The Jazz Singer (1927)

Warner Bros, 1927

Starring Al Jolson, May McAvoy, Warner Oland, and Eugenie Besserer

Directed by Alan Crosland

Music and Lyrics by various

Come with me this week, and explore the very first musicals on the silver screen. Experiments with melding film and sound go back almost to the dawn of cinema, but they weren't well-received until the 1920's. Warner Brothers took a chance on a series of sound short subjects. When those were successful, they added background scores and sound effects to feature-length films, using their Vitaphone process where the sound is recorded on a record, then played with the movie. This would be one of the first feature-length films with actual dialogue. Jolson wasn't the first choice for this tale of how a Jewish performer reconciles his culture and his love of popular music, but it's hard to see anyone else in this now. How does this look almost 100 years later? Let's begin with silent title cards explaining the central dilemma and find out...

The Story: Thirteen-year-old Jakie Robinwitz (Bobby Gordon) runs away when his strict orthodox cantor father (Oland) forbids him from singing popular music in beer gardens. Over a decade later, he's now Jack Robin (Al Jolson), a singer in local cafes. He's discovered by dancer Mary Dale (McAvoy), who insists on him appearing in the show where she's currently working, April Follies. He's a big hit, prompting him to return to his mother...but his father still disdains his singing "jazz" music. It isn't until his father's dying that Jack realizes where he belongs, and that he can be wholly Jewish and revel in his own kind of music, too.

The Song and Dance: The roots of The Jazz Singer go far deeper than it being one of the catalysts for getting dialogue on the big screen. You can see the foundation for everything from big star dramas like the many versions of A Star Is Born to biographies like last week's I Saw the Light in an embryonic form here. No wonder most critics praised Jolson's performance. While he's no actor, he is a personality. The screen lights up whenever he's there. The "Blue Skies" sequence, where he sings the Irving Berlin standard to his delighted mother, and the infamous "You ain't seen nothin' yet!" number near the end may be the best examples of his considerable talent. 

The Numbers: We open 13-year-old Jakie Robinwitz (Bobby Gordon) singing "Waiting for the Robert E. Lee" and "My Gal Sal," at the beer hall. The numbers so horrify the head of the temple's council (Otto Lederer) that he tells Jakie's parents what he's doing. The traditional Jewish song "Kol Nidre" is performed twice, by Cantor Rabinowitz (dubbed by a real Cantor, Rosenblatt) when he realizes he's lost his son, and later by Jakie when he realizes how much his religion is a part of his life. 

"Dirty Hands, Dirty Face" is his big number in the nightclub. The teary ballad prompts Mary to call him one of the few jazz singers who can elicit a tear along with a sigh. He's even more dynamic on his next number, leaping into "Toot Toot Tootsie Goodbye" with relish. The sequence where he talks to his mother while singing the Irving Berlin standard "Blue Skies" is likely the most famous now as the first dialogue sequence. He sings "Mother of Mine, I Still Have You" at the dress rehearsal and "My Mammy" at the actual performance in the Winter Garden.

Trivia: Jolson wasn't the studio's original choice for Jakie. The part was intended for the star of the original Broadway play George Jessel, but he wanted too much money and Jolson stepped in.

That's the real Winter Garden Jakie performs at during the finale. The Winter Garden still very much exists today, and in fact briefly became a movie theater shortly after this movie debuted. A revival of Mamma Mia! will be opening there this fall.

What I Don't Like: For all its influence, the melodramatic story hasn't really dated well at all. All of the actors pale besides Jolson and Oland as his strict father. Besserer doesn't have much to do besides look maternal (other than her slightly forced dialogue during the "Blue Skies" sequence), and McAvoy has even less as the lady who helps Jack become a success. It can all be a bit too much for many modern audiences, who may wonder what the fuss was about.

The Big Finale: No matter how dated this is or isn't, it's still history. Necessary viewing for cinema historians, musical fans, and major fans of Jolson and early talkie musicals.

Home Media: Easily found in all formats, including Tubi for free with commercials. The DVD is a three-disc set that also includes many sound shorts of the era. 

