Starring Vivian Blaine, Dennis O'Keefe, Carmen Miranda, and Perry Como
Directed by Lewis Seller
Music by Jimmy McHugh; Lyrics by Harold Adamson
The burlesque of low comics, strippers, and slapstick that most of us recognize from movies like Gypsy and The Night They Raided Minsky's began as far more chaste spoofs of popular shows and books in the late 19th century. By the time this movie came out, it had split into family-friendly musical comedy and the bawdy variety show that made comics like Milton Berle and strippers such as Gypsy Rose Lee household names. In fact, this is based after Lee's hit Broadway play The Naked Genius, about a stripper who publishes her biography. How does this less naughty version look today? Let's begin at the real-life burlesque house The Gaiety Theater in New York and find out...
The Story: Mary Elizabeth "Doll Face" Carroll (Blaine) may be the biggest attraction at the Gaiety, but she's tired of the notoriety and is looking to expand into other areas of show business. Her reputation as a stripper keeps proceeding her, prompting legitimate producers to turn her away. Her fiancé and manager Mike Hannegan (O'Keefe) suggests she writes an autobiography to give her a little more class. He even hires wealthy Fredrick Manly Gerald (Stephan Dunne) to ghostwrite it. Mike is so enthusiastic about the good press for the book, he suggests doing a show on Broadway, with the performers putting up part of the money and Fredrick throwing in the rest.
With the publicity generating headlines, Mike figures they don't need to publish it. Mary Elizabeth wants to finish what they began and joins Fredrick in Jamaica to polish it off. They're stranded on a desert island when his boat runs out of gas...but a jealous Mike thinks there was more to it. Fed up, Mary Elizabeth takes off. Mike now has to get her back into his life and the show, before they're all caught with their baggy clown pants down.
The Song and Dance: An unusual cast - including Miranda at the tail end of her popularity and Perry Como at the beginning of his - highlights this different take on backstage stories. Some of it is drawn from real life. Lee did indeed write plays, mystery novels, and a biography, all of which were popular and gave her a more "literate" sheen that set her apart from most of her low comic brethren.Miranda and O'Keefe have the most fun as the sassy Brazilian stripper and fast-talking manager who thinks he's hit the perfect publicity scam.
Favorite Number: Blaine first performs "Someone's Walking In My Dream" early in the film at her failed audition. It becomes a chorus number for Como, Martha Stewart, and the Gaiety girls much later as the ladies strut around Como in barely-there negligees and Stewart flies down on the moon. Likewise, Como initially performs "Here Comes Heaven Again" as a simple ballad in front of the curtain early on; he reprises it towards the end with Blaine. "Dig You Later (A Hubba Hubba Hubba)" is Stewart and Como's spoof of hep cats and other 40's hipster types in a jazzy routine that actually became one of Como's first big hit songs. "Chico Chico" is Miranda's big Latin number with the chorus at the show.
What I Don't Like: For all the unique trappings, this is at heart a standard programmer just barely above B material. It's was Miranda's first film to not be in color, which is a bit of a surprise. The burlesque setting cries out for a bold rainbow palette. Blaine is too polished and classy to suggest a low stripper, and Como doesn't have much to do besides sing and get advice from O'Keefe on how to push his girlfriend around. Dunne is mainly around for eye candy and is just plain dull. In fact, the whole movie feels just a little too polished and "safe" for something set around the naughtiest of all mid-20th century American art forms.
The Big Finale: Too dull despite the unique setting to be for anyone but the most ardent Carmen Miranda and Perry Como fans.
Home Media: Look for the original 20th Century Fox Marquee Musicals DVD, either solo or as part of the Carmen Miranda Collection. The movie is in the public domain, and most of the copies currently streaming (including on Paramount Plus) are in terrible shape.
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