Starring Jane Powell, Wendell Corey, Danielle Darrieux, and Vic Damone
Directed by Norman Taurog
Music and Lyrics by various
Let's celebrate a day for dads with this story of a dad, a daughter, and their eventful trip to Paris. Powell specialized in these little-miss-fix-it vehicles at MGM in the mid-late 40's like Luxury Liner and Holiday In Mexico that had her trying to help her father find love while often finding it herself. This would be the last of those movies...but this time, she's grown up enough that the focus is really on her romance with a handsome Frenchman. How does her dad, who has already had a bad marriage with a Frenchwoman, react? Let's begin at the Texas ranch home of Jim Staunton Rogers (Corey) and his daughter Elizabeth (Powell) as they prepare for their Paris trip and find out...
The Story: Jim is in Paris on a business trip, and is taking Elizabeth with him. He's hoping she won't run into the mother she's never met. He told her she's dead, but she's really singer Marie Devarone (Darrieux). They fell for each other in 1927, but Marie decided she was homesick for France and walked out. Marie has moved on and is now dating her co-star, Paul Sarnac (Fernado Lamas). Elizabeth falls for the handsome Frenchman Andre Milan (Damone), and the two claim they'll marry. Marie and Paul encourage their romance, but Jim had been burned by one French lover and doesn't want his daughter to go through the same.
The Song and Dance: Powell and Darrieux anchor this sweet small-scale musical romance as the young woman who experiences her first real romance in the City of Light. Darrieux had been a star in French films of the 30's and 40's, and she brings that real-life experience to her role as the glamorous singer who just couldn't give up Paris to be a simple Texas farm wife. Look for Hans Conried as a fussy waiter and Una Merkel as Jim's loyal secretary who is supposed to be keeping an eye on Elizabeth.
Favorite Number: We open with father and daughter singing about their trip to "Paris"; Lamas reprises it later in the nightclub. Jim requests that the strolling gypsy band sings "Deep In the Heart of Texas"...which they attempt to do quite charmingly. His daughter joins in to help them out. The ensemble dance routine "Tonight for Sure" has Darrieux waltzing with French partners...before overly enthusiastic American military men try to join in with their too-fast two steps. Darrieux gets the slower ballad "Dark Is the Night" later, when Elizabeth comes to see her sing one last time. She performs the old standard "There's Danger In Your Eyes, Cherie" for Jim in 1927 after he's admitted he's smitten with her.
Powell and Damone get to ladle their instruments into three extensive duets. The sweet "Wonder Why" was nominated for an Oscar. "I Can See You" also wound up being a hit at the time. Darrieux and Lamas initially sing "We Never Talk Much," about the joys of just being together, but it's picked up by Damone and Powell later as they admit their love, to her father's chagrin. They get the lively "The Old Piano Roll Blues" at her father's home. "How'd Ya Like Your Eggs In the Morning" has Damone joining four singing chefs at the club - the vocal group The Four Kingsmen - for a cute novelty number.
Trivia: Darrieux's first American movie since the 1938 film The Rage of Paris.
What I Don't Like: Everything else is as bland as the film's paint-by-the-numbers title and forgettable songs. First of all, the plot is a little too convoluted. It's very hard to believe that Elizabeth wouldn't have run into some evidence of her mother's existence at some point, like a birth certificate, especially since Marie never changed her name. Second, Corey is abrasive and annoying as Elizabeth's suspicious father, and Damone (who never did become much of an actor) is dull in his first role. While the cast feels quite French, the obvious studio backdrops and sets haven't a drop of French flavor in them.
The Big Finale: Not Powell's best movie, but worth seeing at least once for some decent numbers if you're a fan of her or Darrieux.
Home Media: On streaming and DVD, the latter as one of the earliest Warner Archives titles.
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