Musical Monday: Get Yourself a College Girl (1964)

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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.

get yourself a college girlThis week’s musical:
Get Yourself a College Girl (1964) – Musical #240

Studio:
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Director:
Sidney Miller

Starring:
Mary Ann Mobley, Joan O’Brien, Nancy Sinatra, Chris Noel, Chad Everett, Willard Waterman, Fabrizio Mioni, James Millhollin, Paul Todd, Donnie Brooks, Hortense Petra, Dorothy Neumann, Percy Kelton (uncredited)
Musical acts as Themselves: The Standells, The Dave Clark Five, Stan Getz, Astrud Gilberto, Roberta Linn, The Bellboys, the Animals, The Rhythm Masters, Freddie Bell, Jimmy Smith Trio

Plot:
Theresa Taylor (Mobley) is a student at a strict girl’s college and has been secretly writing and selling music on the side to pay her way through school. Her tantalizing, sexual songs get Theresa in hot water with the deans and college board right before the Christmas holidays. Rather than expel her, they move the day of judgement after the holidays, and ask her to avoid trouble (and men). Unfortunately, Gary Underwood (Everett) has followed her to Sun Valley, Idaho, for the winter holidays with the goal of getting a pin up painting of Theresa.

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Watching 1939: The Three Musketeers (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.

three musketeers31939 film:
The Three Musketeers (1939)

Release date:
Feb. 17, 1939

Cast:
Don Ameche, The Ritz Brothers, Binnie Barnes, Gloria Stuart, Pauline Moore, Joseph Schildkraut, John Carradine, Lionel Atwill, Miles Mander, Douglass Dumbrille, John “Dusty” King, Russell Hicks, Gregory Gaye, Lester Matthews, Egon Brecher, Moroni Olsen, Georges Renavent, C. Montague Shaw

Studio:
20th Century Fox

Director:
Allan Dwan

Plot:
In a musical comedy adaptation of “Three Musketeers,” D’Artagnan of Gascony (Ameche) is headed to Paris to become a Musketeer. On the way, he meets three Musketeers, Athos (Dumbrille), Aramis (King), and Porthos (Hicks), who insult him. When D’Artagnan arrives in Paris, he’s prepared to fight them. After Athos, Aramis and Porthos have passed out from drinking, and D’Artagnan mistakes three lackeys (the Ritz Brothers) for the Musketeers. After taking a room, D’Artagnan meets Lady Constance (Moore) who accompanies the Queen (Stuart) to meet her lover. D’Artagnan and Constance get caught up in intrigue.

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Musical Monday: Pan-Americana (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.

pan americana 2This week’s musical:
Pan-Americana (1945) – Musical #435

Studio:
RKO Radio Pictures

Director:
John H. Auer

Starring:
Phillip Terry, Eve Arden, Audrey Long, Robert Benchley, Lita Baron (billed as Isabelita), Ernest Truex, Mac Cramer, Jane Greer (uncredited)
Specialty Acts: Rosario, Antonio El Bailarín, Miguelito Valdés, Harold and Lola Liebman, Louise Burnette, Chinita, Chuy Reyes and His Orchestra, Nestor Amaral and His Samba Band

Plot:
Western World magazine sends a womanizing photographer, Dan Jordan (Terry), to South America to photograph beautiful women. The magazine’s editor, Helen Hopkins (Arden), and staff writer Jo Anne Benson (Long), travel with Dan. Jo Anne is using the assignment to get to South America where her fiancé (Cramer) awaits. Meanwhile, Dan and Jo Anne fall in love.

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Musical Monday: Tea for Two (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:
Tea for Two (1950) – Musical #171

tea for two2

Studio:
Warner Bros.

Director:
David Butler

Starring:
Doris Day, Gordon MacRae, Gene Nelson, Eve Arden, Billy De Wolfe, S.Z. Sakall, Bill Goodwin, Patrice Wymore, Virginia Gibson, Elinor Donahue (uncredited), Carol Haney (uncredited), Dee Turnell (uncredited), John Wilder (uncredited)

Plot:
Told in the flashback from modern times, we are transported back from the 1950s to the stock market crash of 1929. At the same time Nanette Carter (Day) agrees to finance a Broadway musical, she has lost everything during the stock market crash. However, she doesn’t know and her financier Uncle J. Maxwell Bloomhaus (Sakall) doesn’t know how to tell her. Instead of telling Nanette she has no money, Uncle Max tells her to say “no” to everything for 48 hours. She believes that if she wins this bet, she can get the $25,000 to finance the show.

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Clarence Brown Film Festival in Knoxville, Tenn.: Aug. 16-20

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A film festival celebrating the career of director Clarence Brown begins this evening, Wednesday, Aug. 16, and runs through Sunday, Aug. 20, in Knoxville, Tenn.

clarence brown

Director Clarence Brown

Hosted by the Knox County Public Library, the Clarence Brown Film Festival will feature film screenings and presentations from speakers including Brown’s biographer Gwenda Young, film critic and historian Farran Nehme, actor Claude Jarman, Jr., and more. Information on the festival, including a full list of screenings and speakers, can be found here.

With a career spanning from 1920 to 1952, Brown is sometimes not as recognized as his contemporaries.

