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.
Starring:
Michèle Morgan, Jack Haley, Frank Sinatra, Marcy McGuire, Mel Torme, Leon Errol, Mary Wickes, Dooley Wilson, Barbara Hale, Dorothy Mcguire (uncredited)
Plot:
Cyrus Drake (Errol) is broke and hasn’t paid his servants in seven months. To make some money, he hatches a plan that his maid Millie (Morgan) should pose as his daughter (that he hasn’t seen in years) and marry a rich husband so the household can benefit from his wealth.
It was Thursday, April 25, 2013, and I had just flown into Los Angeles from North Carolina for my first Turner Classic Movies Classic Film Festival.
My first glimpse of Robert Osborne in person in 2013 (Comet Over Hollywood/Jessica P)
I was excited, tired and scared. It was my first solo plane trip, and I had unwisely flown into the festival the day it started, rather than the day before. I was momentarily homeless until my friend, Lindsay — who I was staying with — got out of class at UCLA. I stashed my suitcase in the hotel room of another friend, Jill, and went with her to the Roosevelt Hotel to get my film festival pass and for a press announcement.
I’m sitting at a small table, nervously saying hello to friends who I knew only from the internet before the film festival. And then film historian and Turner Classic Movies host Robert Osborne walks out on stage. Everyone else around me is calm and collected but I’m about to burst. I didn’t know if I should cry, laugh or faint. I had only been in Los Angeles for two hours and there was my hero standing 15 feet away from me!
Robert Osborne introducing “Desert Song” in 2013 (Comet Over Hollywood/Jessica P)
That Saturday during the festival, I was first in line for a rare screening of The Desert Song (1943), a Dennis Morgan and Irene Manning musical that isn’t often seen because of copyright issues. A volunteer confided that she heard Robert would be introducing the film. I excitedly sat in the front row so I could get a good picture.
Robert discussed the film and said that he had never seen The Desert Song and would be joining the audience to watch. While the Technicolor Warner Bros. film danced on the screen, I could barely focus; knowing Robert was somewhere behind me in the crowd.
After the film ended, I waited outside to see if I could get a picture and fulfil my dream of meeting Mr. Osborne. Another fan held Robert in conversation and it looked like I may not get my chance. When the fan left, I meekly approached him and asked for a photo.
“Yes, but we will have hurry because I have to meet Ann Blyth before Mildred Pierce,” he said.
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:
“Around the World” (1943)– Musical #353
Studio:
RKO Radio Pictures
Director:
Allan Dwan
Starring: As themselves:Kay Kyser, Georgia Carroll, Harry Babbitt, Merwyn ‘Ish Kabibble’ Bogue, Joan Davis, Mischa Auer, Marcy McGuire, Wally Brown, Alan Carney, Barbara Hale (uncredited) Actors: Robert Armstrong (uncredited)
Plot:
Bandleader Kay Kyser (as himself) and his band go on a U.S.O. tour to entertain troops during World War II. Along the way, he and his team run into comedic mishaps. One of these includes Mischa Auer (as himself), who becomes interested in buying ancient relics,
Trivia:
-This film marked the end of Kay Kyser’s RKO film career
-Singer Georgia Carroll’s first credited role.
-Robert Armstrong plays an uncredited role as a general.
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.
Starring:
Ginger Rogers, Fred Astaire, Alice Brady, Edward Everett Horton, Eric Blore, Erik Rhodes, William Austin, Betty Grable, Lillian Miles
Plot:
Mimi (Rogers) is traveling with her Aunt Hortense (Brady) and is looking for a
Trivia:
-This was Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers’ second film together (out of 10 films). Following their success in “Flying Down to Rio” (1933), RKO teamed them together again.
-“The Continental” lasts 17.5 minutes. This was the longest musical number until Gene Kelly’s ballet in “An American In Paris” (1951).
-The Academy Awards for 1934 were the first to include the category for Best Original Song. Con Conrad and Herb Magidson were the first to receive this award for “The Continental.”
-Based on the 1932 Broadway show “The Gay Divorce,” which starred Fred Astaire and Claire Luce. For the film, the title was changed to “Divorcee.” Fred Astaire’s autobiography “Steps in Time” says the change was to show that the film was about the amorous adventures of a woman.
t’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 post was updated to reflect the Academy Awards won.
This week’s musical:
“La La Land” (2016)– Musical #561
Director:
Damien Chazelle
Starring:
Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, John Legend, J.K. Simmons, Tom Everett Scott, Rosemarie Dwitt
Plot:
Living in Los Angeles, Mia (Stone) is an aspiring actress who works as a barista in a coffee shop. Sebastian (Gosling) is an unemployed jazz musician who is bitter that he lost his previous jazz club and plans to open a new club. The two meet, fall in love and encourage each other’s dreams.
But none of them are quite like Debbie Reynolds’ 1983 “Do It Debbie’s Way.” Reynolds’ Hollywood career began when she was 16 in 1948 playing a bit role in the Bette Davis film “June Bride.” In the 1950s, Debbie became one of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s top stars and she continued performing until her last film role in 2013. She passed away in 2016.
Debbie was unstoppable, energetic and unsinkable, and the fact that she jumped on the exercise video bandwagon isn’t all-together surprising. She was a dancer and was slim most of her life.
But her workout video isn’t quite the same as other videos you may be used to.
The always original and over-the-top Reynolds decorates her workout studio with a chandelier, a diaphanous pink backdrop curtain, and lights behind the curtain spelling “DEBBIE” in eight foot tall letters.
