Tag Archives: musicals

Musical Monday: The Milkman (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.

This week’s musical:
The Milkman (1950) – Musical #846

Studio:
Universal Pictures

Director:
Charles Barton

Starring:
Donald O’Connor, Jimmy Durante, Piper Laurie, Joyce Holden, William Conrad, Henry O’Neill, Paul Harvey, Jess Barker, Elisabeth Risdon, Frank Nelson

Plot:
Wealthy Roger Bradley (O’Connor) wants a job, but his father (O’Neill) who owns a milk company. Roger goes to work as a milkman for a competing milk company, where milkman Breezy Albright (Durante) takes him under his wing. Complications arise when Roger falls for the daughter of his employer (Laurie) and can’t expose who he is. He then gets mixed up with a murderous gambling ring.

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Musical Monday: Merry Andrew (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:
Merry Andrew (1958) – Musical #241

Studio:
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Director:
Michael Kidd

Starring:
Danny Kaye, Pier Angeli, Salvatore Baccaloni, Noel Purcell, Robert Coote, Patricia Cutts, Rex Evans, Walter Kingsford, Peter Mamakos, Rhys Williams, Tommy Rall, Richard Anderson (uncredited), Frank Jenks (uncredited), John Dodsworth (uncredited)

Plot:
School teacher Andrew Larabee (Kaye) wants to be taken seriously by his father, the headmaster (Purcell) and asks if he can go on an archaeological excursion to find the missing statue of Greek mythology figure, Pan. When Andrew travels to where he believes the statue is located, a circus is performing on the spot where he would like to dig. Andrew friends the circus family, and falls in love with performer, Selena (Angeli). The problem is Andrew is engaged to be married to someone else.

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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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Musical Monday: I Wonder Who’s Kissing Her Now (1947)

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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:
I Wonder Who’s Kissing Her Now (1947) – Musical #832

Studio:
20th Century Fox

Director:
Lloyd Bacon

Starring:
Mark Stevens, June Haver, Martha Stewart, Reginald Gardiner, Lenore Aubert, William Frawley, Gene Nelson, Truman Bradley, George Cleveland, John Arledge (uncredited)

Plot:
Biographical film on songwriter, composer Joseph E. Howard (Stevens) and his rise to fame. Katie (Haver), the niece of Joe’s guardian, is also eager to be part of Joe’s musical career and lies to tag along. Katie continues to cause trouble along the way as he tries to find success, sabotaging Joe’s partnership with singer Lulu Madison (Stewart) and being jealous of Broadway star Fritzi Barrington (Aubert).

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Musical Monday: Scared Stiff (1953)

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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.

scared stiff

This week’s musical:
Scared Stiff (1953) – Musical #797

Studio:
Paramount Pictures

Director:
George Marshall

Starring:
Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Lizabeth Scott, Carmen Miranda, George Dolenz, Dorothy Malone, William Ching, Paul Marion, Jack Lambert, Tony Barr, Leonard Strong, Henry Brandon, Earl Holliman (uncredited)
Cameo appearances: Bob Hope, Bing Crosby

Plot:
Mary Carroll (Scott) has inherited an estate in Cuba, but throughout her travels, she receives death threats and notes of warning. Before sailing to Cuba, Mary meets performers Larry Todd (Martin) and Myron Mertz (Lewis). Larry believes that he killed someone in New York at Mary’s hotel, so Larry and Myron stowaway on the ship for Cuba. Once they arrive at the home, that’s believed to be haunted, the trio tries to figure out who is behind the warnings.

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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: Playing Around (1930)

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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:
Playing Around (1930) – Musical #796

playing around2

Playing Around, lobbycard, from left: Chester Morris, Alice White, 1930. (Photo by LMPC via Getty Images)

Studio:
First National Pictures, distributed by Warner Bros.

Director:
Mervyn LeRoy

Starring:
Alice White, Chester Morris, William Bakewell, Richard Carlyle, Marion Byron, Maurice Black, Lionel Belmore, Shep Camp, Ann Brody, Nellie V. Nichols, George ‘Gabby’ Hayes (uncredited), Carolynne Snowden (uncredited), Doris McMahon (uncredited)

Plot:
When Sheba Miller (White) and her boyfriend Jack (Bakewell) are at a nightclub, Sheba enters a “best legs” contest, judged by club patron, Nickey Solomon (Morris). Sheba wins and Nickey begins wooing Sheba, making her toss Jack to the curb. Sheba believes Nickey is wealthy playboy, but the way he earns his money isn’t as honest as she thinks.

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Musical Monday: The Proud Valley (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.

The Proud Valley, poster, Paul Robeson, 1940. (Photo by LMPC via Getty Images)

This week’s musical:
The Proud Valley (1940) – Musical #801

Studio:
Ealing Studios

Director:
Pen Tennyson

Starring:
Paul Robeson, Edward Chapman, Simon Lack, Rachel Thomas, Edward Rigby, Dilys Thomas, Janet Johnson, Charles Williams, Jack Jones, Dilys Davies, Clifford Evans, Allan Jeayes, George Merritt, Edward Lexy

Plot:
American David Goliath (Robeson) leaves his ship when he arrives in Wales. He hops on a freight and ends in a small town. Hearing a choir, conducted by Dick Parry (Chapman), David stops to sing outside to sing along. Dick Parry is stunned by David’s beautiful voice and hopes he will sing with the miner choir in competition. Dick also invites David to come stay with his family and helps him get a job with him in the coal mines. When disaster strikes the mines and closes them down, David helps by walking with the miners to London to get them open and working again.

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Musical Monday: Scott Joplin (1977)

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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:
Scott Joplin (1977) – Musical #800

Studio:
Produced by Motown Pictures, Distributed by Universal Pictures

Director:
Jeremy Kagan

Starring:
Billy Dee Williams, Clifton Davis, Art Carney, Margaret Avery, Eubie Blake, Godfrey Cambridge, Otis Day, Mabel King, Taj Mahal, Spo-De-Odee, Samuel Fuller, Seymour Cassel, David Healy, Lionel Richie (uncredited)

Plot:
Composer Scott Joplin (Williams) works his way up from being pianist in a brothel, known as “a Professor,” to becoming a successful composer — transforming the landscape of music with ragtime hits. While largely known as a genius, Joplin wants to be seen as a high-brow composer and works to compose his opera, “Treemonisha.” His life and career are hindered by heartache and tragedy, like an illness and death of a child.

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Musical Monday: Oh, You Beautiful Doll (1949)

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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:
Oh, You Beautiful Doll (1949) – Musical #798

Studio:
20th Century Fox

Director:
John M. Stahl

Starring:
Mark Stevens, June Haver, S.Z. Sakall, Charlotte Greenwood, Gale Robbins, Jay C. Flippen, Andrew Tombes, Eduad Franz, Robert Gist (uncredited), Ray Walker (uncredited), Victor Sen Yung (uncredited)

Plot:
A biographical film about composer Alfred Breitenbach (Sakall), who became known as Fred Fisher for his Tin Pan Alley songs. In the film, Alfred has ambitions of composing great music, such as an opera. However, he and his family — wife Anna (Greenwood) and daughter Doris (Fisher) — are very poor. Song plugger Larry Kelly (Stevens) meets Alfred by accident and hears some of his music. Larry jazzes up portions of Alfred’s opera and writes lyrics to it, making Alfred’s music a success with mainstream music, where he is credited as Fred Fisher. Alfred struggles with being known and becoming famous off music he doesn’t like, though he and his family are living more comfortably. Outside of this, Larry and Doris are also falling in love.

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