DVD

Blu-Ray

Tubi

Family Fun Saturday - Big Time Movie

Nickelodeon, 2012

Starring Big Time Rush (Kendall Schmidt, James Maslow, Carlos Pena Jr, and Logan Henderson), Trevor Devall, Ciara Bravo, and Challen Cates

Directed by Savage Steve Holland

Music and Lyrics by John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and others

Big Time Rush was Nickelodeon's answer to the Jonas Brothers at Disney, their boy band sitcom that would appeal to the teen girls and make their boyfriends laugh. They were inspired by The Monkees, an earlier sitcom about a fictional boy band who had wacky adventures. Although I'm not sure the band ever reached the heights of the Jonases or the Monkees, the show did run for four years on Nickelodeon and seemed to be fairly well-regarded by audiences and critics. This would be their only shot at something like a movie. Is it as much fun as the Beatles movies, or should it be left behind on the tour. Let's begin with the members of Big Time Rush as spies saving the world in member Carlos Garcia's (Pena) dreams and find out...

The Story: The members of Big Time Rush are excited to be on their first world tour, starting off in London. Their manager Gustavo (Stephan Kramer Glickman) and his assistant Kelly (Tanya Chisholm) would be happier if the boys just stayed in their hotel room and did nothing before their big show in Hyde Park. That proves to be nearly impossible when they discover a strange device in Kendall's (Schmidt) backpack. 

Turns out they accidentally switched backpacks at the airport with M16 agent Simon Lane (Christopher Shyer), who was captured by the henchmen of evil airline mogul Sir Atticus Moon (Devall). Lane's daughter Penny (Emma Lahana) recruits them to find him and retrieve the Beetle, a powerful anti-gravity device.  Meanwhile, Kendall's little sister Katie (Bravo) is obsessed with princesses, to the point of convincing their mother Mrs. Knight (Cates) to date a man who calls himself the Duke of Bath (Gerald Plunkett). When Moon kidnaps Katie, Carlos realizes his dream of becoming a Beatles-singing spy is coming true...and that dream may be the key to rescuing Katie and the Beetle from Moon's diabolical plans.

The Song and Dance: I'm not normally a fan of the teen cable sitcoms of the 2000's and 2010's, but if Big Time Rush is as much fun as this film, I might have to check it out. Everyone, including the boys, throw themselves into this delightfully absurd spoof of spy capers and British brevity. Director "Savage" Steve Holland did a series of equally wacky comedies in the 80's and is definitely in tune with the material. Even Cates and Bravo have fun with their royalty-skewering subplot, and Lahana and Shyler are a riot as the actual spies. 

The Numbers: We open with Carlos' spy dream, as Big Time Rush rescues a beautiful blonde princess to the tune of "Help!" "Can't Buy Me Love" is the first chase sequence, as Big Time Rush tries to avoid Moon's men on the streets of London, only to run into Penny Lane and her van. "We Can Work It Out" has Penny sneaking them into Hyde Park for their soundcheck in some fairly absurd costumes. The boys launch themselves into a "Revolution" as they invade Moon's mansion to rescue Katie (who is the "princess") and the Beetle device. They make a big arrival at the concert in M16 helicopters to perform "A Hard Day's Night" for the adoring teen girls in the crowd. They finish with what I presume to be their own "You Want the Party," a more generic boy band pop number. 

What I Don't Like: While you don't have to be a fan of the show to enjoy this movie, it does help to be a fan of the Beatles and/or absurd rock comedies like The Monkees TV show or the Beatles' Help! to get some of the jokes and humor. It's about as in-your-face, goofy, and obvious as you can get and isn't for someone looking for a more subtle satire. Katie's attempt to shove her mother at a guy she isn't interested in just so she can be a princess can get a little grating after a while. (It's also pretty obvious this was a low-budget TV film and wasn't filmed anywhere near London. It looks like they're in generic sets that could be anywhere for most of the movie.)

The Big Finale: Nickelodeon really should dive into the musical genre more often. All of their attempts at the genre have been delights, and this one is no exception. Highly recommended for fans of spy capers or rock satire, even if they haven't seen Big Time Rush. 

Home Media: Currently on DVD with Nick's other big 2012 musical Rags and on Paramount Plus with a subscription.

DVD - Rags/Big Time Movie

Paramount Plus

I Saw the Light

Sony Pictures Classics/Sony, 2015

Starring Tom Hiddleston, Elizabeth Olsen, Cherry Jones, and Maddie Hasson

Directed by Marc Abraham

Music and Lyrics by Hank Williams and others

The other country music star we're looking at this week has a far more tragic history. Hank Williams was one of the most influential names in country music during the 40's and early 50's. His songs sold in the thousands, his concerts were legendary, and many of his songs continue to be recorded, revived, and analyzed to this day. His life, however...well, that was more of a mess. Let's begin with Williams' former songwriting partner and publisher Fred Rose (Bradley Whitford), who'll explain to us just how messy Williams' life got...

