Tag Archives: Musical Monday

Musical Monday: And the Angels Sing (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:
And the Angels Sing (1944) – Musical #823

Studio:
Paramount Pictures

Director:
George Marshall

Starring:
Dorothy Lamour, Fred MacMurray, Betty Hutton, Diana Lynn, Mimi Chandler, Raymond Walburn, Eddie Foy Jr., Frank Albertson, Mikhail Rasumny, Frank Faylen, Tom Kennedy, Matt McHugh (uncredited)

Plot:
The Angel family is made up of four daughters – Nancy (Lamour), Bobby (Hutton), Josie (Lynn) and Patti (Chandler) – who live with their father (Walburn). The girls have a dynamite singing act, but none of them want to work as singers, because they have other career ambitions. However, they also want to help earn money so their father can start a soybean farm. After one performance, Bobby gambles and doubles how much the girls earned. Unscrupulous bandleader, Happy Morgan (MacMurray), romances and uses Bobby to get her funds so his band can go to New York. When the sisters find out, they travel to New York City to confront Happy and get their money back.

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Musical Monday: Senior Prom (1958)

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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:
Senior Prom (1958) – Musical #822

Studio:
Columbia Pictures

Director:
David Lowell Rich

Starring:
Jill Corey, Paul Hampton, James Komack, Barbara Bostock, Tom Laughlin, Frieda Inescort, Peggy Moffitt, Selene Walters, Francis De Sales
Themselves: Ed Sullivan, Mitch Miller, Bob Crosby, Louis Prima, Keely Smith, Sam Butera, The Witnesses, Connee Boswell, Toni Arden, Freddy Martin and His Orchestra, José Melis, Les Elgart

Plot:
A band, featuring Tom Harper (Hampton) on vocals and Dog (Komack) on the bass fiddle, are hired to perform at a college fraternity party. Carter Breed II (Laughlin) automatically dislikes Tom and the band when his girlfriend Gay Sherridan (Corey) automatically is smitten with Tom. As Tom and Gay begin a romance, Carter tries to sabotage the romance and Tom’s music career. However, Tom’s music becomes a hit and he appears on the Ed Sullivan Show. His new fame allows him to invite celebrity performers to the college’s senior prom.

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Musical Monday: Hold That Co-Ed (1938)

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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:
Hold That Co-Ed (1938) – Musical #821

Studio:
20th Century Fox

Director:
George Marshall

Starring:
John Barrymore, George Murphy, Marjorie Weaver, Joan Davis, Jack Haley, George Barbier, Ruth Terry, Donald Meek, Johnny Downs, Paul Hurst, Guin “Big Boy” Williams, William Benedict, Frank Sully, Charles C. Wilson, Glenn Morris, Dick Winslow (uncredited), Doodles Weaver (uncredited)
Specialty Acts: The Brewster Twins (Barbara and Gloria Brewster)

Plot:
Former all-American football player Rusty Stevens (Murphy) gets his first job as a football coach at State College. Upon arriving, the school’s president (Meek) informs Rusty and the students that Governor Gabby Harrington (Barrymore) has just outlawed football, deeming it an unnecessary expense to the tax players. The college students show up to protest, and when Gov. Harrington’s senate opponent, Major Breckenridge (Barbier), criticizes his college stances, Gov. Harrington pours money into the State College football program. While the football players aren’t very skilled, their secret weapon is Lizzie Olson, who is unmatched at her football kicking.

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Musical Monday: Youth on Parade (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:
Youth on Parade (1942) – Musical #820

Studio:
Republic Pictures

Director:
Albert S. Rogell

Starring:
John Hubbard, Ruth Terry, Martha O’Driscoll, Tom Brown, Charles Smith, Lynn Merrick, Nana Bryant, Ivan F. Simpson, Chick Chandler, Richard Beavers (billed as Bruce Langley), Marlyn Schild, Betty Atkinson (uncredited), Ruth Day (uncredited), Yvonne De Carlo (uncredited), Paul Fix (uncredited)
Specialty Dancers: Bud Mercer, Jim Mercer

Plot:
Students at Cotchatootamee College have been under an experiment by Professor Payne (Hubbard). They aren’t allowed to go on dates or go to parties to see if it positively impacts their grades. They are all also assigned numbers to eliminate bias and favoritism. In retaliation, the students create a fictional genius, Patty Flynn, who passing every class with flying colors. When the dean (Simpson) wants to meet the star student, student Bingo Brown (Brown) searches for someone to as Patty. He finds singer Betty Reilly (Terry), who fits the bill, especially as she needs to hide out due to a racing debt she owes.

