Tag Archives: Gloria Jean

Musical Monday: Pardon My Rhythm (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.

This week’s musical:
Pardon My Rhythm (1944) – Musical #819

Studio:
Universal Pictures

Director:
Felix E. Feist

Starring:
Gloria Jean, Patric Knowles, Evelyn Ankers, Marjorie Weaver, Walter Catlett, Mel Tormé,
Patsy O’Connor, Ethel Griffies, Jack Slattery, Linda Reed,
Himself: Bob Crosby, The Mel-Tones

Plot:
Teenage Jinx Page (Jean) is smitten with drummer Ricky O’Bannon (Tormé), who also is the bandleader for a teenage big band. Jinx supports and funds the band from buying them uniforms to allowing them to practice at her house. Ricky wows bandleader Bob Crosby (himself) and Crosby tasks his lead singer, Dixie Moore (Weaver), to woo Ricky so that he will join Crosby’s band. Jinx is jealous of Dixie, so she tries to find someone else to romance Dixie. Jinx enlists her father, playwright Tony Page (Knowles), which complicates his own engagement to Julia (Ankers).

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Musical Monday: What’s Cookin’ (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:
What’s Cookin’? (1942) – Musical #812

Studio:
Universal Pictures

Director:
Edward F. Cline

Starring:
Gloria Jean, Leo Carrillo, Jane Frazee, Robert Paige, Charles Butterworth, Billie Burke, Donald O’Connor, Peggy Ryan, Grace MacDonald, Susan Levin, Franklin Pangborn, Charles Lane, Esther dale (uncredited)
Themselves: The Andrew Sisters, Woody Herman and His Orchestra, The Jivin’ Jacks and Jills (Donald O’Connor, Peggy Ryan, Grace MacDonald, Tommy Rall, Roland Dupree, Bobby Scheerer, Dottie Babb, Dolores Mitchell, Jack McGee, Grace MacDonald, Jane McNab, Jane McNab, David Holt, and Corky Geil)

Plot:
A group of young dancers (The Jivin’ Jacks and Jills) have no more money left to pay rent. As they are sneaking out of their boarding house, they meet another performer who is down on his luck, magician Marvo the Great (Carrillo).
At the same time they are getting kicked out of their boarding house, nightclub and radio singer Anne Payne (Frazee) moves to a large estate and feels lonely in the giant home, where she lives alone. Marvo and Anne used to work together and cross paths, and she expresses her loneliness. He fixes this by inviting the group of young dancers to live in her home.
Anne’s wealthy neighbor, Sue Courtney (Jean) overhears the young performers singing and dancing and comes over one day. Hearing that they are trying to get a gig, she tries to work her influence to get them onto a radio program sponsored by her wealthy aunt (Burke) and uncle (Butterworth).

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Musical Monday: If I Had My Way (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.

if I had my way2This week’s musical:
If I Had My Way (1940) – Musical #747

Studio:
Universal Pictures

Director:
David Butler

Starring:
Bing Crosby, Gloria Jean, Charles Winninger, El Brendel, Allyn Joslyn, Claire Dodd, Donald Woods, Moroni Olsen, Nana Bryant, Kathryn Adams, Verna Felton (uncredited), Rafael Alcayde (uncredited), Rod Cameron (uncredited)
Specialty Acts: Six Hits and a Miss, Julian Eltinge, Trixie Friganza, Grace La Rue, Eddie Leonard, Blanche Ring, Paul Gordon

Plot:
Construction workers Buzz Blackwell (Crosby), Fred Johnson (Woods) and Axel Swenson (El Brendel), are about to complete their work on the Golden Gate Bridge. When Fred is killed in an accident, Buzz and Axel take Fred’s young daughter Patricia (Jean) to New York City to live with her uncle, Jarvis Johnson (Joslyn). Not wanting to take responsibility, Jarvis Johnson sends Patricia to her great aunt and uncle, Joe and Marian Johnson (Charles Winninger, Nana Bryant), who welcome the child with open arms. While Buzz is ready to move on to another construction project in Arizona, Axel spends all their money while drunkenly buying an unsuccessful restaurant. Buzz works to transform the restaurant into a vaudeville-themed café to help support Patricia.

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Watching 1939: The Under-Pup (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.

under pup1939 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.

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