Tuesday, November 16, 2021

Shine On Harvest Moon

Warner Bros, 1944
Starring Dennis Morgan, Ann Sheridan, Jack Carson, and S.Z Sakall
Directed by David Butler
Music and Lyrics by Jack Norworth and others

Nora Bayes was one of the most popular vaudeville stars of the early 20th century. She introduced the title number during the very first Ziegfeld Follies in 1908 and was one of the earliest media celebrities. Her feminist views and mercurial temperament commanded headlines around the world. She married Norworth, the song's writer and a vaudevillian in his own right, shortly after. Bayes died of cancer in 1928, but she was well-remembered enough to command a nostalgic biography at the height of World War II. How well does it do bringing Bayes' life and her world of honky-tonks, vaudeville theaters, and buggy rides under harvest moons to the big screen? Let's start at one of those vaudeville theaters as magician The Great Georgetti (Carson) does his act and find out...

The Story: Up-and-coming songwriter and singer Jack Norworth (Morgan) first sees Nora Bayes (Sheridan) perform at a seedy nightclub when he's out on the town with Georgetti. She's the girlfriend of club owner Dan Costello (Robert Shayne), who keeps asking her to entertain big shots in order to wheedle more money for his theaters out of them. After she talks to Norworth and he gets jealous, she realizes she's had enough...especially after Norworth starts a bar brawl and she throws a brick through Dan's window and gets them arrested. They manage to sing their way out of it after the cops recognize them. A smitten Jack takes Nora home. 

Nora's badly shaken when her solo debut is hooted down by Costello's men, but Jack is undaunted. He convinces singer Blanche Mallory (Irene Manning) to perform as a duo with Nora in vaudeville. The act works for one night before Blanche gets angry over the blockbuster reaction to Nora's solo and quits. The producers still want Nora with a partner, so Jack convinces her marry him. They become wildly popular...but then find themselves blackballed out of show business when a still-jealous Costello buys up as many theaters as he can. Nora insists that Jack become Blanche's partner, but Blanche knows there's only one singer in Jack's life.

The Song and Dance: Where this one scores is in depicting the world of vaudeville in all its early 20th century glory - seal acts, sister acts, husband-wife teams, dancers, acrobats, magicians and their pretty assistants. The slightly seedy ambiance is more accurate and interesting than any of its melodramatic plot turns. Sheridan and Morgan do very well as the hot-tempered singer and the idealistic songwriter who knows they're at their best when they're together. Sakall is a flat-out delight as the older vaudeville scout who brings them back together, and ice-cold Manning does well as Nora's jealous rival. The costumes and sets are absolutely gorgeous and perfect for the time period, especially during the Technicolor Ziegfeld Follies finale. 

Favorite Number: We're introduced to Nora with the rest of the nightclub cast performing the lavish patriotic number "My Own United States," complete with Capitol backdrop and dancers in stars and stripes. Nora, Georgetti, and Norworth manage to avoid being tossed in the hoosegow by getting the cops at the precinct to join in on the catchy "It Looks Like a Big Night Tonight." Nora's touching "Time Waits for No One" is drowned out by Costello's men hooting it down in retaliation for her leaving him. Sheridan and Manning share the adorable medley "We're Doing Our Best" and "Don't Let the Rainy Days Get You," but Sheridan eclipses that with her robust performance Bayes first real-life hit, "How Can They Tell I'm Irish." 

She and Jack write "Shine On Harvest Moon" during a clip-clopping moonlit buggy ride. It's a preposterous depiction of songwriting that still manages to be fairly charming. We get another montage of Norworth hits, including the one he's probably best-remembered for today, "Take Me Out to the Ball Game," as the now-married couple climb the vaudeville catwalk ladder to success. Carson declares that his assistant Margie is "So Dumb but So Beautiful" when she drives him crazy during their act. 

The movie ends with a spotlight taking us into Technicolor and a reprise of the film's major songs, including the title number. As the Norworths drive along in a more elaborate buggy, Carson shows off Ziegfeld beauties dressed as harvest vegetables and we get a lively dance routine from a pack of slightly creepy scarecrows.

What I Don't Like: This is another "biography" with very little to do with reality. Nora Bayes apparently was married to Jack Norworth and may have written "Harvest Moon" with him, but they married after she had her huge success in the Follies, not before. She married five times, with two of them coming after she and Jack broke it off. Costello's silly and childish plot of buying theaters just to spite Nora is also a complete fabrication. In fact, Nora, Jack, and Ziegfeld are pretty much the only real people in the entire film. 

Oh, and TCM needs to throw money towards restoring this one. There were a lot of scratches and the copy seemed a bit blurry. The Technicolor looked much better, but those scarecrow costumes really were creepy. Speaking of the finale, that number and the movie in general goes on for way too long. Some of the duller melodrama in the second half with Costello buying theaters and blackballing them could have been trimmed with no one the wiser.

The Big Finale: That said, this is still an underrated charmer with some genuinely delightful numbers and performances. Highly recommended for fans of Sheridan, Morgan, or the musicals of the 1940's. 

Home Media: Sadly, this one can't be found anywhere but occasional TCM showings at the moment. 

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