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:
Hold On! (1966) – Musical #241
Studio:
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Director:
Arthur Lubin
Starring:
The Herman’s Hermits: Peter Noone, Keith Hopwood, Karl Green, Derek Leckenby, Barry Whitwam
Shelley Fabares, Sue Anne Langdon, Hebert Anderson, Harry Hickox, Bernard Fox, Hortense Petra
Plot:
When astronauts decide they want to name their next ship after The Herman’s Hermits, NASA employee Edward Lindquist (Anderson) is asked to follow the band to learn more about them. However, the band is kept under close watch of their manager (Fox) and the young band members are bored and Herman (Noone) is lonely. When Herman meets and falls for Louisa (Fabares). The band sneaks out to go to an amusement park and spend time with Louisa, and Edward is accused of kidnapping them.
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:
Within the Law (1939)
Release date:
March 17, 1939
Cast:
Ruth Hussey, Tom Neal, Paul Kelly, William Gargan, Paul Cavanagh, Rita Johnson, Samuel S. Hinds, Lynne Carver, Sidney Blackmer, James Burke, Frank Orth,
Studio:
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Director:
Gustav Machatý
Plot:
Mary Turner (Hussey) is falsely accused of grand larceny when stolen goods are planted on her. She’s sent to jail for a three year stretch, and while she’s there, she studies law books. When she gets out, she learns how to break the law … but within the law.
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 on the Range – Musical #670
Studio:
Paramount Pictures
Director:
Norman Taurog
Starring:
Bing Crosby, Frances Farmer, Bob Burns, Martha Raye, Samuel S. Hinds, Lucile Gleason, Warren Hymer, James Burke, George E. Stone, Leonid Kinskey
Musical performers: Sons of the Pioneers, Louis Prima
Plot:
Wealthy Doris Halloway (Farmer) is prepared to marry a man she doesn’t love, because it seems like the thing to do. Her Aunt Penny (Gleason) owns a ranch out west and heartily disapproves. When Doris hears her Aunt Penny talk about western women and life, Doris decides she needs to go west. She sneaks onto a cattle car with one of Penny’s ranch hands, Jeff (Crosby) and lies about who she is. Jeff and Doris (or Louis as she tells him) travel across country together in a cattle car with his bull, Cuddles.
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:
The Under-Pup (1939)
Release date:
Aug. 24, 1939
Cast:
Gloria Jean, Robert Cummings, Nan Grey, Beulah Bondi, C. Aubrey Smith, Virginia Weidler, Margaret Lindsey, Shirley Mills, Paul Cavanagh, Billy Gilbert, Raymond Walburn, Frank Jenks, Billy Gilbert, Samuel S. Hinds, Ernest Truex, Doris Lloyd, Dickie Moore, Cecil Kellaway (uncredited), Jean Porter (uncredited)
Studio:
Universal Studios
Director:
Richard Wallace
Plot:
Pip Emma (Jean) lives in New York City and is streetwise, loyal to her family and a beautiful singer. She wins a contest to go to summer camp with wealthy girls. Her excitement turns to dismay when they (Gillis, Mills) make fun of her. She only befriends one girl, Janet Cooper (Weidler), who is sad because her parents are getting a divorce. As Pip Emma stands up for herself, the girls slowly start to like her.
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: Beach Blanket Bingo (1965) – Musical #277
Studio:
American International Pictures
Director:
William Asher
Starring:
Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello, Deborah Walley, Linda Evans, John Ashley, Jody McCrea, Michael Nader, Donna Loren, Paul Lynde, Buster Keaton, Don Rickles, Marta Kristen, Donna Michelle, Bobbi Shaw, Mary Hughes, Linda Bent, Salli Sachse, Patti Chandler, Timothy Carey
Themselves: Earl Wilson, The Hondells
Plot:
Singer Sugar Kane (Evans) sky dives on to the beach for a publicity stunt — via her a stunt double Bonnie (Walley) — the female surfers worry that their boyfriends are paying too much attention to her. Dee Dee (Funicello) is especially concerned about Frankie (Avalon), who suddenly is interested in sky diving. When Frankie starts jumping, Dee Dee proves that girls can skydive too. Skydive instructor Bonnie also has a crush on Frankie, much to the chagrin of her boyfriend Steve (Ashley). Meanwhile, biker gang leader Eric Von Zipper (Lembeck) decides he adores Sugar Kane and Bonehead (McCrea) falls in love with a mysterious, beautiful woman of the sea.
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:
Calling Dr. Kildare (1939)
Release date:
April 28, 1939
Cast:
Lew Ayres, Lionel Barrymore, Laraine Day, Lana Turner, Nat Pendleton, Marie Blake, Frank Ortho, Bobs Watson, Lynn Carver, Emma Dunn, Samuel S. Hinds, Walter Kingsford, Alma Kruger, Phillip Terry, Harlan Briggs, Henry Hunter, Reed Hadley, Nell Craig, Reed Hadley, George Offerman Jr.
