Tag Archives: 20th Century Fox

Musical Monday: I’ll Get By (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:
I’ll Get By (1950) – Musical #843

Studio:
20th Century Fox

Director:
Richard Sale

Starring:
June Haver, William Lundigan, Gloria DeHaven, Dennis Day, Thelma Ritter, Steve Allen, Danny Davenport, Harry Antrim
Himself: Harry James
Cameos: Jeanne Crain, Dan Dailey, Reginald Gardiner, Victor Mature

Plot:
William Spencer (Lundigan) is a song plugger with aspirations of getting into the publishing business. When he runs across songwriters Freddy Lee (Day) and Chester Dooley (Davenport), they buy into his business. They realize they need to promote their music with singers. They meet singing duo, Liza Martin (Haver) and Terry Martin (DeHaven), who agree to sing thor songs. As Spencer and Lee rise to fame a song publishers, Liza and Terry feel they are more career driven than caring about anything else.

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Musical Monday: I Wonder Who’s Kissing Her Now (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 600. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

This week’s musical:
I Wonder Who’s Kissing Her Now (1947) – Musical #832

Studio:
20th Century Fox

Director:
Lloyd Bacon

Starring:
Mark Stevens, June Haver, Martha Stewart, Reginald Gardiner, Lenore Aubert, William Frawley, Gene Nelson, Truman Bradley, George Cleveland, John Arledge (uncredited)

Plot:
Biographical film on songwriter, composer Joseph E. Howard (Stevens) and his rise to fame. Katie (Haver), the niece of Joe’s guardian, is also eager to be part of Joe’s musical career and lies to tag along. Katie continues to cause trouble along the way as he tries to find success, sabotaging Joe’s partnership with singer Lulu Madison (Stewart) and being jealous of Broadway star Fritzi Barrington (Aubert).

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Musical Monday: There’s No Business Like Show Business (1954)

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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:
There’s No Business Like Show Business (1954) – Musical #52

Studio:
20th Century Fox

Director:
Walter Lang

Starring:
Ethel Merman, Dan Dailey, Mitzi Gaynor, Donald O’Connor, Marilyn Monroe, Johnnie Ray,
Richard Eastham, Hugh O’Brien, Frank McHugh, Rhys Williams, Lee Patrick, Eve Miller, Robin Raymond, Dorothy Abbott (uncredited), Dorothy Adams (uncredited), George Chakiris (uncredited), Matt Mattox (uncredited)

Plot:
Molly and Terry Donahue (Ethel Merman, Dan Dailey) are vaudeville performers. As their family grows with three children – Steve (Ray), Katy (Gaynor) and Tim (O’Connor) – so does their act, becoming The Five Donahues. However, at one point, their children are ready to move on and away from the family.

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Musical Monday: Shooting High (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:
Shooting High(1940) – Musical #816

Studio:
20th Century Fox

Director:
Alfred E. Green

Starring:
Jane Withers, Gene Autry, Champion the Horse, Marjorie Weaver, Jack Carson, Frank M. Thomas, Robert Lowery, Kay Aldridge, Hobart Cavanaugh, Hamilton MacFadden, Charles Middleton, Ed Brady, Tom London, Eddie Acuff, Pat O’Malley, George Chandler

Plot:
In Carson Corners, there are two families who have been at odds for decades: The Carsons and the Pritchards. Will Carson (Autry) is the grandson of the town’s hero and namesake, Wild Bill Carson. But the Pritchards believe that Wild Bill was a no account. To complicate matters, Will and Marjorie Pritchard (Weaver) are sweethearts, and her scheming father, Mayor Pritchard (Thomas), is using the romance to his advantage. Mayor Pritchard is planning to build a highway through Carson’s private land. When Will finds out, he accuses Marjorie of conspiring with her father, which breaks up their romance.

Around this time, a Hollywood producer (Carson), arrives wanting to make a movie in Carson Corners about Wild Bill Carson. The Pritchards try to influence the script, and Will is jealous as Marjorie cozies up to the lead actor (Lowery). Marjorie’s little sister, Jane Pritchard (Withers) helps Will throughout the story to get the two together.

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Musical Monday: Oh, You Beautiful Doll (1949)

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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:
Oh, You Beautiful Doll (1949) – Musical #798

Studio:
20th Century Fox

Director:
John M. Stahl

Starring:
Mark Stevens, June Haver, S.Z. Sakall, Charlotte Greenwood, Gale Robbins, Jay C. Flippen, Andrew Tombes, Eduad Franz, Robert Gist (uncredited), Ray Walker (uncredited), Victor Sen Yung (uncredited)

Plot:
A biographical film about composer Alfred Breitenbach (Sakall), who became known as Fred Fisher for his Tin Pan Alley songs. In the film, Alfred has ambitions of composing great music, such as an opera. However, he and his family — wife Anna (Greenwood) and daughter Doris (Fisher) — are very poor. Song plugger Larry Kelly (Stevens) meets Alfred by accident and hears some of his music. Larry jazzes up portions of Alfred’s opera and writes lyrics to it, making Alfred’s music a success with mainstream music, where he is credited as Fred Fisher. Alfred struggles with being known and becoming famous off music he doesn’t like, though he and his family are living more comfortably. Outside of this, Larry and Doris are also falling in love.

