Starring Jane Powell, Ann Sothern, Carmen Miranda, and Barry Sullivan
Directed by Robert Z. Leonard
Music and Lyrics by various
Powell started at MGM in the mid-40's as their answer to the opera-singing teen sensation Deanna Durbin at Universal. MGM had such high hopes for Powell's stardom, several of her early vehicles were remakes of Durbin's films, including this one. Carmen Miranda, whose florid World War II stardom was on the wane in a less flowery post-war world, also dropped in for this tale of a mother and daughter who love the same man. How does it look today? Let's start backstage at a Broadway theater as major star Frances Elliott (Southern) finishes the run of her latest show and find out...
The Story: Frances and her father Gregory (Louis Calhern) travel to Rio to rehearse lines for a part in a play she hopes to get. Playwright Ricardo Dominngos (Fortunio Bonanova) sees Nancy in a stock company operetta and is so impressed, he offers the part to her. Hoping to surprise her mother and grandfather, she takes a ship to Rio.
On board, she meets the handsome businessman Paul Berten (Sullivan) and his feisty partner Maria Rodrigues (Miranda). Berten overhears her rehearsing lines from the play where her character is pregnant and mistakenly thinks she's pregnant. He proposes to her in order to get an overeager young man off her back, but she takes it for real. After she arrives in Brazil and learns her mother is also after the part, she accepts his proposal...but then Frances falls for him, and he for her.
The Song and Dance: Charming performances and the believable mother-daughter chemistry between Sothern and Powell bump this up over the very similar Powell vehicle from two years before, Luxury Liner. The characters - including well-meaning Nancy herself - are a lot more pleasant, and Miranda's Latin-flavored numbers are a heck of a lot more fun than the operatic songs from the previous film. There's also ravishing Technicolor sets that pop against the many glitter and gossamer New Look gowns.
Favorite Number: We open with Southern and the chorus in enormous bell-skirted ruffled gowns performing the ballad "Time and Time Again" in her closing operetta vehicle. Nancy realizes how badly she envies her mother's success with their lovely duet to "Shine On Harvest Moon." Powell and her boyfriend Scotty (Scotty Beckett) join their youthful operetta cast for the spirited title number. Miranda gets two big numbers, the less elaborate "Yipsee-I-O" on board the ship with several Latin dancers, and the more colorful and elaborate Baiao (Ca-room Pa Pa) at Carnival with dancing clowns, a man covered in umbrellas, and Miranda sporting her trademark huge bright hat. Nancy gets the finale, "Love Is Like This," dancing with the male chorus in a bright pink gown at her show as, in a reverse of the opening, her mother and Paul look on.
Trivia: Remake of 1938 Deanna Durbin film It's a Date.
A second number for Powell, Beckett, and the teens, "Mention My Name In Sheboygan," was cut from the final film and partially survives.
What I Don't Like: The story hasn't dated well in either version. The way Barry acts with Nancy on the ship seems a wee bit creepy, whether he thinks she's pregnant or not. No wonder she took the proposal seriously. It's really a lightweight excuse to let Powell and Southern sing and Carmen Miranda clown in crazy color with a Latin chorus.
The Big Finale: Worth checking out for the numbers alone if you're a fan of the three leading ladies or the musicals of the 1940's and 50's.
Home Media: DVD only from the Warner Archives.
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