Happy Mother's Day! - Mother Wore Tights

20th Century Fox, 1947
Starring Betty Grable, Dan Dailey, Mona Freeman, and Connie Marshall
Directed by Walter Lang
Music by Josef Myrow; Lyrics by Mack Gordon

Happy Mother's Day! I'm reviewing this one in honor of my mother, Cheryl Jackman. It's one of her favorite movies, and I'm glad I was able to find it for both of us. Betty Grable had one of her biggest hits with this film, and it introduced her to her friend and frequent partner Dan Dailey. Let's head to the porch of a quiet little house to meet a kindly old couple, and hear the story of Miriam "Mikie" Burt's (narration by Anne Baxter) unusual family...

The Story:  Myrtle McKinley (Grable) meets Frank Burt (Dailey) shortly after her high school graduation in 1900, when she goes into San Francisco with two friends and tries to get into a burlesque house for free. Her friend lies and says they're there for jobs, but only Myrtle sticks it out. Frank sees her talent and takes a liking to her, offering to do a duo act. She takes him up on the offer, but almost leaves for another show before he finally breaks down and proposes.

Their new vaudeville act is a success. Myrtle takes time off to have two daughters, Iris (Freeman), and Miriam (Marshall), whom they call "Mikie." She raises them for a while, but her grandmother (Sara Allgood) eventually suggests that she returns to the act to keep an eye on her husband. She does, successfully.

They do well enough to have regular holidays, including the girls visiting them on the road one Christmas, and another one to a quiet little resort hotel in the Berkshire Mountains in Massachusetts. While her parents perk up the staid regulars, Iris falls in love with Bob (Robert Arthur), a young man whose family regularly goes there. She convinces her parents to let her and Mikie go to boarding school in Boston, but learns to her horror that her new friends don't think the stage is a dignified profession. Frank and Myrtle put on a show for the school to prove that vaudeville can indeed be sophisticated and elegant.

The Song and Dance: No wonder Mom loves this movie, and it was said to have been Betty Grable's favorite of her vehicles. It's adorable. Dailey and Grable make a nice couple and are quite believable as married parents of teenagers, two buddy-next-door blondes. Freeman is lovely as their confused teen daughter (although her beautiful voice was dubbed). The beginning in San Francisco when they meet and their trip to the quietest, most dull hotel in New England are also a lot of fun. The vaudeville angle gives this one an edge that many coming-of-age musical tales lack.

The color in this movie is gorgeous, especially when they're at the resort. The residents may be dull, but their surroundings are brilliant. The costumes are also nicely done, especially during the vaudeville numbers.

Favorite Number: The British music hall standard "Burlington Bertie from Bow" turns up in another 20th Century Fox musical, first performed by Dailey, then by Grable in a dead-on imitation. "You Do" was nominated for an Oscar, and it gets two nice run-throughs, a glamorous vaudeville version after Myrtle has returned to the act, and Iris singing it at her graduation in the finale. Grable and Dailey get two more good vaudeville numbers, the funny "This Is My Hometown" as they switch towns and theaters, and the sweet "Kokomo, Indiana."

Trivia: This is based on the memoir Mother Wore Tights, by the real Miriam (Burt) Young (who apparently went on to become a children's book author).

Mother Wore Tights was the first of four films that Grable and Dailey appeared in together in the late 40's and early 50's.

Betty Grable was pregnant during the making of this film, which explains why her stomach is frequently covered by banjos or feathers.

What I Don't Like: The movie feels too short, especially for a coming-of-age story. I would have liked to have seen more of the girls at the resort and in boarding school. We don't really see much of Mikie at all other than her falling down at the resort. Despite Myrtle's constant worry about her grandmother figuring out that she shucked college in the beginning, she accepts her new career awfully fast. Grable doesn't look much like a teenager, either (especially compared to the real young people later in the movie). As nice as the costumes are, once we get past the early 1900's, it doesn't really look that historical other than some of Mikie's girls' dresses.

The Big Finale: If you or your mother are fans of Grable, Dailey, or coming-of-age stories, you'll want to see if you can find this charming tale.

Home Media: At press time, this is only avaible on DVD via the made-to-order 20th Century Fox Cinema Archives.

DVD