Musicals On TV - Anything Goes (1954)

NBC, 1954
Starring Ethel Merman, Frank Sinatra, Bert Lahr, and Sheree North
Directed by Sid Smith
Music and Lyrics by Cole Porter

We debark from the romantic Grecian isles to take a cruise to London in the 1920's. This is an early live TV version of the Cole Porter show, which had been a big hit with Merman in 1934 on Broadway. The Colgate Comedy Hour did this as a "special" in 1954, the only pairing of Merman and Sinatra. How does this tale of mistaken identity on the high seas look today? Let's head to the docks, where the ship is about to set sail, and find out...

The Story: In the 1920's, stage star Reno Sweeney (Merman) takes a cruise to London to marry her stuffy aristocratic fiancee, Sir Evelyn Oakleigh (Arthur Gould Porter). She's followed by her ex-boyfriend Harry Dane (Sinatra), who badly wants her back. Meanwhile, Moonface Martin (Lahr), the fifth most wanted hood in America, and his bubbly blond girlfriend Bonnie (North) are also on the boat, avoiding the police and trying to move up to the fourth most wanted. Moonface is disguised as a missionary after he got the real one (Nestor Palva) arrested. Harry ends up with the ID of the number one most wanted gangster in America and seeks help from Moonface to avoid the cops, while trying to make his case with a reluctant Reno.

The Song and Dance: I suspect this is the closest most people would get to see a live version of this onstage until the rise of YouTube. Despite being streamlined, the story is still closer to the Broadway show than either of the film versions. Lahr revels in the intimacy of the small screen, mugging and joking and having a ball. The glittery costumes for the most part nicely reflect the glamour of sea travel during the Roaring 20's, with North and most of the women wriggling in beads and sequins and Merman resplendent in several furs.

Not to mention, there's the simple history involved in seeing a big TV musical from the 1950's, since many live productions from the time recorded on kinetoscopes have been lost.

Favorite Number: The show kicks off nicely with Merman performing the title song to explain the lunacy of the era. She and Bert Lahr have a lot of fun with "Friendship," and her "You're the Top" with Sinatra isn't bad, either. Sinatra's best solo is "All Through the Night" when he's in the brig; Merman's best solo moment is the rousing "Blow, Gabriel Blow" (which becomes a plot point when she uses it to point out Sinatra hiding among the guests).

Trivia: Merman was Reno Sweeney in the original Broadway production in 1934, with stage comedians William Gaxton and Victor Moore as her co-stars. The show would be revived off-Broadway in 1962, and successfully on Broadway twice, in 1987 with Patti LuPone as Reno, and in 2011 with Sutton Foster in the role.

Every version of Anything Goes since the original has added songs from his lesser-known shows of the 20's and 30's. This one includes "You Do Something to Me" from Fifty Million Frenchmen, "Just One of Those Things" from Jubilee, and "Friendship" from DuBarry Was a Lady.

Speaking of DuBarry, Merman and Lahr first performed together in the original 1939 Broadway cast of that show.

What I Don't Like: There's a reason this would be the only time Merman and Sinatra appeared together. They have no chemistry whatsoever, making Billy and Reno's constantly being pulled apart and thrown together even less believable. Their singing and performance styles are totally different; it's not as obvious in the comic "You're the Top," but their attempts at ballads in a reprise of "I Get a Kick Out of You" and "You Do Something To Me" have all the heat of two dead fish. The condensed show combines Reno with the ingenue role...which doesn't really work with Reno's character or Merman's tough personality. Lahr's attempts to bump up his notoriety are more interesting than Reno and Harry's romance.

And why was this set in the 20's? Every version of this since then has been set in the 30's, when the show and songs were written and first debuted.

The Big Finale: An interesting curiosity if you love Merman, Sinatra, Porter, or 50's musicals. Everyone else is better off listening to Merman and Sinatra's solo recordings of these songs.

Home Media: Out of print but not that hard to find on DVD; it can also be found on streaming.

DVD
Amazon Prime