The Story: We begin near the end of World War II, as country radio star Hank Williams (Hiddleston) and divorcee Audrey Sheppard (Olsen) are about to get married by a justice of the peace. Audrey is a part of his act and band at first, but they get complaints that she's not as good as he is. Hank's mother Lillie (Jones) doesn't like Audrey, partially because she manages the band along with singing. 

As it turns out, Lillie has a point about the marriage. Despite them having a child, Hank Williams Jr, it's rocky from the start. Even as Williams is praised as a genius and becomes one of the biggest stars on the Grand Ol' Opry, his constantly being on the road and dealing with pain from a bad back leads to multiple affairs and heavily abusing drugs and alcohol. 

By 1952, even as he was in talks with MGM about a role in their upcoming musical Small Town Girl, his performances are beginning to suffer. Audrey divorces him; the Opry fires him due to his constantly missing shows. He gets a spark of hope when he marries 19-year-old Billie Jean Jones (Hasson), but his health has already deteriorated, to the point where his much-vaunted tour around Christmas and New Year's ends up being his last.

The Song and Dance: Hiddleston and Olsen are the main reasons to watch this tepid biography. They apparently worked hard to get the mannerisms and accents for their characters right, and it paid off. Hiddleston nails Williams, a charming, hard-working man who ultimately succumbs to his pain and demons, with Olsen nearly matching him as the wife who's had enough of his drinking and womanizing. Hiddleston does his own singing, and does it well, sounding reasonably like Williams and doing justice to several of his best-known songs.

The Numbers: We open with Hiddleston, in a simple yellow spotlight, performing one of Williams' best-known ballads over the credits, "Cold Cold Heart." He and the Saddle Spring Boys sing "Honky Tonkin'" in, appropriately, a down-home western honky-tonk bar. Audrey's "Blues Come Around" is less well-received. They do better recording "Movin' On Over" in Nashville. We see the tail end of Hank's radio show as Audrey joins them for the railroad-themed "Pan American." Williams and the Saddle Spring Boys are briefly seen recording "Lovesick Blues," which he gets to sing in full when he finally gets on the Grand Ol' Opry. 

"Santa Baby" is heard in the background at the Christmas party that Hank spends drunkenly playing with his garage door opener.Hank's introduced by another country legend, Roy Acuff, before he and the Saddle Spring Boys launch into "Hey Good Lookin'."  His second Opry number is the lively ballad "Why Don't You Love Me?" right before he meets Billie Jean for the first time. He sings "Your Cheatin' Heart" for the girl at her home. The cast of the concert Williams was supposed to be at when he died sings "I Saw the Light" in tribute. The movie ends with Williams' "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" over the credits.

What I Don't Like: Even more than Walk the Line, this is a tepid mess of cliches you've seen a million times in biographical musicals going back to the dawn of sound. The unfocused script and dull direction doesn't help there. It's also very dark. Williams' death at a young age puts this more in line with later stories of musicians who succumbed to fame like The Doors. This is not for people looking for a more uplifting or cheerful story. And frankly, the black-and-white interview sequences with Rose simply weren't necessary. They should have let Williams' story unfold naturally. 

The Big Finale: Mainly recommended for Hiddleston and Olsen's sterling performances if you're a major fan of the stars or Hank Williams. Everyone else is probably better off looking for Williams' real-life recordings instead.

Home Media: Easily found in all formats. 

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Blu-Ray

Amazon Prime

Walk the Line

20th Century Fox, 2005

Starring Joaquin Phoenix, Reece Witherspoon, Ginnifer Goodwin, and Robert Patrick

Directed by James Mangold

Music and Lyrics by Johnny Cash and others

Having explored classic rock legends last month, this week, we're going to dive into the country scene with three of the most beloved performers in country music. This one goes back to Cash and Carter appearing on the TV show Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman in 1993. Enamored with film, Cash wanted to get his life story onscreen. Even after a series of interviews in 1997, it wasn't until 2001 when they had a script ready and were able to sell it to Fox. It was a huge hit in 2005, but how does it look now, after many similar music biographies have come and gone? Let's start with Cash (Phoenix) and his legendary concert at Folsom State Prison and find out...