“My set, I hope you like it. Usually you would work out in a gym, but I was in MGM for years in musicals so I thought we would do it up sort of pink, not brown,” Reynolds said in the video.
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.
Starring:
Janet Leigh, Ann Miller, Gloria DeHaven, Barbara Lawrence, Tony Martin, Eddie Bracken, Charles Dale, Joe Smith, Joi Lansing (uncredited), Vera Miles (uncredited)
Themselves: Bob Crosby
Plot:
Nancy Peterson (Leigh) is given a big send off from her hometown, Pelican Falls, as she leaves to get her start on Broadway. On her bus trip to New York, she meets three down-on-their-luck performers: Hannah Holbrook (DeHaven), Joyce Campbell (Miller) and S.F. Rogers (Lawrence). Their agent (and Hannah’s boyfriend), Lew Conway (Bracken) continuously sets them up with dead-end gigs. Nancy also meets (and falls in love with) another down-on-his-luck performer, Dan Carter (Martin). To save face, Lew Conway lies to Dan, Nancy and the three girls; telling them that they have a huge performance spot on Bob Crosby’s TV show. The crew forms an act and starts rehearsing, not knowing that they may not be performing the act anywhere.
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:
All-American Co-Ed (1941) – Musical #553
Studio:
Hal Roach Studios
Director:
LeRoy Prinz
Starring:
Frances Langford, Johnny Downs, Marjorie Woodworth, Noah Berry Jr., Esther Dale, Harry Langdon, Kent Rogers, Alan Hale Jr., Lillian Randolph, Margaret Roach (uncredited), Marie Windsor (uncredited), Dudley Dickerson, Claire James (uncredited) Themselves: The Tanner Sisters- Mickey Tanner, Betty Tanner, Martha Tanner
Plot:
All-girls horticulture college Mar Bryn is failing to attract new students. They hold a contest to bring in beautiful female students. In an effort for publicity, Mar Bryn’s student newspaper makes fun of the Zeta fraternity at Quincton College. Out of revenge, the boys nominate one of their frat brothers to dress up like a girl and enroll.
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:
“Rosalie” (1937)– Musical #140
Studio:
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Director:
W.S. Van Dyke
Starring:
Eleanor Powell, Nelson Eddy, Frank Morgan, Edna May Oliver, Ray Bolger, Ilona Massey, Reginald Owen, Virginia Grey, Billy Gilbert, Jerry Colonna, William Demarest, Tommy Bond, Tom Rutherford
Plot:
Rosalie (Powell) is a student at Vassar and also a princess from the country Romanza. She falls for West Point student Dick Thorpe (Eddy), who will be joining the Army after he graduates. When Rosalie is commanded home, she tells Dick to meet her in Romanza at a spring festival. The only problem is that Rosalie is betrothed to Prince Paul (Rutherford).
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.
Starring:
James Cagney, Evelyn Daw, William Frawley, Mona Barrie, Gene Lockhart, Kathleen Lockhart
Plot:
New York bandleader and dancer Terry Rooney (Cagney) goes to Hollywood where they try to remold him into a star. Terry marries his sweetheart and singer of his band, Rita Wyatt (Daw). When they return from their honeymoon they find that Rooney’s contract says that he can’t be married.
Trivia:
-Victor Schertzinger directed, wrote the story and composed the score for “Something to Sing About”
-This film was made at Grand National Pictures, which was known for their B movies. “Something to Sing About” was one of Grand National’s last films and was known as the film that broke the low budget film studio. Hoping James Cagney’s star power would make them a hit, they spent a large sum of money on it and the film flopped. The studio closed in 1939.
Awards and Nominations:
-Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Music, Score by C. Bakaleinikoff (musical director), Score by Victor Schertzinger.
Highlights:
-James Cagney tap dancing, especially at the beginning while instruments mimic what he’s tapping on
Notable Songs:
-“Something to Sing About” performed by Evelyn Daw
My review:
“Something to Sing About” is a light but entertaining film. It’s more of a comedy than a musical, but it’s one of those rare films (i.e. Yankee Doodle Dandy, Footlight Parade) that we have the opportunity to see James Cagney dance.
I enjoy films about Hollywood and this one fits the bill. There are humorous scenes of trying to get Cagney to speak in “pear-shaped tones,” dressing him and giving him a new hairstyle. The studio also hides his marriage and a publicity agent cooks up a romance with a leading lady.
James Cagney and Evelyn Daw
Evelyn Daw is a sweet leading lady but she was only in two films. While her prescience is pleasant, it’s not particularly memorable. “Something to Sing About” was her first film and 1938’s Panamint’s Bad Man was her last film. She has a beautiful, strong operatic voice and was discovered by the director of this film, Victor Schertzinger. There is little more biographical information to be found on Miss Daw, other than the fact that she retired from singing and films when she married her husband, Steward Smith.
“Something to Sing About” flopped and was a partial result to Grand National Pictures shutting down in 1939, but I didn’t think it was all that bad. It is fairly funny and a brisk watch. I revisited this the same weekend I watched some very dramatic mid-1960s films and it was a nice bit of levity.
While “Something to Sing About” isn’t a great film, it does also give you the opportunity to see James Cagney dance which is always a glorious sight to see.
This week’s musical:
” (2016)– Musical #561
” (1937) – Musical #439
Comet Over Hollywood 