Starring Dennis Morgan, Arlene Dahl, Andrea King, and Alan Hale Sr.
Directed by David Butler
Music and Lyrics by various
We celebrate the most Irish of all holidays with a biography of one America's early great Irish songwriters and performers. Chauncey Olcott was one of the great Irish tenors of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, writing and performing his own songs like "When Irish Eyes are Smiling" and traditional Irish melodies such as "How Many Miles to Dublin Town?" How does his story come off now? Let's begin with Olcott boasting of how he'll talk to Lillian Russell (King) and find out...
The Story: Olcott wants to be a great singer and actor, though he comes from a family of tugboat workers. His mother (Sara Allgood) objects at first, then gives her blessings when she realizes how determined he is. He starts out singing in saloons, and ends up being co-owner of one when he's swindled by a bartender who wanted out. While working at the bar, he saves a young lady named Rose Donovan (Arlene Dahl) from a runaway horse. They fall in love, but she already has her fiancée Terry (Don McGuire).
Chauncy finally gets a chance to sing with a minstrel troupe, where he befriends exercise fan Duke Muldoon (George O'Brian) and dancer and comic Hopper (Ben Blue). He gets arrested for fighting goons who attacked him in his room and loses his job with the Minstrels...but manages to gain a role as leading man in Lillian Russell's new play. Rose thinks he's in love with her and gives up on him.
Chauncey's really in love with his career. He finally gets a chance to go on for the great Irish tenor William Scanlon (William Frawley), whose voice and health is declining. After Scanlon gives him his approval, he becomes the darling of Broadway with his Irish operettas and hits like "Mother Machree" and "One Little, Sweet Little Girl." He hasn't quite forgotten his wild Irish Rose, though, and has a way to get through to her father (Alan Hale Sr.) and show him that he's as fine and upstanding as any Irish-American who ever made his way in New York.
The Song and Dance: This is the second week in a row I checked out a biography of a 19th century performer I only read about before and enjoyed it more than I thought I would. Charismatic Morgan is a lot of fun as the singer who is determined to show what he can do, even if he has to pull some shady stunts to get his voice heard. Blue has a few good gags as his goofy dancer buddy, and even gets to show off some amazing moves. I didn't know William Frawley had such a great singing voice; the one time he's heard singing with his own pipes actually sounds pretty darn good. The gorgeous costumes and sets show off the worlds of minstrel shows and Irish operettas in glowing shades of green.
Favorite Number: Morgan sings "Wait Till the Sun Shines, Nellie" and "You Tell Me Your Dream, and I'll Tell You Mine" to encourage producers to consider his pipes at the bar. "Come Down, Ma Evenin' Star" is King's elegant version of Lillian Russell's real-life signature ballad, as she dances with chorus boys in a glittering gown and Chauncy watches rapturously. He performs Scanlon's We don't really get to hear much of Chauncy's actual music until the end in a montage of his successful Irish operettas. He finally sings one of his biggest hits, the sentimental "Mother Machree," to his own mother to assure her that she did a fine job raising her son.
The big finale is about as Irish as you can get, with a clog dancer, Blue and his troupe doing acrobatic stunts, and Morgan showing up to sing "There's Room In My Heart for All" surrounded by pretty colleens in kelly green.
Trivia: Arlene Dahl's debut film.
What I Don't Like: Yes, this is another manufactured biography. On one hand, Olcott did start out in minstrel shows, Lillian Russell really did have him appear as her leading man, and he did replace Irish tenor William J. Scanlan and become one of the great Irish tenors. His relationships with Lillian and Rose are likely total fiction, and the melodramatics do bog down the first half.
Let's discuss those minstrel show sequences. They're pretty accurate to the time period, right down to the burnt cork makeup and men in women's roles, with some great dancing and an energetic performance of "Waiting for the Robert E. Lee." They're also incredibly offensive to many people nowadays, with the white grins and broad stereotypes. Keep in mind that the sequence is a reflection of the time period this film is set in and really is where Olcott got his start.
The Big Finale: Minstrel sequence aside, this is another atmospheric and charming biography of a 19th and early 20th century stage star who deserves to be better-known. Worth checking out if you love Morgan, the Technicolor musicals of the 1940's, or old Irish ballads.
Home Media: DVD only from the Warner Archives.
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