Category Archives: Musical Monday

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

This week’s musical:
Show Boat (1951) – Musical #29

Studio:
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Director:
George Sidney

Starring:
Kathryn Grayson, Ava Gardner, Howard Keel, Joe E. Brown, Agnes Moorehead, Marge Champion, Gower Champion, Robert Sterling, William Warfield, Linda Christian (uncredited), Adele Jergens (uncredited), Regis Toomey (uncredited), Lyn Wilde (uncredited), Dee Turnell (uncredited)

Plot:
Set in the 1880s, the Cotton Blossom Show Boat is run by Capt. Andy Hawke (Brown) and his wife Parthy (Moorehead). When the boat arrives in a Mississippi town, there’s trouble for the show’s leading lady Julie Laverne (Gardner) and her husband, Steve Baker (Sterling). In revenge for Julie turning him down, riverboat worker Pete (Erickson) tells the sheriff (Toomey) that the boat has a case of miscegenation, an interracial relationship. Julie is part black, and Steve is white, and even though he cuts her hand and sucks some of it out, the two are forced out of town by the law. In a hurry to replace their leading lady and leading man, Capt. Andy recruits his daughter Magnolia (Grayson) and a gambler Gaylord Ravenal (Keel), who was seeking passage on the boat. Magnolia and Gaylord get married, though her parents object, and the two move to Chicago, where Gaylord hopes to keep them living on velvet through gambling. However, his luck soon sours.

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

This week’s musical:
The Kissing Bandit (1948) – Musical #236

Studio:
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Director:
Laslo Benedek

Starring:
Frank Sinatra, Kathryn Grayson, J. Carrol Naish, Mildred Natwick, Billy Gilbert, Mikhail Rasumny, Sono Osato, Clinton Sundberg, Carleton G. Young, Edna Skinner, Nana Bryant (uncredited)
Specialty dancers: Ricardo Montalban, Cyd Charisse, Ann Miller, Sally Forrest

Plot:
Set in the 1800s, shy Ricardo (Sinatra) returns to Spanish California after receiving his education in Boston. Ricardo believes he’s taking over his deceased father’s business, running an inn. However, his father’s friend Chico (Naish) informs him, but the family business is being the Kissing Bandit, a robber who kisses women. When he meets Teresa (Grayson), the daughter of the governor, he is smitten but doesn’t kiss her, much to Teresa’s dismay. Ricardo can’t get close to her because the governor is searching for the Kissing Bandit, so Ricardo pretends to be the tax collector.

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Musical Monday: It Happened in Brooklyn (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 500. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

This week’s musical:
It Happened in Brooklyn (1947) – Musical #263

Studio:
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Director:
Richard Whorf

Starring:
Frank Sinatra, Kathryn Grayson, Peter Lawford, Jimmy Durante, Gloria Grahame, Marcy McGuire, Aubrey Mather, Bobby Long, William Roy (billed as Billy Roy)
Themselves: The Starlighters – Pauline Byrns, Vince Degen, Tony Paris, Howard Hudson

Plot:
Danny Miller (Sinatra) has been homesick for his hometown of Brooklyn for four years while fighting in World War II. When he returns to Brooklyn, he meets music teacher and unsuccessful opera singer Anne (Grayson) who disagrees with Danny about Brooklyn being the best place in the world. Unable to find a place to live, Danny stays with old friend Nick (Durante). Nick also wants to be better liked by the students at the school, like Robert Donat in “Goodbye, Mr. Chips.” Danny has his own issues to when he can’t find a job right away. Englishman Jamie (Lawford) comes to visit from England after Danny talks about Brooklyn. The problem is that Jamie and Danny both fall for Anne.

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Musical Monday: Two Guys from Texas (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 500. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

This week’s musical:
Two Guys from Texas (1948) – Musical #270

Studio:
Warner Bros.

Director:
David Butler

Starring:
Dennis Morgan, Jack Carson, Dorothy Malone, Penny Edwards, Forrest Tucker, Fred Clark, Gerald Mohr, John Alvin, Andrew Tombes, Mel Blanc (voice), Cleatus Caldwell

Plot:
Performing duo Steve (Morgan) and Danny (Carson) are traveling through Texas to get to California when their car breaks down and then is stolen. They settle on a ranch resort owned by Joan Winston (Malone) and get a job there with the help of Maggie (Edwards), who used to perform in an act with the men. The problem is that Danny is petrified of all animals, which hinders their acts and his work on the farm. Steve tries to have Denny psychoanalyzed to cure him of the issue.

