Musical Monday: Cover Girl (1944)

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:
Cover Girl (1944) – Musical #33

Studio:
Columbia Pictures

Director:
Charles Vidor

Starring:
Rita Hayworth, Gene Kelly, Otto Kruger, Eva Arden, Lee Bowman, Phil Silvers, Leslie Brooks, Jess Barker, Edward Brophy (uncredited), Stanley Clements (uncredited), Thurston Hall (uncredited), Barbara Pepper (uncredited), Milton Kibbee (uncredited)
As themselves: Jinx Falkenburg, Anita Colby,
Other models: Jean Colleran, Francine Counihan, Helen Mueller, Cecilia Meagher, Betty Jane Hess, Dusty Anderson, Eileen McClory, Cornelia B. von Hessert, Karen X. Gaylord, Cheryl Archer, Peggy Lloyd, Betty Jane Graham, Martha Outlaw, Susann Shaw, Rose May Robson

Plot:
Danny (Kelly) runs a nightclub in Brooklyn, NY, with beautiful Rusty Parker (Hayworth) as his lead dancer. Both are ambitious to make it big in show business, and it’s Rusty who hits it big. Vanity magazine is searching for a new face to be the cover model for a special anniversary magazine, and it’s Rusty who wins the contest. While she receives attention around New York City and is offers to appear in Broadway shows, Danny and her friends at her nightclub do not take kindly to her rise in fame.

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Musical Monday: Summer Stock (1950)

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:
Summer Stock (1950) – Musical #9

Studio: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Director: Charles Walters

Starring:
Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, Gloria DeHaven, Phil Silvers, Marjorie Main, Carleton Carpenter, Eddie Bracken, Ray Collins, Hans Conreid, Nita Bieber, Carol Haney (uncredited), Johnny Duncan (uncredited), Michael Chapin (uncredited), Bunny Waters (uncredited), Almira Sessions (uncredited

Plot:
Jane Falbury (Garland) runs her family farm. Her peaceful daily life is disrupted when her sister Abigail (DeHaven) returns home to the farm accompanied by an acting troupe. Abigail and the group’s director Joe Ross (Kelly) are in love, and the show has to be a hit for the two to be married. Jane agrees that the actors can stay at the farm and rehearse if they Jane’s fiancé Orville (Bracken) disapproves of showbusiness and wants the actors to leave. Jane also finds that she is falling in love with Joe.

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Musical Monday: Top Banana (1954)

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.

top bananaThis week’s musical:
“Top Banana” (1954)– Musical #550

Studio:
United Artists

Director:
Alfred E. Green

Starring:
Phil Silvers, Rose Marie, Danny Scholl, Jack Albertson, Judy Lynn, Bradford Hatton, Johnny Coy, Dick Dana

Plot:
Shot as if you are watching the Broadway play, the plot follows a demanding TV star Jerry Biffle (Silvers) trying to boost the ratings of his flailing TV program. He casts attractive young people Sally Peters (Lynn) and Cliff Lane (Scholl) as leads to raise ratings. It gets complicated when Sally and Cliff fall in love and Phil also loves Sally.

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