Strike Up the Band

MGM, 1940

Starring Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland, June Preissler, and William Tracy

Directed by Busby Berkeley

Music and Lyrics by various

This week, we return to the US to join Mickey and Judy in two of their "barnyard musicals" of the late 30's and early 40's. Truth be told, most of them didn't take place in a barn. "Teen musicals" probably would have been a more appropriate description. Judy and Mickey always played a couple of talented kids who put on a show for some worthy cause - in this case, helping a friend and playing with Paul Whiteman - and find love with each other in the process. How does this version look nowadays? Let's head to Riverwood High School, just as the orchestra is in rehearsal, and find out...

The Story: Jimmy Connors (Rooney) is tired of playing the usual classical music for the school orchestra. He wants to put his drumming talents to use as the head of his own "modern dance" (i.e swing) outfit. His gal friend Mary Holden (Garland) supports his ambition, and so does the school principal after they agree to show off their talents at a school dance. The dance is a success, but Jimmy's already off and running again. Now he wants to take the band to Chicago for a big school orchestra contest put on by Paul Whiteman (himself). The principal (Francis Pierlot) can't afford to send them all, so the kids put on a spoof melodrama at the Elks Club to earn their way to Chicago.

The show goes over well, but Willie (Larry Nunn), a friend of Jimmy's who has a crush on Mary, is hurt when he's jerked around on the wire apparatus. He desperately needs an operation on his arm. Now, Jimmy has to decide whether to help a friend, or use the money from the show and a loan by a local bank officer to attend the contest.

The Song and Dance: Garland and Rooney are the thing here, and they're a ball of energy as the drumming prodigy who refuses to let anything come between him and stardom and the smart girl who just wishes he'd put the sticks down and look at her. June Preissler isn't bad as the cute blonde who distracts Jimmy about mid-way through, and she can do some of the most amazing acrobatic bends I've ever seen (in a long gown, no less). Busby Berkeley's hand can be seen all over the place, from the fruit orchestra to the huge "Do the La Conga" number at the dance. 

Favorite Number: "Our Love Affair" starts off as a typical romantic ballad for Rooney and Garland, but ends in fairly bizarre territory. Rooney pulls fruit from a bowl to represent his imagined orchestra, and it becomes fruit playing instruments in a nifty stop-motion segment. "Do the La Conga" is the big dance number. Rooney, Garland, and the other teens really get into it, swinging and kicking at each other with abandon. The entire "Nell of New Rochelle" melodrama spoof, from the kids singing "The Gay Nineties" to Garland's "Heaven Will Protect the Working Girl" to Preissler tumbling through "Ta-Ra-Boom-De-Ay" is a hilarious delight. The big finale, a montage of the title song, "La Conga," and "Love Affair," gets into patriotic turf as it begins with the orchestras playing the title number and ends with Garland and Rooney's faces superimposed against an American flag. 

What I Don't Like: The movie is as melodramatic as the blood-and-thunder adventures the kids make fun of at times. The entire subplot with the kid needing the operation and Rooney's sacrifice can seem awfully corny nowadays. That big patriotic finale comes out of nowhere and, while stirring for audiences who were seeing more of World War II in the news, is just a little bit too much nowadays. 

The Big Finale: The imaginative numbers alone makes this a lot of fun for fans of the young stars, Berkeley, or the MGM musicals of the 40's and 50s. 

Home Media: Easily available in all formats. The DVD and Blu-Ray are from the Warner Archives.

DVD

Blu-Ray

Amazon Prime

Family Fun Saturday - Snow White (1987)

The Cannon Group, 1987

Starring Diana Rigg, Sarah Patterson, Nicola Stapleton, and Billy Barty

Directed by Michael Berz

Music by Michael Berz and Arich Rudich; Lyrics by Michael Berz and others

This was the fifth of the nine released "Cannon Movie Tales," musical versions of beloved fairy tales. This time, they dive into the famous story of the beautiful girl who flees her wicked stepmother and is cared for by seven little men. We're also honoring the late Dame Diana Rigg, who passed away earlier this month. This would be one of her few onscreen musical roles. How does the popular tale look in this low-budget retelling?  Let's start at the castle, where the Queen (Dorit Adi) is wishing for a child with skin as white as snow, and find out...

The Story: The Queen does finally bear a lovely child who is exactly as she hoped, but dies shortly afterwards. The King (Doug Sheldon) remarries, but his wife (Rigg) is cold and cruel, only caring about her beauty, fine clothes, and magic mirror who tells her how fair she is. After the mirror claims Snow White (Stapleton) is more beautiful, she orders her Huntsman (Amnon Meskin) to kill the child and cut out her heart. He can't do it and turns her out into the woods instead. 