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

This week’s musical:
The Stork Club (1945) – Musical #177

Studio:
Paramount

Director:
Hal Walker

Starring:
Betty Hutton, Barry Fitzgerald, Don DeFore, Robert Benchley, Bill Goodwin, Iris Adrian, Andy Russell, Mary Young

Plot:
Judy Peabody (Hutton) saves the life of Jerry Bates (Fitzgerald) who is drowning after he falls into the ocean. Judy thinks Jerry is poor and tries to get him a job, and doesn’t know that Jerry is really rich. To thank her, Jerry wants to provide for Judy financially without her knowing it’s from him. The problem is when her Marine boyfriend (DeFore), returns home from the war, he is suspicious of where she received the money and thinks the worst.

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Musical Monday: Bundle of Joy (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:
Bundle of Joy (1956) – Musical #158

Studio:
RKO Radio Pictures

Director:
Norman Taurog

Starring:
Debbie Reynolds, Eddie Fisher, Adolphe Menjou, Tommy Noonan, Nita Talbot, Una Merkel, Mary Treen, Melville Cooper, Bill Goodwin, Edward Brophy, Donald Gray, David Gray, Howard McNear

Plot:
After being fired from a department store, Polly Parish (Reynolds) discovers a baby (Gray, Gray) on the doorstep of an orphanage. No one will believe Polly that it’s not her baby and is forced to take responsibility for the baby. The orphanage gets Polly’s job back when they talk to the department store owner’s son, David Merlin (Fisher). David’s father and owner of the store (Menjou) takes an interest in the baby.

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Musical Monday: Mister Magoo’s Christmas Carol (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 500. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

This week’s musical:
Mister Magoo’s Christmas Carol (1962)– Musical #597

Studio:
NBC

Director:
Abe Levitow

Starring:
Jim Backus, Morey Amsterdam, Jack Cassidy, Royal Dano, Paul Frees, Joan Gardner, Les Tremayne, John Hart, Jane Kean, Marie Matthews, Laura Olsher

Plot:
Mr. Magoo (Backus) is on Broadway playing Ebenezer Scrooge in a stage version of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.” Scrooge is visited three ghosts and take him on a journey of self-exploration of his past, present and future.

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Musical Monday: Shirley Temple’s Storybook “Babes in Toyland” (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 500. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

This week’s musical:
“Shirley Temple’s Storybook” presents “Babes in Toyland” (1960) – Musical No. 596

Shirley Temple Black introducing the Dec. 25, 1960 episode of “Shirley Temple’s Storybook” with her children Charles Jr, Lori and Linda Susan
(Screen Cap by Jessica P.)

Studio:
NBC Studios

Director:
Bob Henry

Starring:
Shirley Temple, Jonathan Winters, Angela Cartwright, Jerry Colonna, Carl Ballantine, Joe Besser, Charles Black Jr., Lori Black, Bob Jellison, Ray Kellogg, Michel Petit, Hanley Stafford

Plot:
Alan (Petit) and Jane (Cartwright) live with their cantankerous and stingy Barnaby (Winters). The children’s parents left them a great deal of money for when they grow up, so Barnaby hires three cutthroats (Colonna, Ballantine, Besser) to kill the children so he can get all the money. The children escape being drowned and journey through a gypsy camp, Spider Forest, Meantown and finally to Toyland.

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Musical Monday: Going My Way (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 500. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

This week’s musical:
Going My Way (1944) – Musical #595

Studio:
Paramount Pictures

Director:
Leo McCarey

Starring:
Bing Crosby, Barry Fitzgerald, Frank McHugh, Risë Stevens, Gene Lockhart, Jean Heather, James Brown, Porter Hall, Fortunio Bonanova, Eily Malyon, Stanley Clements, Carl ‘Alfalfa’ Switzer, Adeline De Walt Reynolds, William Frawley (uncredited), Anita Sharp-Bolster (uncredited)
The Robert Mitchell Boy Choir

Plot:
Father Fitzgibbon (Fitzgerald) is the head of a church that is facing financial troubles. Father Chuck O’Malley (Crosby) is assigned to help get the church back on its feet. Father O’Malley has new, unconventional ideas of how to help the community and raise money for the church. O’Malley and Fitzgibbon face differences of opinions, while they both try to do what’s best.

