Starring Dennis Morgan, Martha Vickers, Janis Paige, and Jack Carson
Directed by David Butler
Music by Arthur Schwartz; Lyrics by Leo Robin
In the late 1940's, crooner Dennis Morgan and jovial Jack Carson appeared together in a series of fluffy musicals and comedies that were big money-makers for Warners. This one ended up being their biggest money-maker of 1947, a smash Technicolor candy box that included several hit songs and a backstage plot somewhat resembling lighter Busby Berkeley. How does this light-as-air tale of a young opera singer who joins a musical comedy look nowadays? Let's begin at the Bamboo Club in New York, as snooty classical music agent Martin Drew (Donald Woods) storms in, and find out...
The Story: Drew wants the musicians at the Bamboo Club to stop playing because it bothers the performers he represents, Victoria Cassel (Vickers) and her grandparents, orchestra leader Ladislaus (S.Z Sakall) and opera diva Lucia (Florence Bates). It's really Lucia and Martin who protests. Lucia wants Victoria to become a great opera singer herself, but she's tired of being sequestered inside. She and her grandfather attend a performance at the club and very much enjoy it. Victoria even falls for Steve (Morgan), one of the singers and songwriters who works there. This doesn't please Steve's girlfriend Elaine (Angela Greene), who's been chatting up a Texan oil man (Alan Hale Jr.) in an attempt to get his backing for the club.
After Martin does manage to close the club, Steve, his partner Jeff Howard (Carson), and Jeff's girlfriend Sue Jackson (Paige) opt to turn the numbers into a Broadway show. Feeling guilty, Ladislaus agrees to back the show if Victoria stars. What he doesn't know his, his wife has control of the money...and Elaine, who took off with the Texan, returns and insists on starring in the show herself.
The Song and Dance: Adorable piece of fluff shows off Morgan and Carson to best advantage, especially in the numbers. Sakall also has a great time as the flustered orchestra leader who finds himself in way over his head backing a major Broadway show. This is also a relatively strong story for a backstage story, or at least, more of a story than most later backstagers of this era tend to have.
Favorite Number: Morgan croons the sole ballad, "Oh But I Do," when he's charming Victoria while dancing at the Bamboo Club. Unlikely cowboys Morgan and Carson court "A Gal In Calico" Vickers in a spoof of B westerns. The big hit "Rainy Night In Rio" finishes off the night as the two couples dodge the rain and describe all the things you can do during bad weather in Rio, including watching ruffle-clad Brazilian dancers perform a fantastic routine at a club.
Trivia: Cartoon fans may recognize "Rainy Night In Rio" as the number Bugs Bunny performs that keeps disrupting another opera singer, Giovanni Jones, in the classic Looney Tunes short "Long Haired Hare."
Vickers was dubbed by two different singers for the opera songs and showtunes.
Not related to the 1907 stage musical or lost 1929 early sound musical of the same title.
What I Don't Like: For once, the problem with a musical isn't too little plot, but way too much! More happens in the second half of this movie than it does in the entire running time of most other musicals. It's way too confusing, convoluted, and too fluffy for its own good. Vickers looks uncomfortable throughout and not really happy to be there, especially compared to the far more musically-inclined Paige.
Let's discuss "A Solid Citizen of the South." This is the big blackface number early on at the Bamboo Club. Admittedly, we get some great tap dancing by the Condos Brothers towards the end and the costumes are pretty nifty, but it's also awash in stereotypes.
The Big Finale: A surprising charmer if you love Morgan, Carson, or the big, bold Technicolor extravaganzas of the 1940's.
Home Media: DVD only from the Warner Archives.
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