Slightly French

Columbia, 1949
Starring Dorothy Lamour, Don Ameche, Janis Carter, and Willard Parker
Directed by Douglas Sirk
Music and Lyrics by Allan Roberts, Lester Lee, and others

Douglas Sirk is now considered to be one of the underrated directors of German and American cinema...but in 1949, he was merely a journeyman director for Columbia and Universal. This would be one of only two musicals he did during his American career. How does this My Fair Lady-esque tale of a Hollywood director who trains a dancer to be a French chanteuse for his new movie come off in the 21st century? Let's head to what appears to be a very movieland version of Paris to find out...

The Story: Director John Gayle (Ameche) is notorious in Hollywood for obsessing over his films and working his cast and crew to the bone. The French actress on his most recent movie (Adele Jergens) just walked off the set, and they need someone to replace her. Gayle and his best friend and producer Doug Hyde (Parker) are told that they'll have to shut the production down, until they encounter dancer Mary O'Leary (Lamour) at a carnival. She can imitate most accents, including French. Gayle and his skeptical sister Louisa (Carter) hire a French voice coach (Jeanne Manet) to turn her into a genuine chanteuse named Rochelle Olivia. She falls for him in the process, but he's more interested in his film. She shows off her new European persona with Doug, hoping to make him jealous. It works too well...and now it looks like both her new career and the film may be in jeopardy unless John can figure out how much his new discovery means to him.

The Song and Dance: Better than I thought it would be from the "B" pedigree. Sirk managed some wonderful directorial touches, especially with the shadowy black and white "Love Masquerade" number in the finale. Ameche and especially Lamour do quite well as the battling lovers. Several sequences show off Sirk's fondness for melodrama; I loved a scene towards the end where Mary finally tells off John for treating her like an object and acting like a jerk. You don't often see the women telling off the jerks in a rage in a frothy musical, and it was rather refreshing.

Favorite Number: That "Love Masquerade" in the opening sequence and near the finale is actually a little dark for a musical of this time, all silhouettes, dimly lit Paris sets, and slinky dance moves. Lamour gives the standard "Let's Fall In Love" a relaxed workout in a party sequence when Mary is still trying to make John jealous.

Trivia: This is a remake of the 1933 musical Let's Fall In Love.

According to the Internet Movie Database, it was filmed in 1948, but not released until a year later.

What I Don't Like: The story is not the most interesting or original; it's a standard Pygmalion/Cinderella variant. Parker is so dull as Doug, you wonder why Mary would ever be interested in him. He has no chemistry with Carter, and I have no idea why they get paired off, other than that's the usual thing to do.

The Big Finale: Surprisingly enjoyable small-scale musical romance. Not a bad time-waster if you're a fan of Lamour, Ameche, or Sirk's later romantic melodramas.

Home Media: The solo DVD from Sony/Columbia's made-to-order line is out of print, but it can be found as part of that Musical 20 Movies set from Mill Creek.

DVD
DVD - Musicals 20 Movies Collection