The little girl wanders into the cottage of the Seven Dwarfs, who search for rocks and bones and other treasures in the mountains. They end up raising her into a lovely young woman (Patterson). The Queen discovers she's still alive and tries to have her killed three times. The third time seems to be the charm. The heartsick dwarfs build a glass coffin for her...but then a prince (James Ian Wright) comes along and falls instantly in love with her...

The Song and Dance: One thing I really like about this one is how straightforward it is, especially compared to other film versions like Mirror, Mirror and Snow White and the Huntsman that add way too much padding. This is about as close to the original Grimm's Fairy Tale as you're probably going to get in an adaptation intended for families. Rigg dominates as the heartless ruler who will do anything, including donning some pretty strange costumes, to stay the fairest woman in the land. She relishes the role, snapping at couriers and purring at her creepy magic mirror. 

Favorite Number: We open with "Let It Snow," as the ladies of the court revel in the chilly weather and the Queen dreams of having a child. The young Snow White shows just how much she loves her father when she and the king sing and dance on "Daddy's Knee." Rigg sings to Meskin how she doesn't want anyone to be more beautiful than her in "More Beautiful Than Me." The dwarfs have a rollicking dance routine at the house to teach Snow White their names (and introduce them to the audience) in "My Name Is Biddy."

Trivia: This was the only Cannon Movie Tale to receive a PG rating on cable.

What I Don't Like: While not as overtly cheap as some of the other Cannon Movie Tales, the dwarfs look more like oversized furballs than little men and are frankly scarier-looking than the queen. The Mirror, with its frame surrounded by grinning white faces, is pretty creepy, too. The lousy special effects don't help there, either. You barely see the prince, and when you do, he has nothing to do with saving Snow White - that literally happens on accident. (Granted, that's in the original story - kissing Snow White is strictly Disney.) The background score is still annoyingly tinny, and the songs just aren't that memorable. Also, beware of Rigg's Japanese saleswoman trying to give Snow White a poisoned comb towards the end. Many people would consider it to be a rather annoying stereotype (complete with silly accent) today.

The Big Finale: If you want to show your kids what the real story of Snow White is like, this might be an appropriate place to start if they can get past the cheap production.

Home Media: For many years, this was one of the harder-to-find Cannon Movie Tales. It's now a part of MGM's made-to-order Limited Edition Collection and is free to stream on Amazon with a Prime membership.

DVD

Amazon Prime

Pan-Americana

RKO, 1945

Starring Phillip Terry, Audrey Long, Eve Arden, and Robert Benchley

Directed by John H. Auer

Music and Lyrics by various

With the European markets cut off after war began in 1939, Hollywood looked down south for other sources of revenue. This resulted in many movies of the time set in South America or the Caribbean. Several stars south of the border became popular up here as well, notably Carmen Miranda. RKO opted to go after the stars, filming many legendary South American performers for this romantic comedy about what happens when two photographers go on a Goodwill Tour...and end up with more than just goodwill towards each other. Let's start in the office of a popular travel magazine and find out...

The Story: Dan Jordan (Terry) has just returned from the war to resume his job as a photographer at a popular travel magazine. Editor Helen "Hoppy" Hopkins (Arden) and her assistant Charlie Corker (Benchley) have the idea to film beautiful girls from all over South America and the Caribbean and feature them in a revue highlighting the beauty and talent south of the border afterwards. Hoppy insists that their best woman photographer Jo Anne Benson (Long) come with them, mainly to keep an eye on womanizing Jordan. Her attentions work too well. Now he's in love with her and thinking post-war suburban living, not knowing she already has a fiancée in Brazil.

The Song and Dance: And "song and dance" are the operative words. The whisper-thin plot is merely an excuse to showcase some of the best performing talent Mexico, Brazil, and Cuba have to offer. Arden and Benchley have a lot of fun as the sarcastic woman editor and her assistant who gets an amusing sequence describing the Samba. Isobellita appears in a cute running gag that has her pop up in each country, hoping to win the pageant title despite not being from that country. 

Favorite Number: "Babalu" is today most associated with Cuban-born Desi Arnaz, but is used here in a big dance routine, performed passionately by Cuban singer Miguelito Valdes. Dancers Antoni and Rosario get two fiery flamenco routines, one set to "Guadalajara," one seen in the finale as the pageant winners from every South American country sings along. 

