Taylor, Joseph Allen, Henry O’Neill, Douglas Fowley, Charles Lane, Bernard Nedell, Gladys Blake, Marjorie Main, Bernadene Hayes, Irving Bacon, Frank Faylen (uncredited)

Studio: 
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Director: 
Norman Taurog

Plot:
Cora Jordan (Loy) is rich and doesn’t know what she wants out of life. After jilting her suitor, she decides to break free from her rich father (O’Neill) to see if she can find what she’s looking for. While unsuccessfully looking for a job, she meets unemployed Bill Overton (Taylor). The two team up for a lucky evening of gambling. The fun is complicated when they marry when Bill wants to keep having fun and Cora feels they should be more serious.

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