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Musical Monday: Go West, Young Lady (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 500. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

This week’s musical:
Go West, Young Lady (1941) – Musical #593

Studio:
Warner Brothers

Director:
Alfred E. Green

Starring:
Penny Singleton, Glenn Ford, Ann Miller, Charles Ruggles, Allen Jenkins, Jed Prouty, Onslow Stevens, Bob Wills, Chief Many Treaties (or Bill Hazlet), Waffles the Dog, The Foursome, The Texas Playboys

Plot:
The western town of Headstone is looking for a new sheriff to get rid of outlaw Killer Pete. Jim Pendergast (Ruggles) think it’s going to be his “nephew,” Bill Pendergast. Bill turns out to be Belinda (Singleton) (with the nickname Bill) and is headed on a stagecoach with the newly appointed sheriff Tex Miller (Ford).

Trivia:
– Edgar Buchanan was originally cast as Jim Pendergast, but couldn’t get out of a film commitment. Charles Ruggles, who was cast in another role, switched roles and Jed Prouty was brought on.
– The only non-Blondie film that Penny Singleton worked on while she was under contract at Columbia.
– The film included many people who worked on the Blondie films: director Frank Strayer, producer Robert Sparks, actor Penny Singleton and writers Richard Flournoy and Karen DeWolf

Allen Jenkins and Ann Miller performing in “Go West, Young Lady”

Highlights:
-Allen Jenkins singing
-Pie falling because of shooting

Notable Songs:
-“Go West, Young Lady” performed by Ann Miller
-“I Wish I could Be a Singing Cowboy” performed by Allen Jenkins
-“Dogie Take Your Time” performed by Penny Singleton

My review:
Go West, Young Lady (1941) is a delightful and charming film. It is classified as a musical, but it is more comedy western with a hint of musical natures in it.

The B-budget film stars Penny Singleton, Glenn Ford and Ann Miller. Today, Ford and Miller are the big names of this film, but in 1941, Singleton was more famous than her co-stars. At this point in time, Singleton was knee-deep performing in “Blondie” movies. Singleton had starred in nine Blondie films by the time “Go West, Young Lady” was released in 1941, and this was the only none-Blondie role she starred in from 1938 to 1946.

While the Blondie films were fun, it was refreshing to see Penny Singleton in a different role. This was still a comedic role, but it gave Singleton the opportunity to sing, dance and act with new co-stars that weren’t Dagwood or Baby Dumpling.

Singleton performs the lilting western tune, “Dogie Take Your Time.” She also performs a funny song and dance in the saloon “Most Gentlemen Don’t Prefer a Lady,” where she dances in her pantaloons.

Glenn Ford and Ann Miller were still finding their way in their careers and hadn’t yet reached the level of stardom we later know them for. However, Miller had been in more high-quality films than either of her co-stars, like “Stage Door” and “You Can’t Take it with You.”

Ann Miller plays the bad girl saloon dancer who has some entertaining musical numbers. She dances and sings the title song, “Go West, Young Lady.” A real treat is a comedic number Miller sings and dances with character actor – Allen Jenkins, yes he does sing! Jenkins doesn’t have the voice of a canary, which makes the song even more funny.

Glenn Ford doesn’t do any singing or dancing but brings the heroics. His chemistry with Singleton is surprisingly sweet and charming.

While “Go West Young Lady” is more a comedy, it has enough songs, dancing and novelty numbers for me to consider it a musical. It’s only 70 minutes but is quite fun and entertaining. I love this film, because it gives a rare glimpse at Penny Singleton not playing Blondi (in the midst of the Blondie series). This musical doesn’t show up often, but when you have the chance, give it a watch.

Penny Singleton and Glenn Ford in “Go West, Young Lady.”

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