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:
Kid Galahad – Musical #725
Studio:
United Artists
Director:
Phil Karlson
Starring:
Elvis Presley, Joan Blackman, Gig Young, Lola Albright, Charles Bronson, David Lewis, Robert Emhardt, Ned Glass, Edward Asner (uncredited)
Plot:
Recently discharged from the U.S. Army, Walter Gulick (Presley) returns to his birthplace with the hopes of becoming a mechanic. However, no one is hiring. Out of a job and in need of money, it’s discovered that Walter can pack quite a punch and starts working with boxing promoter Willy Grogan (Young). Though Walter does well as a boxer, he faces problems when Willy’s sister Rose (Blackman) arrives at the training camp and Rose and Walter fall in love.
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 500. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.
This week’s musical:
Bundle of Joy (1956) – Musical #158
Studio:
RKO Radio Pictures
Director:
Norman Taurog
Starring:
Debbie Reynolds, Eddie Fisher, Adolphe Menjou, Tommy Noonan, Nita Talbot, Una Merkel, Mary Treen, Melville Cooper, Bill Goodwin, Edward Brophy, Donald Gray, David Gray, Howard McNear
Plot:
After being fired from a department store, Polly Parish (Reynolds) discovers a baby (Gray, Gray) on the doorstep of an orphanage. No one will believe Polly that it’s not her baby and is forced to take responsibility for the baby. The orphanage gets Polly’s job back when they talk to the department store owner’s son, David Merlin (Fisher). David’s father and owner of the store (Menjou) takes an interest in the baby.
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 500. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.
Starring:
Jane Powell, Cliff Robertson, Keith Andes, Una Merkel, Kaye Ballard, Tommy Noonan, Frank Cady, Judy Nugent, Kelly Brown
Plot:
Dodie (Powell) is a dreamer who wants to get married to a millionaire. Her real-estate boyfriend Buzz (Noonan) proposes after he gets a raise, and she uncertainly accepts. Shortly after she meets Pete (Robertson), who she believes is a millionaire but is only a mechanic. She enjoys Pete’s company, and then meets a real millionaire, Neil Patterson, Jr. (Andres), which is what she has always dreamed of. With proposals from all three men, Dodie then has to pick which man she wants to marry.
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 500. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.
This week’s musical:
Eve Knew Her Apples (1945)– Musical #282
Studio:
Columbia Pictures
Director:
Will Jason
Starring:
Ann Miller, William Wright, Robert Williams, Charles D. Brown, Ray Walker
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 500. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.
Starring:
Jane Powell, Ann Sothern, Barry Sullivan, Carmen Miranda, Louis Calhern, Scotty Beckett, Hans Conreid, Fortunio Bonanova
Plot:
Francis Elliott (Sothern) is a famous stage star and her teenage daughter Nancy (Powell) wants to follow in her footsteps. Along with wanting the same part in an exciting new play, mother and daughter both fall in love with the same man, Paul Berten (Sullivan).
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 500. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.
This week’s musical: It’s a Date (1940)– Musical #116
Studio:
Universal Pictures
Director:
William A. Seiter
Starring:
Deanna Durbin, Kay Francis, Walter Pidgeon, Eugene Pallette, Henry Stephenson, S.Z. Sakall, Charles Lane, John Arledge (uncredited)
Plot:
Georgia Drake (Francis) is a famous stage star and her teenage daughter Pamela (Durbin) wants to follow in her footsteps. Along with wanting the same part in an exciting new play, mother and daughter both fall in love with the same man- John Arlendge (Pidgeon).
Trivia:
-Remade as “Nancy Goes to Rio” (1950) starring Jane Powell, Ann Sothern and Barry Sullivan.
-S.Z. Sakall’s first American film
Highlights:
-Deanna Durbin’s songs
-Kay Francis appearing in the film
-Walter Pidgeon in white dinner coats
Kay Francis and Deanna Durbin play mother and daughter in “It’s a Date”
Kay Francis, Walter Pidgeon and Deanna Durbin in “It’s a Date”
Notable Songs:
–Loch Lomond performed by Deanna Durbin
–Ave Maria (Op.52 No.1) performed by Deanna Durbin
–Love Is All performed by Deanna Durbin
My review:
“It’s a Date” is a movie date you want to keep.
Deanna Durbin, Kay Francis and Walter Pidgeon as the leads with a Eugene Pallette, Henry Stephenson and S.Z. Sakall as the supporting cast. Could you ask for a better group of actors?
Francis, Durbin and Pidgeon in “It’s a Date”
I saw this movie for the first time in high school and don’t remember being in love with the film. However, I wasn’t as immersed in my Kay Francis film love and not yet in love with Walter Pidgeon, which makes a difference. Now, when I rewatched it, it was such a thrill to see Francis later in her career flanked by Walter Pidgeon as her leading man.
Kay Francis was one of Warner Brothers’ top stars in the early 1930s before Bette Davis came on the scene. According to TCM historian Robert Osborne, to make Francis break her contract, they put her put her in terrible films and filled scripts with words full of “R’s”— a letter she had difficulties with due to a speech impediment. However, Francis didn’t back down and continued acting. With that said, her later film roles weren’t anything to write home about her Francis’s film career ended in 1946. Though “It’s a Date” is towards end of Francis’s career, she is radiant in this film and it’s a wonderful part for her.
S.Z. Sakall and Kay Francis on the set of “It’s a Date”
The plot is a little goofy: a teenage daughter falls in love with a man more than twice her age. For a little while, the audience is made to believe that he loves her too. But don’t worry, this film has a non-creepy ending.
There are several laugh out loud moments — some coming from S.Z. “Cuddles” Sakall in his first American film. The Hungarian actor left Europe due to Hitler and the growing power of the Third Reich and bestowed his comedic talents on United States audiences.
Deanna Durbin plays a teenager with a wish to be an actress like her mother and grandmother. Her character is a little overly dramatic, as teenagers can be, but it’s humorous at the same time. She delivers many beautiful songs throughout the film and you can see tears in her eyes as she sings “Ave Maria.”
For someone not familiar with Deanna Durbin, this is a good film to start with if you are interested in diving in. It’s a wonderful blend of music, comedy that’s filled with handsome Walter Pidgeon in white evening coats and Kay Francis in lavish evening gowns.
This week’s musical:
This week’s musical:
– Musical #59
(1940)– Musical #116
performed by Deanna Durbin
(Op.52 No.1) performed by Deanna Durbin
performed by Deanna Durbin
Comet Over Hollywood 