Tag Archives: Musical Monday

Musical Monday: Cowboy Canteen (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.

cowboy canteen2This week’s musical:
Cowboy Canteen (1944) – Musical #688

Studio:
Columbia Pictures

Director:
Lew Landers

Starring:
Charles Starrett, Jane Frazee, Barbara Jo Allen (as Vera Vague), Tex Ritter, Guinn ‘Big Boy’ Williams
Themselves: The Mills Brothers, Roy Acuff and His Smoky Mountain Boys and Girls, Jimmy Wakely and His Saddle Pals, The Tailor Maids

Plot:
Instead of going on a vacation, Connie (Frazee) and her singing group decide to take a job working on a ranch. When the girls arrive, Steve (Starrett), the owner of the ranch, is about to enlist in the military and he’s angry that the new ranch hands are women. The ranch is transformed into a canteen to entertain troops.

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Musical Monday: Buck Privates (1941)

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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.

buck privatesThis week’s musical:
Buck Privates (1941) – Musical #680

Studio:
Universal Pictures

Director:
Arthur Lubin

Starring:
Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Lee Bowman, Jane Frazee, Nat Pendleton, Alan Curtis, Samuel S. Hinds, Harry Strang, Nella Walker, Shemp Howard
Themselves: The Andrews Sisters

Plot:
Street vendors Slicker Smith (Abbott) and Herbie Brown (Costello) mistakenly enlist in the U.S. Army while running from the police. Once in the Army, the policeman (Pendleton) who was chasing them is also their sergeant. Also in the Army is wealthy Randolph Parker III (Bowman) who is used to getting his way and clashes with his chauffer Bob Martin (Curtis) who has also enlisted, now that they are on the same level. Both Parker and Martin are in love with camp hostess Judy Grey (Frazee).

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Musical Monday: Sweater Girl (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.

sweater girl5This week’s musical:
Sweater Girl (1942) – Musical #684

Studio:
Paramount Pictures

Director:
William Clemens

Starring:
Eddie Bracken, Betty Jane Rhodes, June Pressier, Phillip Terry, Nils Asther, Frieda Inescort, Kenneth Howell, Johnny Johnston (as Johnnie Johnston), William Henry, Ella Neal, Minerva Urecal, Robert Cherry, Charles D. Brown

Plot:
Right before graduation, a group of college students are putting on a school musical starring Louise Menard (Rhodes) and Jack Mitchell (Bracken), who believes he has better ideas than Happy (Henry), the play’s director. During rehearsals, two of their classmates are murdered, and the students try to get to the bottom of it.

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Musical Monday: Tickle Me (1965)

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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:
Tickle Me (1965) – Musical #677

tickle me 3

Studio:
Allied Artists

Director:
Norman Taurog

Starring:
Elvis Presley, Julie Adams, Jocelyn Lane, Jack Mullaney, Merry Anders, Bill Williams, Edward Faulkner, Connie Gilchrist, Barbara Werle, Allison Hayes, Grady Sutton

Plot:
Lonnie Beale (Presley) is a down on his luck rodeo performer. He’s hired by Vera Radford (Adams) to work on her health ranch, where all of the female residents fall for Lonnie. But Lonnie has eyes for fitness instructor Pam (Lane), who keeps running into trouble and having her house raided by thieves who want her grandfather’s inheritance.

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Musical Monday: Song of the Open Road (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.

song of the open roadThis week’s musical:
Song of the Open Road (1944) – Musical #679

Studio:
United Artists

Director:
S. Sylvan Simon

Starring:
Jane Powell, Regis Toomey, Reginald Denny, Rose Hobart, Jackie Moran, Bonita Granville, Peggy O’Neill, Bill Christy, Hugh Beaumont, Irving Bacon (uncredited), Edward Gargan (uncredited), Irene Tedrow (uncredited)
Themselves in cameo appearances: Edgar Bergan, Charlie McCarthy, W.C. Fields, Sammy Kaye and His Orchestra, the Condos Brothers (Nick Condos, Steve Condos), Chuck Faulkner Band

Plot:
When child actress Jane Powell (Powell) meets a group of kids from the American Youth Hostels while making a picture, she realizes the fun she’s missing out on while having a busy movie schedule. Tired of the pressures of movie making, Jane runs away and joins another youth hostel under a different name.