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Musical Monday: Footlight Serenade (1942)

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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.

footlight parade3This week’s musical:
Footlight Serenade (1942) – Musical #771

Studio:
20th Century Fox

Director:
Gregory Ratoff

Starring:
Betty Grable, John Payne, Victor Mature, Jane Wyman, Phil Silvers, James Gleason, Cobina Wright, June Lang, Frank Orth, Mantan Moreland, Irving Bacon, Charles Tannen, George Dobbs, Hermes Pan (uncredited), Sheila Ryan (uncredited),

Plot:
Tommy Lundy (Mature) is a famous boxer, who is so popular, that Broadway promoter Slap (Silver) contrives a Broadway show around Lundy. Both dancer Pat Lambert (Grable) and her finance Bill Smith (Payne) get a job in the show — tough Pat auditioned and Bill got the job by happenstance for a boxing portion of the show. Tommy immediately makes a play for Pat, making her the understudy for the lead. When Pat and Bill get married, the show’s director (Gleason) asks that they keep it a secret, since Tommy likes Pat.

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Watching 1939: Chicken Wagon Family (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.

chicken wagon21939 film:
Chicken Wagon Family (1939)

Release date:
Aug. 11, 1939

Cast:
Jane Withers, Leo Carrillo, Spring Byington, Marjorie Weaver, Kane Richmond, Hobart Cavanaugh, Inez Palange

Studio:
20th Century Fox

Director:
Herbert L. Leeds

Plot:
The Fippany family travels to towns, swapping goods for chickens. After living on the road, Mrs. Fippany (Byington) and their grown daughter Cecile (Weaver) have grown weary of life on the road, which Mr. Fippany (Carrillo) and their daughter Addie (Withers) thrive on. However, the family makes the decision to settle down and take their mule-driven wagon to New York City where they find a very different life and Mrs. Fippany’s old flame (Cavanaugh).

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Musical Monday: Thin Ice (1937)

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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.

thin ice 2This week’s musical:
Thin Ice (1937) – Musical #701

Studio:
20th Century Fox

Director:
Sidney Lanfield

Starring:
Sonja Henie, Tyrone Power, Joan Davis, Arthur Treacher, Raymond Walburn, Sig Ruman, Alan Hale, Leah Ray, Melville Cooper, George Givot

Plot:
An international conference is held at the ski resort, Grand Hotel Imperial in St. Christophe in the Alps, where a pact will be signed. Prince Rudolph (Power) pretends to be ill to create tensions before the pact is signed and goes skiing. While on skis, he meets the hotel’s skate instructor Lili (Henie). The two fall in love without Lili knowing who he is.

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Watching 1939: Here I Am a Stranger (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.

here i am stranger41939 film:
Here I Am a Stranger (1939)

Release date:
Sept. 29, 1939

Cast:
Richard Greene, Richard Dix, Brenda Joyce, Roland Young, Gladys George, George Zucco, Kay Aldridge (billed as Katherine Aldridge), Russell Gleason, Edward Norris, Henry Kolker

Studio:
20th Century Fox

Director:
Roy Del Ruth

Plot:
When David (Greene) was a baby, his mother Clara (George) took David and left her husband Duke (Dix), because he couldn’t keep a job and was an alcoholic. Clara later marries a wealthy man and David grows up in society; eventually starting college at Stafford University. While at Stafford, David meets Professor Daniels (Young) and his daughter Simpson (Joyce). Professor Daniels knew David’s real father and speaks highly of him as an athlete and writer. David seeks out his father and their relationship changes some of his views.

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Musical Monday: Springtime in the Rockies (1942)

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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:
Springtime in the Rockies (1942) – Musical #163

Studio:
20th Century Fox

Director:
Irving Cummings

Starring:
Betty Grable, Carmen Miranda, John Payne, Cesar Romero, Charlotte Greenwood, Edward Everett Horton, Iron Eyes Cody (uncredited), Jackie Gleason (uncredited), Russell Hicks (uncredited), Trudy Marshall (uncredited)
Himself: Harry James and His Music Makers, Six Hits and a Miss, Bando da Lua, Helen Forrest

Plot:
Vicky Lane (Grable) and Dan Christy (Payne) are a Broadway performing duo and also an item. But Vicky gets tired of Dan’s philandering and takes an offer performing at a resort in Lake Louise, located in the Canadian Rockies with her old dance partner Victor Prince (Romero). Dan follows Vicky to the Rockies to try to win her back, and because his career is sunk without her. Along the way he picks up a valet (Horton) and secretary (Miranda), who Vicky thinks he’s in love with.

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