The Story: Johnny grows up in rural Arkansas with his mother Carrie (Shelby Lynne), his abusive father Ray (Patrick), and his sisters and his brother Jack (Lucas Till). After Jack dies in a saw mill accident while Johnny goes fishing, Ray blames his youngest son for his death. Tired of the abuse, Johnny enlists in the Air Force in 1950. He's not much of a pilot, but he does write the song "Folsom Prison Blues" while in West Germany. 

After he gets back to the US, he marries his girlfriend Vivian (Goodwin) and gets a job as a door to door salesman after they move to Memphis, Tennessee. He proves to be far more successful when he forms a gospel band, the Tennessee Two, and auditions for Sun Records. They take him after he plays "Folsom Prison Blues." The song is such a success, they send the Two out on tour with legends like Elvis Prestley (Tyler Hilton) and Jerry Lee Lewis (Waylon Payne), giving Johnny his first taste of celebrity.

It also introduces him to June Carter (Witherspoon), a pretty, perky fellow country singer touring with her family. He falls for her right away, but she's a lot warier of him. He starts heavily abusing drugs and alcohol, and Vivian is all too aware of why Johnny keeps insisting on touring with June. He even ends up in prison for six months after a trip to Mexico to pick up more drugs. Vivian's had enough and divorces him, and even June's fed up. Johnny buys a home in Tennessee to be near June, but she's not sure she's ready to put on that "Ring of Fire." Even after Johnny records his famous Folsom Prison album, she keeps turning him down...until he tells her onstage that he can't make music without her.

The Song and Dance: Exemplary performances highlight this tale of rise and redemption through one of the greatest romances in country music. Phoenix and Witherspoon put in pitch-perfect performances as the troubled "Man In Black" and the smart lady who loves him and his music, especially when showing his dark side and drug addiction. That they did their own singing - and very well - adds layers to the authenticity. Patrick is the only one who gets near them as Cash's disapproving father, who never forgave Johnny for the loss of his favored son. Pitch-perfect costumes and sets and James Mangold's dynamic direction beautifully depict the rural Southeast and Nashville in the 50's and 60's. 

The Numbers: Our first song is appropriately, Johnny's first song. He first conceives "Folsom Prison Blues" while stationed in West Germany. It's not until that audition for Sun records that we hear the full version. He's attracted to Sun Records after hearing a band play "Don't Leave Me This Way." Jerry Lee Lewis (Waylon Payne) shows off his piano dexterity with his "Lewis Boogie" at the tour concert. June fakes laryngitis so Johnny gets a chance to sing "Cry Cry Cry" and impress the audience. Johnny's thrilled when none other than Roy Orbison (Johnathan Rice) sings "You're My Baby."  June finally gets onstage with her perky "Jukebox Blues."

Johnny successfully gives the new rock sound a shot with "Rock n' Roll Ruby," which really gets all those girls in the audience moving...but even he can't compare to a young Elvis Prestley (Tyler Hilton) tearing up the stage with "That's All Right." After Johnny's "Home of the Blues," he insists that June join him for "Time's a Waistin'." June protests at first - she recorded it with her ex-husband - but they have so much fun together, soon, even she's into the charming song.  The title song provides the backdrop for a montage depicting Johnny's success, his feelings about June, and his buying a house for his family. 

June pours her own frustrations with Johnny and her failed relationships into the traditional folk song "Wildwood Flower" at their concert. She joins Johnny for the uptempo Bob Dylan ballad "It Ain't Me, Babe." Johnny's drug habits finally catch up with him when he passes out while performing "Folsom Prison Blues" at Las Vegas. Inspired by her problems with Johnny and their relationship, June writes the classic ballad "Ring of Fire." Realizing that many of his fans are prisoners, Johnny records his classic live album at the real Folsom Prison, dressed all in black and singing "Cocaine Blues." The movie ends with him singing her "Ring of Fire," and insisting that they perform "Jackson" together.

Trivia: Witherspoon won Best Actress at the Oscars. Phoenix was nominated for Best Actor and won a Golden Globe.

What I Don't Like: There's a reason this would later be parodied by Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. This is about as typical of a rise and fall biography as you can get, though the focus on Johnny and June's romance does give it an interesting wrinkle. Most of the other characters aren't around long enough for you to know them like the leads; Goodwin's role as Johnny's first wife, who wants him to focus on family above else, is slightly underwritten. 

