Tag Archives: wartime musicals

Musical Monday: Swingtime Johnny (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:
Swingtime Johnny (1943) – Musical #789

Studio:
Universal Pictures

Director:
Edward F. Cline

Starring:
Harriet Nelson (billed as Harriet Hilliard), Patty Andrews, Maxene Andrews, Laverne Andrews, Peter Cookson, Tim Ryan, Matt Willis, William “Bill” Phillips, Tom Dugan, Ray Walker
Themselves: Mitch Ayres and His Orchestra

Plot:
Jonathan Chadwick (Cookson) is the owner of a pipe organ plant. Due to wartime conditions, the plant is converted into a munitions plant. Nightclub singers, Linda (Hilliard-Nelson) and the Andrews Sisters (themselves) leave their jobs at the club to help the war effort and work at the factory. Linda becomes Jonathan’s secretary, and the two become friendly. When the plant is threatened to close, Linda realizes someone is taking advantage of Jonathan.

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Musical Monday: Moonlight and Cactus (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:
Moonlight and Cactus (1944) – Musical #778

Studio:
Universal Pictures

Director:
Edward F. Cline

Starring:
Themselves: Patty Andrews, Maxene Andrews, Laverne Andrews
The cast: Leo Carrillo, Elyse Knox, Tom Seidel, Shemp Howard, Eddie Quillan, Murray Alper, Tom Kennedy, Frank Lackteen, Minerva Urecal, Jacqueline deWitt, Mary O’Brien, Mady Correll
Performers: Chitita Tovar, Lollita Tovar, Mitchell Ayres Orchestra

Plot:
When the Merchant Marines go on leave, Tom Garrison (Seidel) invites everyone to his ranch in San Diego. While the group is willing to go, they are disappointed knowing there won’t be any women on the ranch. Much to everyone’s surprise — including Tom — his ranch is filled with women who are working the farm while the men are fighting overseas. The workers are female students from the local agricultural students, and while Tom automatically assumes they are ruining his business, he finds that they have doubled his business, led by the foreman, Louise Ferguson (Knox). The only problem is that someone has been stealing their cattle, and Louise hires Pasqualito Luigi (Carrillo).

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Musical Monday: Carolina Blues (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.

carolina bluesThis week’s musical:
Carolina Blues (1944) – Musical #378

Studio:
Columbia Pictures

Director:
Leigh Jason

Starring:
Themselves: Kay Kyser, Georgia Carroll, Harry Babbitt, Ish Kabibble, Sully Mason
Also starring: Ann Miller, Victor Moore, Jeff Donnell, Howard Freeman, Ruby Dandridge (uncredited), Frank Orth (uncredited), Doodles Weaver (uncredited)
Specialty Acts: Harold Nicholas, the Cristiani Family, the Layson Brothers, the Four Step Brothers, the Golden Gate Quartette

Plot:
Kay Kyser and his band (all playing themselves) return home to the United States from a tour overseas. All of them are exhausted and ready for a vacation, but Kyser’s publicist (Donnell) signed the band up for a bond tour. Kyser agrees to do a performance if it can raise money for a destroyer named for his hometown of Rocky Mount, N.C. Another problem is that Kyser’s lead girl singer, Georgia Carroll (herself), is leaving the band to get married. When Kyser and his band play at a shipyard, the plant’s manager, Phineas Carver (Moore), hopes his daughter Julie (Miller) can be the band’s next singer.

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