Tonight and Every Night

Columbia, 1945
Starring Rita Hayworth, Marc Platt, Lee Bowman, and Janet Blair
Directed by Victor Saville
Music by Jules Styne; Lyrics by Sammy Cahn

Here's a truly unique wartime musical I'd only read about in books before today. Hayworth was at the height of her popularity as a Hollywood pin-up queen when she appeared in this slightly dark tale about a dance troupe in a theater operating during the London Blitz. Let's head to the Music Box Theater in London to see just how this tragic backstage story looks nowadays...

The Story: Life Magazine comes to the Music Box to do a story on their troupe and how they never closed during the war. Flashback to a few years before. Theater owner May "Tolly" Tolliver (Florence Bates) is auditioning new performers. Tommy Lawson (Platt) is a wonderful dancer, but he makes up his own steps and doesn't know how to learn them. American dancers Judy Kaye (Blair) and Rosalind Bruce (Hayworth) show him some steps and make him a part of their act.

Rosalind meets a handsome Royal Air Force solider, pilot Paul Lundy (Bowman) when he's in the audience and they're all evacuated to the basement during a raid. He tries to ask her out, but she says 'no.' He tries again with her and Judy at a local restaurant, then tricking her into coming to his apartment. She's not happy about that one, but she feels better after he arranges for the troupe to play for the RAF. Tommy has a huge crush on Rosalind and is upset when Paul confesses his love for Ros. She thinks Paul has given up on her....but he's really on a special assignment. Rosalind thinks she wants to be with Paul, but when tragedy strikes, she learns who really means the most to her...and how important it is for the show to go on

The Song and Dance: This is one of the most unusual backstage musicals I've ever seen. While many musical films had a war backdrop during the 40's, few of them got into the reality of the situation like this one did. They aren't just talking about selling war bonds and entertaining the troops here (although they certainly do that). The bombs are falling right outside the door, right across the street towards the end. The details of life in wartime London, from all the performers moving to the studio to avoid bombs to Paul's apartment being flattened by a bomb just minutes before he and Ros are going to go to it, bring an immediacy and a slightly dark feel to this story.

Favorite Number: "You Excite Me" is the big one here. The exotic dance routine with Hayworth in a skimpy white costume with chorus boys around her is one of Hayworth's best solo dance performances on film. Hayworth joins former vaudevillian Professor Lamberti, an older man who has an act that involves a xylophone, a pretty dancer, and a lot of fun slapstick, for an instrumental version of "Anywhere." Blair gets a more traditional version of the lovely "Anywhere" and the stirring title song, with a newsreel spoof and chorus girls singing about how everyone will survive the war. Hayworth takes over the number in the finale.

Trivia: This was Marc Platt's first major film role.

Rita Hayworth was pregnant during the filming of this movie. They filmed her dance routines first, then did the rest of it with her behind muffs or feathers.

This was based after the real Windmill Theater, which also continued running during World War II. They, however, played mostly nude reviews, as detailed in the movie Mrs. Henderson Presents.

This was originally supposed to be a drama with Ida Lupino and Merle Oberon.

What I Don't Like: Despite the novel setting, the story is a standard love triangle. I would rather have heard more about her dealing with Judy and Tommy's crush than with the rather dull and obnoxious Paul. I have no idea why she fell for him so quickly. The tragic ending is abrupt and really of comes out of nowhere; anyone expecting a happier one will likely not enjoy this. And couldn't they have given Platt and Hayworth one duet together like the ones she had with Fred Astaire in her films with him?

The Big Finale: If  you're a fan of Hayworth or World War II, despite some problems, this is still an overlooked gem that deserves a lot more love.

Home Media: The solo DVD is out of print, but it can be found in at least two collections of Rita Hayworth movies and that Mill Creek 20 Musicals set.

DVD - Hollywood Legends - Rita Hayworth 4 Movie Collection
DVD - The Films of Rita Hayworth
DVD - Musicals 20 Movies Collection