Tag Archives: Benny Goodman

Musical Monday: The Powers Girl (1943)

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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 Powers Girl (1943) – Musical #839

Studio:
United Artists

Director:
Norman Z. McLeod

Starring:
George Murphy, Anne Shirley, Carole Landis, Alan Mowbray, Jean Ames, Mary Treen, Rafael Alcayde, Helen MacKellar, Harry Shannon
Themselves: Benny Goodman and His Orchestra, Peggy Lee, Dennis Day
Billed as Powers America Beauty Pageant Model: Jayne Hazard, Lillian Eggers, Linda Stirling, Evelyn Frey, Eloise Hardt, Patsy Mace, Barbara Slater, Rosemary Coleman, Edna Johnson, Rebel Randall, Teala Loring

Plot:
Photographer Jerry Hendricks (Murphy) takes a photo of school teacher Ella Evans (Shirley) in a compromising position, which ends up on the cover of a magazine. The photo causes Ella to lose her job, so she travels to New York City to live with her model sister, Kay (Landis). Kay realizes her sister never signed a release for the photo, and sets her sights on get-rich-quick plan by suing the magazine. Jerry intercepts Kay and makes promises that she could become a Powers model.

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Musical Monday: Hollywood Hotel (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.

hollywood hotel3This week’s musical:
Hollywood Hotel (1937) – Musical #201

Studio:
First National Pictures, Warner Bros.

Director:
Busby Berkeley

Starring:
Dick Powell, Rosemary Lane, Lola Lane, Hugh Herbert, Ted Healy, Glenda Farrell, Johnnie Davis, Mabel Todd, Alan Mowbray, Allyn Joslyn, Frances Langford, Grant Mithcell, Milton Kibbee (uncredited), Carole Landis (uncredited), John Ridgely (uncredited), Ronald Reagan (uncredited)
Themselves: Benny Goodman, Harry James, Gene Krupa, Louella Parsons, Perc Westmore, Ken Niles, Jerry Cooper, Raymond Paige and His Orchestra

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Musical Monday: Sweet and Low-Down (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.

sweet and low downThis week’s musical:
Sweet and Low-Down (1944) – Musical #713

Studio:
20th Century Fox

Director:
Archie Mayo

Starring:
Benny Goodman (as himself), Linda Darnell, Jack Oakie, Lynn Bari, James Cardwell, Dickie Moore, Allyn Joslyn, John Campbell, Roy Benson, Buddy Swan (uncreated), Gloria Talbot (uncredited), Terry Moore (uncredited), Mae Marsh (uncredited), Beverly Hudson (uncredited), Dorothy Vaughan (uncredited)
Themselves: Morey Feld, Jess Stacy and Sid Weiss

Plot:
Benny Goodman (himself) and his band are performing in his hometown, when a child convinces him — by stealing his clarinet — to come listen to his trombone-playing brother, Johnny Birch (Cardwell). Goodman invites Birch to join his band, but Birch’s hot temper sometimes hinders his success. Goodman’s singer Pat Stirling (Bari) takes a liking to Birch, as does socialite Trudy Wilson (Darnell). Though Trudy meets Johnny under dubious settings — posing as a 14-year-old girl while she’s taking her nephew (Moore) to a military school prom.

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Musical Monday: The Benny Goodman Story

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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 Benny Goodman Story (1956) – Musical #331

Studio:
Universal Studios

Director:
Valentine Davies

Starring:
Steve Allen, Donna Reed, Herbert Anderson, Sammy Davis Sr., Dick Winslow, Berta Gersten, Barry Truex, Robert F. Simon
Themselves: Lionel Hampton, Gene Krupa, Teddy Wilson, Ben Pollack, Kid Ory, Martha Tilton, Harry James, Babe Russin, Allan Reuss

Plot:
This is a biographical film on clarinet player Benny Goodman (Allen). The film follows Goodman as a child when he learns the clarinet and becomes interested in jazz and swing music. Goodman struggles with gaining interest in “hot” music, especially in New York City. Many prefer classical music, including Alice Hammond (Reed), who is interested in Benny Goodman but isn’t sure about his music. Alice and Benny have a romance, but with his busy music schedule and his skeptical mother, it’s hard for the two to be together.

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