Tag Archives: Robert Benchley

Musical Monday: Nice Girl? (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.

This week’s musical:
Nice Girl? (1941) – Musical #808

Studio:
Universal Pictures

Director:
William A. Seiter

Starring:
Deanna Durbin, Franchot Tone, Robert Stack, Robert Benchley, Walter Brennan, Helen Broderick, Ann Gillis, Anne Gwynne, Elisabeth Risdon, Nana Bryant, Georgia Billings, Tommy Kelly, Marcia Mae Jones, Frank Sully (uncredited)

Plot:
Prof. Oliver Dana (Benchley) is a professor living with his three daughters: actress Sylvia (Gwynne), boy crazy Nancy (Gillis) and practical Jane (Durbin), who helps her father with his experiments. Everyone considered Jane as a reliable nice girl, including her unromantic boyfriend, Don (Stack), who cares more about cars than love. When famed traveler and researches Richard Calvert (Tone) comes to town to meet with Professor Dana, the three sisters are all smitten with the young professor. When it’s time for Richard to leave, Jane fixes it so that he will miss his train and that she’ll have to drive him back to New York City, so that Don and everyone will no longer dismiss her as just a nice girl.

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Musical Monday: Road to Utopia (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.

road to utopiaThis week’s musical:
Road to Utopia (1946) – Musical #148

Studio:
Paramount Pictures

Director:
Hal Walker

Starring:
Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Dorothy Lamour, Hillary Brooke, Douglass Dumbrille, Jack LaRue, Robert Barrat
Himself: Robert Benchley

Plot:
Vaudeville performers Duke (Crosby) and Chester (Hope) escape the law by traveling to the Klondike during the gold rush. They are mistaken for two cut-throat murderers with a valuable map, which singer Sal (Lamour) and Kate (Brooke) try to get from the men.

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Musical Monday: The Stork Club (1945)

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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 500. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

This week’s musical:
The Stork Club (1945) – Musical #177

Studio:
Paramount

Director:
Hal Walker

Starring:
Betty Hutton, Barry Fitzgerald, Don DeFore, Robert Benchley, Bill Goodwin, Iris Adrian, Andy Russell, Mary Young

Plot:
Judy Peabody (Hutton) saves the life of Jerry Bates (Fitzgerald) who is drowning after he falls into the ocean. Judy thinks Jerry is poor and tries to get him a job, and doesn’t know that Jerry is really rich. To thank her, Jerry wants to provide for Judy financially without her knowing it’s from him. The problem is when her Marine boyfriend (DeFore), returns home from the war, he is suspicious of where she received the money and thinks the worst.

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Musical Monday: The Sky’s the Limit (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 500. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

This week’s musical:
The Sky’s The Limit (1943) – Musical #210

Studio:
RKO Radio Pictures

Director:
Edward H. Griffith

Starring:
Fred Astaire, Joan Leslie, Robert Benchley, Robert Ryan, Elizabeth Patterson, Marjorie Gateson, Fred Aldrich, Robert Andersen, Richard Davies, Norma Drury, Dorothy Kelly, Neil Hamilton (uncredited), Peter Lawford (uncredited) Eric Blore (uncredited), Amelita Ward (uncredited)
Himself: Freddie Slack and his Orchestra, Ella Mae Morse

Plot:
Fred Atwell (Astaire) is one of the Flying Tiger pilots during World War II and has been named a hero for all of his successful missions. During his leave back home, he is taken on a personal appearance tour. Tired of the strict schedule, he gets off the train at a stop and decides he’s going to have fun. He meets photographer Joan Manion (Leslie), who he falls for but she believes it just a drifter.

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