Starring Doris Day, Gordon MacRae, Billy De Wolfe, and Gene Nelson
Directed by David Butler
Music and Lyrics by various
Doris Day's career began to pick up steam in the early 50's with fluffy hit musicals like Lullaby of Broadway. She became Warner Bros' number one musical star in the 1950's, especially in nostalgic romps like this one. Nostalgia for the 20's and 30's was also becoming big business at this point, with silent films showing up on late-night TV, older musicals adapted for the big and small screens, and vintage ballads recorded by popular doo-wop bands of the era. Day appeared in several musicals that looked back to an earlier, gentler era, including this one. How does this Roaring 20's backstage tale look now? Let's begin in 1950 with a group of kids making fun of the clothes and music of an earlier time and find out...
The Story: Their Uncle Max (S.Z Sakall) scolds them for their teasing, telling them the story of how their parents got together in 1929. Nanette Carter (Day) is hoping to back a show put on by smarmy Larry Blair (Billy De Wolfe), her ex-boyfriend. He told her he's going to give her the lead role, to the annoyance of his current girlfriend Beatrice (Patrice Wymore). However, the Stock Market just crashed, and Nanette is now broke. She makes a bet with Uncle Max that she can't say 'no' to every question that comes along that weekend, even as she invites the cast of the proposed show to her house for rehearsals. Now she has to figure out how to earn the money for the show, and explain to handsome singer and songwriter Jimmy Smith (MacRae) that she likes him as more than a singing teacher.
The Song and Dance: And the song and dance carry the day here. Day broke her leg in a car accident in the early 40's, ending her originally planned dance career. Gene Nelson and his choreographer wife Marian helped her regain her confidence to tackle the routines here. They did a splendid job. There's some really cute and vibrant dance numbers here, and Day more than matches Nelson in them. Billy De Wolfe has a few funny moments as the smarmy Billy, especially when he tries to climb into Nanette's second-story window at her house on a ladder and gets pushed into a tree by the jealous Beatrice. There's also him showing off his amazing flexibility to several chorus girls, to Uncle Max's surprise! Sakall also has some good moments as Nanette's flustered uncle.
Favorite Number: Nelson joins Wymore for the jungle themed "Crazy Rhythm," with chorus members playing bongos and Nelson dancing on a huge drum. MacRae performs the lovely "I Only Have Eyes for You" to show Nanette and the investors what the show's ballads will sound like at the backer's audition. Billy De Wolfe gets to show off some pretty damn good dancing skills himself as he leads the cast through the "Charleston." The actual songs from the original No No Nanette turn up in the finale, including "The Call of the Sea" with Wymore and the chorus in flowing ribbon-like bathing outfits and the title song, with Nelson, Day, and the chorus tapping frantically around suitcases.
Trivia: The original No, No Nanette did appear on Broadway in 1925...but it was a huge hit in Chicago and London months before it made it to New York. It was successfully revived on Broadway in 1971 and in London in 1973. It hasn't been seen in New York since, though the 1971 version continues to be popular with regional and school productions.
What I Don't Like: This has nothing to do with No No, Nanette besides a few songs and the 20's setting. The energetic finale makes me wish they'd adapted the original show, rather than concocted a silly and often dull story. It also has nothing to do with the 20's, no matter how much they play it and the clothes the kids wear up in the opening prologue. Other than references to mah jong (a major fad at the time) and the stock market crash, the costumes and sets pretty much stay in the 50's up until that finale.
The Big Finale: Pleasant bit of nostalgia if you're a fan of Day, MacRae, or the Technicolor confections of the 1950's.
Home Media: Easy to find on disc and streaming. The DVD is currently released by the Warner Archives.
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