Thursday, September 2, 2021

Wabash Avenue

20th Century Fox, 1950
Starring Betty Grable, Victor Mature, Phil Harris, and Reginald Gardiner
Directed by Henry Koster
Music by Josef Myrow and others; Lyrics by Mack Gordon and others

We're staying at Fox and with late 19th-early 20th century nostalgia for our next film. Originally intended to be the life story of songwriter Gus Kahn, Fox turned this into a remake of the 1943 Betty Grable vehicle Coney Island when that fell through. How does this version of the tale, about a huckster who turns a honky tonk singer into a classy lady, look now? Let's begin on bustling Wabash Avenue in 1892 Chicago, as con man Andy Clark (Mature) strolls into his old buddy's bar, and find out...

The Story: Andy wants his part of the dance hall and pub he and Mike Stanley (Harris) began several years ago, but Mike refuses to let him in. He's also interested in Mike's blousy girlfriend and the lead singer at the bar, Ruby Summers (Grable). In order to get revenge, Andy first shoves his way into a job as the pianist, to Ruby's annoyance, then encourages temperance leader Tillie Hutch (Margaret Hamilton) and her militant ladies to destroy the music hall. Harrigan (James Barton), the Irish drunk who hangs around the music hall, is hurt in the ensuing melee. Andy convinces Mike and Ruby's he's dead and uses this information to go into business at the Chicago's World's Fair. Ruby's eventually sited by Oscar Hammerstein (the First) as a major star, which would take them all to New York...but then Harrigan returns...

The Song and Dance: Mature and Grable show a lot of sparks in their fourth and last film together. Harris gets a few nice bits on his own, especially when Mature cuts in front of him on the Ferris Wheel and he ends up almost proposing to a sailor. Hamilton's hilarious leading the women from fighting for the vote to tearing up Mike's music hall after they see two women dragged out and Andy claims they're virtuous and are doing this for family. While not as fabulous as in Coney Island, the colorful costumes and sets still do well in representing the Chicago and New York of 120 years ago, especially the special effects as they ride the Wheel.

Favorite Number: We open with Ruby and the chorus girls wiggling and swinging to "On the Wabash" in the music hall. Ruby wows with a golden fringed leotard that matches her famous golden legs as she shows why "I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate." Harrigan does a charming drunk soft-shoe to the Irish ballad "I've Been Floating Down the Old Green River." Ruby and the chorus girls also ask "May I Tempt You With a Big Red Apple?" as they try to hand fruit out to the audience before the melee. The big number is the Oscar-nominated "Wilhelmina," with Grable and the chorus girls frolicking under frilly parasols as the boys in top-hats try to keep Grable's away from her.

Trivia: Richard Widmark and Paul Douglas were originally set for the leading men roles. 

What I Don't Like: While Mature is an improvement on dull George Montgomery from Coney Island, Harris is too funny and amiable to be as smarmy as the script wants him to be. He's certainly not as much of a cad as Caesar Romero. Despite the Oscar-nomination for "Wilhelmina," the score is cute but not terribly memorable. There's also the obviously twice-told story. And I still think Ruby would have done better to dump both guys - they still use everyone around them. 

The Big Finale: Coney Island's gritty tone makes it slightly better, but this one has its charms too. If you're a Grable fan, get both of them and see for yourself which you prefer. 

Home Media: Another one that's only on DVD via the 20th Century Fox Cinema Archive.

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