The Big Finale: If you're a fan of classic country or rock music, Cash and/or Carter, or either of the stars, you owe it to yourself to check out this searing look at how "The Man In Black" met and got together with the true love of his life.

Home Media: Easily available on all formats. I reviewed the extended version, which has an extra 16 minutes of footage. 

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Blu-Ray

Amazon Prime - Extended Cut

Happy Memorial Day! - Panama Hattie

MGM, 1942

Starring Ann Sothern, Red Skelton, Dan Dailey, and Virginia O'Brien

Directed by Norman Z. McLeod

Music and Lyrics by Cole Porter and others

We salute our men and women who fought and died on the high seas with this wartime hit. It started out on Broadway in 1940 as a popular vehicle for Ethel Merman, with music by Cole Porter. The start of World War II suddenly made its story about a nightclub singer and three sailors who get caught up in spy intrigue and her romance with a wealthy soldier even more relevant. How does all this look today? Let's start with an opening card admitting that the gobs in this movie get pretty goofy and find out...

The Story: Those three sailors who burst through the card, Red (Skelton), Rags (Rags Ragland), and Rowdy (Ben Blue), are huge fans of nightclub singer Hattie Mahoney (Southern). They're also convinced that spies are lurking around every corner. Hattie is in love with rich soldier Sgt. Dick Bullard (Dailey). She gets off on the wrong foot with his 8-year-old daughter Geraldine (Jackie Horner) when Gerry laughs at her ribbon-trimmed suit, but she soon makes friends with the child. 

Hattie has a harder time with Lelia Tree (Marsha Hunt), the snooty socialite who is also after Dick. After Red gets two notes mixed up, Lelia angrily accuses Hattie of putting him up to it. Hattie insists Dick loves her, but after Lelia claims Hattie will just be in his way, she insists on leaving town. Hattie's sailor friends discover that the empty house mentioned in the first note may be the clue to the location of the spies they've been looking for...and their way of keeping Hattie around long enough to marry the right man.

The Song and Dance: Brief but charming. Despite Southern playing the title character, this one is really dominated by the three sailor comics. Skelton had some of his earliest exposure at MGM as the leader of the three, showing off the wacky pratfalls and babyish voices that would become his trademarks in later years. Southern does best playing off them and doing the sweet "Let's Be Buddies" with the adorable Horner. Virginia O'Brian has the most fun of the supporting cast as Hattie's best friend Flo, who gets to chase Dick's proper British butler Jay Jerkins (Alan Mobray). 

The Numbers: We open in the nightclub with the chorus singing about "Hattie From Panama" and Hattie's sailors admiring how she performs the hit from this show, "I've Still Got My Health." The instrumental "Berry Me Not" lets the trio of Berry Brothers take command of the floor with their show-stopping tap routine. Lena Horne gets another Porter standard, the breezy "Just One of Those Things," later at the club. Flo sings the Porter patter number "Fresh as a Daisy" to explain her feelings for Jay. The trio of soldiers woo three pretty Panama lasses by insisting that they're all "Good Neighbors."

The last Porter song that made it into the film is "Let's Be Buddies." Hattie initially sings it with Gerry as they admit they got off on the wrong foot and want to start their relationship over. Flo picks it up as she grabs Jay and says she wants a relationship with him, period. The film ends with a band playing "Hail, Hail, the Gang's All Here" as the sailors are saluted as heroes. Flo sings "Did I Get Stinkin' At the Savoy" at the nightclub, while Lena Horne and the Berrys introduce the audience to the South American dance number "The Sping." The film ends abruptly with the sudden burst of patriotism from Hattie and the cast, "The Son of a Gun Who Picks On Uncle Sam."

Trivia: Panama Hattie opened on Broadway in 1940 as a vehicle for Ethel Merman. The story seems to have been pretty much the same as the film, other than Hattie got more involved in helping the sailors capture the spies in the finale. Merman would do a second version for the short-lived TV show The Best of Broadway in 1954. Other than a few scattered staged concerts, Hattie has seldom been heard from since.

What I Don't Like: There's a reason for that. Hattie may be the quintessential 40's musical comedy...and as such, hasn't dated well beyond the end of World War II. Southern tries hard and is cute with Horner, but is otherwise no Merman. The three sailors dominate the action to such a degree, they pretty much crowd out everything else, including the love story between Hattie and her soldier. Dailey was at the start of his career and wouldn't really come into his own as a dancer and actor for another five years. Neither he nor Lena Horne (who is certainly capable of doing more than singing two songs) have much to do. There's also the loss of the full Porter score. I did hear it wasn't his best, but it would have been nice to have more songs that actually came with the show.

