Tag Archives: Mary Martin

Musical Monday: Happy Go Lucky (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:
Happy Go Lucky (1943) – Musical #841

Studio:
Paramount Pictures

Director:
Curtis Bernhardt

Starring:
Mary Martin, Dick Powell, Betty Hutton, Rudy Vallee, Eddie Bracken, Mabel Paige, Eric Blore, Clem Bevans, Irving Bacon (uncredited), Dorothy Dandridge (uncredited), Kay Linaker (uncredited), Lillian Randolph (uncredited)
Themselves: Rita Christiani, Sir Lancelot

Plot:
Marjory Stewart (Martin) travels to Trindad posing as an heiress trying to hunt for a wealthy husband, with the help of her friend, Bubbles Hennessy (Hutton). She meets Pete Hamilton (Powell), who is also financially down-on-his-luck. Pete quickly figures out Marjory is a phony, but offers to help her catch a real millionaire, the stuffy Alfred Monroe (Vallee). All the while, Pete’s pal, Wally Case (Bracken) is outrunning Bubbles.

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Watching 1939: The Great Victor Herbert (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.

Screenshot 2024-01-30 2136261939 film:
The Great Victor Herbert (1939)

Release date:
Dec. 6, 1939

Cast:
Walter Connolly, Allan Jones, Mary Martin, Lee Bowman, Susanna Foster, Judith Barrett, Jerome Cowan, John Garrick, Pierre Watkin, Richard Tucker, Mary Currier, Sandra Lee Richards

Studio:
Paramount Pictures

Director:
Andrew L. Stone

Plot:
Louise Hall (Martin) has dreams of becoming a stage star. Her career is shepherded by the pushy tactics of performer John Ramsey (Jones). As Louise and John find success and star in a show by composer Victor Herbert (Connolly), they fall in love and marry. However, billing and Louise’s stardom hurts John’s ego, and even when Louise retires, John’s career falters.

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