Tag Archives: cinema

Musical Monday: Big Timers (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.

This week’s musical:
Big Timers (1945) – Musical #836

Studio:
All American

Director:
Bud Pollard

Starring:
Stepin Fetchit, Francine Everett, Lou Swarz, Gertrude Saunders, Ed Hunter, Duke Williams, Elveta Hunter, Milton Woods, Walter Earle
Specialty Acts: Rocky Brown, Skylight, Tarzana, The All American Girl Band

Plot:
Betty Washburn (Everett) is engaged to Tom Powers (Williams), whose family is eager to meet Betty and her family. The problem is, Tom is wealthy and Betty’s mother (Swarz) works as a maid in a swanky apartment building. A performer in the building, Mabel Page (Saunders), lets the Washburns use her apartment and puts on a special performance for the Powers family.

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Musical Monday: Yankee Doodle Dandy (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:
Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) – Musical #34

Studio:
Warner Bros.

Director:
Michael Curtiz

Starring:
James Cagney, Joan Leslie, Walter Huston, Rosemary DeCamp, Richard Whorf, Irene Manning, George Tobias, Jeanne Cagney, Frances Langford, George Barbier, S.Z. Sakall, Walter Catlett, Eddie Foy Jr., Douglas Croft, Minor Watson, Chester Clute, Odette Myrtil, Patsy Parsons, Jack Young (billed as Capt. Jack Young), Leslie Brooks (uncredited), Ann Doran (uncredited), Charles Drake (uncredited), Tom Dugan (uncredited), Frank Faylen (uncredited), William Hopper (uncredited), Lon McCallister (uncredited), Dolores Moran (uncredited), Joyce Reynolds (uncredited), Charles Smith (uncredited), Frank Sully (uncredited),

Plot:
A musical biographical film of composer and playwright George M. Cohan (Cagney). The film follows stage performers Jerry (Huston) and Nellie Cohan (Decamp) as their family grows into the Four Cohans with their son George and daughter, Josie (Jeanne Cageny). As the family grows, George becomes an outspoken performer, which makes producers reluctant to hire the Four Cohans. Eventually, he breaks out on his own, and with collaborator Sam Harris (Whorf), and becomes a success on Broadway with his plays and songs.

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