The Big Finale: Cute time-waster this holiday weekend if you're a huge fan of Skelton or 40's musicals, but nothing you really need to go out of your way for.

Home Media: Easily found on DVD and streaming, the former in a remastered edition from the Warner Archives. 

DVD

Amazon Prime

Let's Dance

Paramount, 1950

Starring Betty Hutton, Fred Astaire, Roland Young, and Ruth Warrick

Directed by Norman Z. McLeod

Music and Lyrics by Frank Loesser  

There were high hopes for this one in 1950. Astaire just had a major hit with Easter Parade two years before; Hutton got the lead in Annie Get Your Gun after Judy Garland bowed out. Songwriter Frank Loesser had hits with the Oscar-winning "Baby It's Cold Outside" from Neptune's Daughter and the wildly popular Guys and Dolls on Broadway. Paramount tossed them all into this unusually dark story about a comedienne who desperately wants to keep her son and gets help from her former dance partner. Is it still meaningful today, or should it be taken away? Let's begin with Hutton in full belting mode, singing for the troops during World War II, and find out...

The Story: Don Elwood (Astaire) thinks Kitty O'Neil (Hutton) is going to marry him, but she ends up wed to a handsome and wealthy soldier. Five years later, the solider is dead after being shot down. Lively Kitty lives with his family, raising his son Richard (Gregory Moffat), but feels constrained by his disapproving family. Snooty Aunt Serena (Luclile Watson) wants Richard to stay with them, but Kitty won't give up her last line to her soldier and insists he stay with her.

Fed up with Serena's meddling, Kitty flees to New York with Richard. Don gets Kitty a job as a cigarette girl at the nightclub where he works. To Kitty's horror, Serena has sent two lawyers to get Richard back from her. Don takes her on as his partner to give her more stable employment. The lawyers are concerned by all the time Richard spends backstage and away from school, but the nightclub staff admit they have no trouble keeping an eye on him. Don once again tries to get her married, but it ends with them fighting and Kitty falling for another rich man, Timothy Bryant (Sheppard Strudwick). After Don ends the wedding and Serena gets Richard back, Kitty takes off with the boy yet again...but this time, Don has the means to make Serena understand how much the boy means to all of them, and to get Kitty to see how much they all mean to each other.

The Song and Dance: An unusually thoughtful musical for this era, with Hutton making a wonderful mother. She's hilarious with Moffatt, especially when he asks her where she's going and she exclaims "Crazy!" (My mother used to say the same thing to my siblings and me.) The story of a mother's devotion and how found families are often far kinder and more supportive than our actual ones is surprisingly heartfelt, and even a little dark, despite Hutton's noisy antics. Watson and Barton MacLane stand out among the supporting cast as the frigid aunt who thinks she knows best - or better than Kitty - and the owner of the nightclub who is as surprised as anyone when he gets attached to the kid.

The Numbers: We start off with Hutton doing what she does best, blaring the rapid-fire patter number "Can't Stop Talking About Him" while accompanied by an air raid siren - and more than matching its wail. Astaire comes out later for a more romantic dance. He has a creative solo number where he glides around the piano during a rehearsal in the nightclub that's by far his best moment. Richie is delighted to hear his stocks and bonds-based rendition of "Jack and the Beanstalk." 

The hilarious "Oh Them Dudes" has Hutton and Astaire dressed as cowpokes and clowning while complaining how TV made their do-se-dos look all fancy-fied. Hutton tries to be seductive to Timothy, insisting "Why Fight This Feeling?" The film ends with the charming "Tunnel of Love," as Kitty and Don come together in the nightclub for this charming seaside-based dance routine.

What I Don't Like: The story is honestly a little too dark and complex for a light-hearted musical. The courtroom scenes and stuffy lawyers bog down a lot of the middle section and turn what should have been a fun romp into an almost two-hour slog. Astaire could have had more to do than one solo and the brief "Jack" routine. This is really Hutton's show. Frank Loesser's score is charming but hardly among his best work. And to tell the truth, Hutton's brash and forceful personality really doesn't fit all that well with the more charming and graceful Astaire. They dance all right together, but her pushiness and neediness crowds out his elegance. 