Studio:
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Director:
Harold S. Bucquet
Plot:
When James Kildare (Ayres) and physician leader Dr. Gillespie (Barrymore) have an argument, Dr. Gillespie fires Dr. Kildare from Blair General Hospital and has him work at a community clinic. To keep an eye on him, Dr. Gillespie hires nurse Mary Lamont (Day). While at the clinic, a Dr. Kildare cares for a patient with a gunshot wound and doesn’t report it to the police. Dr. Kildare gets entangled in the crime associated and with the patient’s sister, Rosalie (Turner).
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.
Themselves: Johnny Cash, The Gateway Trio, Judy Henske, Vikki Dougan, George Hamilton IV, Joe and Eddie, Cathie Taylor, Chris Crosby, The Brothers Four, Sheb Wooley
Plot: TV director Ted Grover (Breck) and producer A.G. Bannister (Lee) are constantly at odds about what makes a good television shows … and they previously were married. While traveling, Ted runs across a country music hootenanny in a Missouri college town led by Billie-Jo Henley (Austin). Ted pitches the idea of making a TV special out of the college kids and the country music.
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:
Your Cheatin’ Heart – Musical #252
Studio: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Director: Gene Nelson
Starring: George Hamilton, Susan Oliver, Red Buttons, Arthur O’Connell, Rex Ingram, Shary Williams, Chris Crosby
Plot: A biographical film on the life and career of country singer Hank Williams.
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:
Pajama Party (1964) – Musical #318
Studio:
American International Pictures
Director:
Don Weis
Starring: Annette Funicello, Tommy Kirk, Elsa Lanchester, Jody McCrea, Harvey Lembeck, Jessie White, Buster Keaton, Bobbi Shaw, Donna Loren, Candy Johnson, Ben Lessy, Susan Hart, Luree Holmes, Cheryl Sweeten, Michael Nadar, Kerry Kollmar, Joi Holmes
Plot: Connie (Funicello) is frustrated because her boyfriend Big Lunk (McCrea) is more concerned with athletics than her. When Gogo/George the Martian (Kirk) visits Earth to help with an invasion from Mars, he falls in love with Connie. In the meantime, J. Sinister Hulk (White) wants to rob Big Lunk’s rich Aunt Wendy (Lanchester), and Eric Von Zipper (Lembeck) and his gang have beef with Big Lunk.
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:
Seven Days Ashore (1944) – Musical #669
Studio:
RKO Radio Pictures
Director:
John H. Auer
Starring:
Gordon Oliver, Marcy McGuire, Virginia Mayo, Elaine Shepard, Amelita Ward, Wally Brown, Alan Carney, Dooley Wilson, Marjorie Gateson, Margaret Dumont, Dorothy Malone (uncredited), Lawrence Tierney (uncredited)
Himself: Freddie Slack and his Orchestra
Plot: Merchant Marine Dan Arland Jr. (Oliver) got himself engaged to three girls, two of which (Mayo, Ward) play together in Dot Diamond’s (McGuire) band. The other, Annabelle (Shepard), is a family friend who Dan really cares for. When the Merchant Marines have a week leave in San Francisco where all the women are located, Dan has his buddies (Brown, Carney) date two of the girls to help him out.
Trivia: • Originally planned as a U.S. Navy musical but was rewritten as a Merchant Marine musical.
• Alan Carney and Wally Brown were hired to be groomed as Abbott and Costello-like comedy team.
Marcy McGuire in “Seven Days Ashore”
Highlights: • I like the part when the men and women trade off walking in and out playing instruments.
Notable Songs: • “Apple Blossoms in the Rain” performed by Dooley Wilson
• “Ready, Aim, Kiss” performed by Marcy McGuire
• “Sioux City Sue” performed by Marcy McGuire
• “Jive Samba” performed by Freddy Slack and his Orchestra and Marcy McGuire
• “Over the Waves” performed by Marcy McGuire
• “The Poor Little Fly on the Wall” performed by Freddie Slack and his Orchestra
• “Improvisation in B Flat” performed by Freddie Slack and his Orchestra
Chorus girls perform “Seven Days Ashore”
My review:
Not to be confused with Seven Days’ Leave (1942), this low budget B-musical was surprisingly better than I expected.
The first few moments of the film are like “who’s who” early in their careers in Hollywood. We see Dorothy Malone in an uncredited role playing the piano in an all girl’s band, Lawrence Tierney as an uncredited Merchant Marine, and Virginia Mayo in a credited role (and main character) though still early in her career.
The film follows a Merchant Marine (Gordon Oliver) who got himself engaged to too many girls and it complicates his shore leave. His pals try to help out by also dating the girls.
Judging by the photos and how the film started, I thought this musical would be about Marcy McGuire’s character, but she’s really just there to supply the music and some comedic antics.
I almost think the film may have be more fun if it had been centered around McGuire. I’m not certain of her appeal, but I also liked when she was on screen.
Dooley Wilson also co-stars and has the opportunity to sing a few songs.
The film had some great snappy songs, especially performed by Freddie Slack and his Orchestra. I honestly was surprised at how much fun this film ended up being.
This week’s musical:
1939 film:
This week’s musical:
1939 film:
Comet Over Hollywood 