“In an interview with (historian) Kevin Brownlow, (director) Jean Renoir observed ‘I think more of Brown than Brown thinks of himself,’” Young said in an email with Comet Over Hollywood. “Renoir’s comment reveals, I think, just how highly regarded Brown was by his peers but also alludes to Brown’s reticence in seeking out acclaim. There’s no doubt Brown was viewed as an important and innovative filmmaker during his long career, but it’s also true to say that he has been overlooked in many film histories…”

Brown worked with some of Hollywood’s top stars, such as Rudolph Valentino, Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, and Mickey Rooney. Free film screenings during the Clarence Brown Film Festival include Anna Karenina (1935), National Velvet (1944), The Yearling (1946), The Eagle (1925), Intruder in the Dust (1949), and a rare screening of The Signal Tower (1924).

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Musical Monday: Good Times (1967)

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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:
Good Times (1967) – Musical #226

good times

Studio:
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Director:
William Friedkin

Starring:
Cher, Sonny Bono, George Sanders, Charles Smith, Mickey Dolenz (uncredited), Paul Frees (uncredited)

Plot:
Producer Mordicus (Sanders) is trying to convince singing stars Sonny and Cher (as themselves) into making a movie. Sonny is interested in making a movie, though Cher isn’t so sure. Sonny dreams of playing various roles, such as in a western, a Tarzan-like film, or a detective film.

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Musical Monday: Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933)

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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:
Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933) – Musical #146

gold diggers of 1933 2

Studio:
Warner Bros.

Director:
Busby Berkeley and Mervyn Leroy

Starring:
Warren William, Joan Blondell, Dick Powell, Aline MacMahon, Ruby Keeler, Ginger Rogers, Guy Kibbee, Ned Sparks, Billy Barty (uncredited), Eric Blore (uncredited), Hobart Cavanaugh (uncredited), Theresa Harris (uncredited), Charles Lane (uncredited), Clarence Nordstrom (uncredited), Sterling Holloway (uncredited)

Plot:
Broadway performers (Blondell, MacMahon, Keeler, Rogers) are having a hard time, because shows keep closing due to the Depression. Finally, producer Barney Hopkins (Sparks) is able to put on a show when songwriter Brad Roberts (Powell) says he can back the show, who is in love with one of the performers, Polly (Keeler). The showgirls are astonished and questioning where his funds could possibly have come from. After the show becomes a hit, it’s reveled that Brad comes from a wealthy family, his brother (William) and family lawyer (Kibbee) arrive to untangle Brad from show business and show girls, believing they are all gold diggers. Carol (Blondell) and Trixie (MacMahon) keep the two relatives distracted so Polly and Brad can be together.

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Musical Monday: Song of the Saddle (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.

song of the saddle2This week’s musical:
Song of the Saddle (1936) – Musical #744

Studio:
Warner Bros.

Director:
Louis King

Starring:
Dick Foran Alma Lloyd, Charles Middleton, Addison Richards, Eddie Shubert, George Ernest, Bonita Granville, Monte Montague, Victor Potel, Milton Kibbee (uncredited)

Plot:
Young Frankie Wilson Jr. (Ernest) and his father (Richards) head west from Ohio for California during the western land rush. They stop along the way to sell some goods to Phineas Hook (Middleton). Hook says he’s interested in more goods and encourages Mr. Wilson and Frankie to head back to Ohio for more goods. But it’s all a trick to ambush their wagon, steal their money back and kill Mr. Wilson. Left alone, Frankie grows up (Foran) and becomes the bandit known as The Singing Kid, seeking revenge against Hook and his henchmen to avenge his father’s death.

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Musical Monday: Colorado Serenade (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:
Colorado Serenade (1946) – Musical #7colorado243

colorado

Studio:
PRC Pictures Inc.

Director:
Robert Emmett Tansey

Starring:
Eddie Dean, Roscoe Ates, David Sharpe, Mary Kenyon, Forrest Taylor, Dennis Moore, Abigail Adams, Warner Richmond, Lee Bennett, Robert McKenzie, Bob Duncan

Plot:
Eddie (Dean) and his pal Soapy (Ates) come across a stagecoach hold up. They are able to thwart the robbery, but not before the driver and guard are injured. Eddie helps ride the stagecoach in to town, where the robbers are found. However, Judge Hilton (Taylor) believes the story of the gunman and wants to let them go. Eddie, with the help of a stranger named Nevada (Sharpe) try to track down the thieves.

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Musical Monday: The Yellow Rose of Texas (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:
The Yellow Rose of Texas (1944) – Musical #742

yellow rose of texas

Studio:
Republic Pictures

Director:
Joseph Kane

Starring:
Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, Trigger, Grant Withers, Harry Shannon, George Cleveland, William Haade, Don Reynolds (uncredited)
Themselves: Sons of the Pioneers

Plot:
Roy (Rogers) plays an insurance investigator, who is working undercover as a singing cowboy on a performing show boat. Roy is searching Sam Weston (Shannon), who escaped out of jail, and he’s looking for the bankroll money Sam is accused of searching for. Betty Weston (Evans) is Sam’s daughter and tries to prove his innocence, with the help of Roy.

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