The Big Finale: Worth seeing once for some decent numbers alone if you're a fan of either star and have time on your hands.

Home Media: Easily found on streaming and disc; just released on Blu-Ray from Kino Lorber.

DVD

Blu-Ray

Amazon Prime

The Stork Club

Paramount, 1945

Starring Betty Hutton, Barry Fitzgerald, Robert Benchley, and Don DeFore

Directed by Hal Walker

Music and Lyrics by various

This week, we explore the career of brash comedienne Betty Hutton with two of her lesser-known vehicles. The Stork Club in New York was more than just a nightclub. From 1929 until its closing in 1965, it was where the elite mixed and mingled, where the beautiful people danced the night away to lively big band music under the watchful eye of owner Sherman Billingsley. It was so well-regarded in this era as a symbol of wealth and status, maybe it was inevitable that a movie would be made around it. How does the story of a humble hat check girl working at the Club who comes into sudden wealth look nowadays, with the real-life Club long-gone? Let's begin with a kindly old gentleman (Fitzgerald) in rumpled clothing ruminating about how his life has taken a bad turn and find out...

The Story: Brash Judy Peabody (Hutton) jumps into the water to rescue the gentleman after he accidentally falls off. Turns out the gentleman is millionaire J.B Bates, who was lost in gloomy thoughts about his wife Edith (Mary Young) leaving him. She thinks he's a tramp and offers him a job at the Stork Club. He doesn't do well as a busboy, but he's still so impressed with her compassion, he has his lawyer Curtis (Benchley) anonymously set her up with an unlimited line of credit and a big, beautiful new apartment. She and her best friend Gwen (Iris Adrian) go on a buying spree, grabbing furs when it's too hot to wear them and buying everything in the dress store. 

Judy's boyfriend Danny (DeFore), who has just returned from the war, doesn't like this one bit. He likes it even less when she offers the apartment next to hers to him and his band. He thinks she has a sugar daddy on the side. She just wants to sing with his band. He's even more suspicious when she thinks J.D is homeless and lets him live with her. After she finally figures out who gave her the money and why Danny is angry, she takes it on herself to bring J.D back with Edith...and teach everyone involved, including Danny, a lesson in love, trust, and communication.

The Song and Dance: With a story that slight, the songs - and Hutton's wild delivery of them - are the highlights here. The songs really are charming ("Doctor, Lawyer, Indiana Chief" became a pop hit), and Fitzgerald is so adorably rumpled as the lost old millionaire looking for someone to support, you can understand why Judy's heart went out to him. Mary Young is equally adorable as his sweet wife who is far tougher than she looks, and Adrian revels in her sarcastic wisecracks as Judy's supportive friend who both questions the bounty and eagerly shares in it. Hutton's obviously having a ball as the kind-hearted singer and hat check girl whose well-meaning aid to a nice old man gets her into more trouble than she ever would have believed.

The Numbers: Judy's first number with the band at the Stork Club highlights her raucous spirit. "Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief" describes how she doesn't care what the guy she loves does, as long as they love each other. It's a lively number with members of the band acting as chorus boys. We don't get another song until she's rehearsing with Danny's band at their new apartment, but it's the similar "I'm a Square In the Social Circle," reflecting her attitudes towards the upper crust who mostly patronize the Stork Club. 

J.B requests "In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree," a favorite waltz of his and Edith's. It's performed again in the end when Judy gets him and Edith back together. Her performance of the ballad "I'll Have a Dozen Hearts" isn't appreciated by an angry Danny. She sings it with male band singer Andy Russell later. Russell also gets a solo on another ballad, "Love Me."

What I Don't Like: The story is, as Irishman Fitzgerald would likely say, a load of malarkey. It's silly piffle that mainly serves as an excuse for Hutton to play off Fitzgerald and raise the roof with the band. Danny comes off as a grouchy, ungrateful jerk who won't even try to listen to his girlfriend when he's nice to her and gives him a place for his band to work. Doesn't help that Hutton has little chemistry with DeFore - she's more believably compassionate with Fitzgerald and Adrian than with him. 

The Big Finale: Harmless watch on a spring afternoon if you're a fan of Hutton or 40's musicals.

Home Media: It's in the public domain, so you can find it anywhere. It's currently free on Tubi, but in a substandard print.

DVD

Tubi