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Musical Monday: Sweetie (1929)

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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:
Sweetie (1929) – Musical #821

Studio:
Paramount Pictures

Director:
Frank Tuttle

Starring:
Nancy Carroll, Helen Kane, Jack Oakie, Stanley Smith, William Austin, Stuart Erwin, Joseph Depew, Wallace MacDonald
Specialty performers: The King’s Men

Plot:
Biff Bentley (Smith) is the star football player at Pelham University in North Carolina. He’s engaged to chorus girl Barbara Pell (Carroll), and Biff is planning to elope with Barbara. But at the last minute, when Barbara arrives, Biff decides to stay at school to help the team. Shortly after, Barbara learns that she has inherited Pelham University. Still smarting from her heartbreak, she decides to take this opportunity to get back at Biff and the football team.

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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: 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: Carousel (1956)

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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:
Carousel (1956) – Musical #87

Studio:
20th Century Fox

Director:
Henry King

Starring:
Gordon MacRae, Shirley Jones, Cameron Mitchell, Barbara Ruick, Claramae Turner, Robert Rounseville, Gene Lockhart, Audrey Christie, Susan Luckey, William LeMassena, John Dehner, Jacques d’Amboise, Robert Banas, Richard Deacon (uncredited), Bambi Linn (uncredited), Dee Pollock (uncredited)

Plot:
Naive Julie Jordan (Jones) visits a carnival one day and gets swept up in a whirlwind romance with carousel barker, Billy Bigelow (MacRae). Their happiness is brief as Billy is out of work and refuses to work, taking his anger on lack of money out on Julie. When he finds out that they are going to have a baby, Billy decides to get money a quick and illegal way. Things don’t turn out in his favor.

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Musical Monday: French Cancan (1955)

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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:
French Cancan (1955) – Musical #818

Studio:
Francoeur Studios

Director:
Jean Renoir

Starring:
Jean Gabin, Françoise Arnoul, María Félix, Anna Amendola, Jean-Roger Caussimon, Dora Doll, Giani Esposito, Franco Pastorino, Gaston Gabaroche, Jacques Jouanneau, Jean Parédès, Valentine Tessier, Pierre Olaf, Phillipe Clay
Specialty performers: Édith Piaf, Patachou

Plot:
Night club owner Henri Danglard (Gabin) is always looking for new talent, from dancers to a whistling Pierrot (Olaf). While “slumming” at the White Queen with his star Lola (Félix), Danglard discovers a young laundress, Nini (Arnoul), who is doing the old dance, the cancan. Lola is infuriated and jealous of Nini as Danglard decides to build an act and brand new nightclub, the Moulin Rouge, around the cancan dance. As Nini’s life changes, suitors come in and out of her life, leaving her confused about who and what she wants. She thinks she’s in love with Danglard, but his main love is art.

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Musical Monday: Texas Carnival (1951)

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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:
Texas Carnival (1951) – Musical #68

Studio:
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Director:
Charles Walters

Starring:
Esther Williams, Red Skelton, Howard Keel, Ann Miller, Paula Raymond, Keenan Wynn, Tom Tully, Glenn Strange, Dick Wessel, Donald MacBride, Marjorie Wood, Hans Conried, Thurston Hall, Duke Johnson, Wilson Wood, Gene Coogan (uncredited), Bess Flowers (uncredited), Beatrice Hagen (uncredited), Alex Romero (uncredited)
Themselves: Foy Willing and His Orchestra, Red Norvo Trio,

Plot:
Cornie (Skelton) and Debbie Telford (Williams) work together in a dunk tank sideshow. They aren’t doing well financially, and Debbie wants a well-balanced meal. While in Texas, Cornie is mistaken for a cattle barron, Dan Sabinas (Wynn), when Cornie drives his car back to the hotel. They think Debbie is Marilla Sabinas (Raymond). Unable to untangle the misunderstanding, Cornie and Debbie wait for the real Dan Sabinas to return to the hotel. The mistaken identity leads to high gambling debts and romances. The sheriff’s daughter (Miller), Sunshine, falls for Cornie, while Sabinas’s ranch hand Slim Shelby (Howard), knows they are phonies, but plays along.

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