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Musical Monday: Sing You Sinners (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.

sing you sinnersThis week’s musical:
Sing You Sinners (1938) – Musical #671

Studio:
Paramount Pictures

Director:
Wesley Ruggles

Starring:
Bing Crosby, Fred MacMurray, Donald O’Connor, Ellen Drew, Elizabeth Patterson, John Gallaudet, William Haade, Irving Bacon, Paul White, Tom Dugan, Chester Clute (uncredited), Gwen Kenyon (uncredited)

Plot:
The three Beebee brothers Joe (Crosby), Dave (MaCMurray) and Mike (O’Connor) live with their mother (Patterson). The brothers have a musical act, but don’t work steadily. Dave is the main contributor to the family as he works as a mechanic, and supporting his family keeps him from marrying Martha (Drew). Mike is young and Joe can’t hold a job. Realizing he’s holding the rest of his family back, Joe heads to California for a job … but instead gambles on holding a race horse.

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Musical Monday: The Toast of New Orleans (1950)

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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.

toast of new orleansThis week’s musical:
The Toast of New Orleans (1950) – Musical #86

Studio:
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Director:
Norman Taurog

Starring:
Kathryn Grayson, Mario Lanza, David Niven, J. Carrol Naish, James Mitchell, Rita Moreno, Richard Hageman, Clinton Sundberg

Plot:
Bayou fisherman Pepe Duvalle (Lanza) is discovered for having a beautiful opera singing voice by visiting opera singer Suzette Micheline (Grayson) and her manager Jacques Riboudeaux (Niven). Pepe is rough around the edges and has to be groomed to be presentable for society.

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Musical Monday: Easy to Wed (1946)

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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:
Easy to Wed (1946) – Musical #81

easy to wed

Studio:
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Director:
Edward Buzzell

Starring:
Van Johnson, Esther Williams, Keenan Wynn, Lucille Ball, Cecil Kellaway, Ben Blue, June Lockhart, Grant Mitchell, Josephine Whittell, Paul Harvey, Jonathan Hale, James Flavin
Themselves: Carlos Ramírez, Ethel Smith

Plot:
Connie Allenbury (Williams) and her father (Kellaway) sue The Morning Star newspaper for a $2 million libel suit when a piece of misinformation was published about her. The paper’s business manager Warren Haggerty (Wynn) is asked to postpone is wedding (again) to Gladys (Ball) to get the suit dropped. Haggerty brings in former reporter Bill Chandler (Johnson) to woo Connie, while also getting married to Gladys, so that Connie will be caught in a scandal.

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Musical Monday: Thrill of a Lifetime (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.

thrill of a lifetime2This week’s musical:
The Thrill of a Lifetime (1937) – Musical #673

Studio:
Paramount Pictures

Director:
George Archainbaud

Starring:
Leif Erickson, Judy Canova, Betty Grable, Buster Crabbe (as Larry Crabbe), Ben Blue, Johnny Downs, Eleanore Whitney, Franklin Pangborn, Anne Canova, Zeke Canova, the Yacht Club Boys (Charles Adler, George Kelly, Billy Mann, Jimmie Kern), Marjorie Reynolds (uncredited),
Themselves: Dorothy Lamour

Plot:
Betty Jane (Whitney) and Judy (Canova) have a sister act with Stanley (Downs). When Stanley and Betty Jane are offered a performing gig without Judy, they decide to go to Camp Romance to find Judy a husband. The camp is for singles looking for love and is run by Howard Nelson (Erickson), who doesn’t believe in love and has written a play called “There Ain’t Not Such Thing as Love.” While Howard doesn’t believe in love, his secretary Gwen (Grable) is in love with him.

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Musical Monday: Athena (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.

athena-movie-poster-1954-1020706063This week’s musical:
Athena (1954) – Musical #77

Studio:
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Director:
Richard Thorpe

Starring:
Jane Powell, Jane Powell, Edmund Purdom, Debbie Reynolds, Vic Damone, Louis Calhern, Virginia Gibson, Jane Fischer, Cecile Rogers, Nancy Kilgas, Dolores Starr, Evelyn Varden, Linda Christian, Ray Collins, Richard Sabre, Henry Nakamura, Steve Reeves, Kathleen Freeman, Bess Flowers (uncredited)

Plot:
The life of stuffy Massachusetts lawyer Adam Shaw (Purdom) is turned upside down when he meets Athena (Powell) and her family. Athena is a numerologist and lives with her grandparents and seven sisters. Her family believes in health, exercise and that life is directed by the stars. Athena finds that she and Adam are a love match through numbers and the stars and works to convince him.

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