Trivia: This was actress Jane Greer's first movie. She can be seen briefly in the beginning as Hoppy's secretary.

What I Don't Like: Oooh, that plot! It's about as much fun as watching paint dry. Long isn't bad, but Terry is smarmy and unlikable. Jo Anne's fiancée is of such little consequence, we don't even meet him until the last 20 minutes of the movie...and when we do meet him, he's such a decent and good-looking guy, you wonder how Jo Anne could even let her boss talk her into being bothered with Phillip. 

Not to mention, the plot makes no sense. The main characters were supposed to be filming South American beauties, yet we never see any film crews. There's no way they could have set a stage show up so fast when they got back, either, and we never do find out which one ended up being Miss Pan-American. There's also the fact that the copy seen on HBO Max and TCM is terrible, blurry and faded. Someone really, really needs to take a crack at restoring this one. 

The Big Finale: Of interest mainly to scholars of South American film, those who grew up watching the performers south of the border, or really huge fans of Arden or Benchley. Anyone else will likely be put off by the ridiculous and boring plot.

Home Media: Can currently be found streaming on HBO Max, and occasionally on TCM. 

HBO Max

Call of the Flesh

MGM, 1930

Starring Ramon Navarro, Renee Adoree, Dorothy Jordan, and Ernest Torrence

Directed by Charles Brabin

Music by Herbert Stothart and Ramon Novarro; Lyrics by Clifford Grey

Mexican-born Ramon Novarro came to prominence as a popular star of swashbucklers and dramas in the late 1920's. He turned to musicals after he recorded "Pagan Love Song" from his vehicle The Pagan and audiences discovered he had an attractive singing voice. This was the last of three operettas he made in 1929-1930 with soprano Dorothy Jordan, and the last of four films he did with exotic Renee Adoree. How does this tale of a dashing young singer who loves a convent girl look today? Let's head to that convent in Seville, Spain, as Captain Enrique Varquas (Russell Hopton) visits his sister Maria (Jordan) and find out...

The Story: Enrique wants Maria to stay within the convent walls, but she sneaks off when she hears music from the cantina across the street. Juan de Dios (Novarro) and his partner Lola (Adoree) perform a fiery number for the crowds as Juan flirts with all the girls. Lola wishes he'd pay a lot more attention to her. His music teacher Esteban (Torrence) wishes he'd pay more attention to his voice studies. He thinks he has the makings of a great opera singer and hopes to take him to Madrid for a major career.

Juan runs into Maria when she's stealing a dress from a clothes line. She so badly wanted to see him, she ran away from the convent. He takes her home, but has to hide her from Lola. He convinces Esteban to let her join them in Madrid. When they arrive, Juan auditions for an opera producer, but he claims he has no passion in his singing. Esteban pays the producer to give Juan a chance. 

Meanwhile, Juan is ready to marry Maria, but Enrique and Lola arrive and convince him that he's making her break her vow with God. He finally sends her back to the convent, but both their hearts are broken in the process. If they aren't together soon, he may not survive to sing another aria,  no matter how successful...

The Song and Dance: When this one stays away from opera melodrama and pours on the authentic Latin ardor, it's actually pretty interesting. Adoree is surprisingly good as the feisty Lola, given she was deathly ill at the time she made this movie. Novarro wakes up alongside her and does fairly well in his dance number with her. Torrence is also good as his teacher who truly believes in his pupil's abilities, if only he'd focus on them and not on destructive behavior. The elaborate sets and costumes does very well representing Spain somewhere in the early 20th century. There's even some decent camerawork for the time, particularly in the opening with the nuns and the convent.

Favorite Number: Adoree and Novarro have a lot of fun with their opening dance routine. No wonder Maria was enchanted. Their fast and fiery moves are genuinely funny and enjoyable. Novarro's big Pagliacci aria in the end is subdued for the 5 o'clock number of a big musical and a bit strained, until he suddenly collapses on its completion.

Trivia: This was Adoree's last film. She has tuberculosis during filming and was rushed into a sanitarium as soon as the film finished. She died two years later.

There were three numbers originally in Technicolor, including another Pagliacci aria, but none of them exist in the current print.

What I Don't Like: The overly melodramatic ending is ridiculous and annoying. Maybe it would go over a little better if Novarro and Jordan showed more passion, but they have all the chemistry of two tree stumps. Jordan is shrill and bland as the sweet little convent miss who is supposed to be swept away by Juan's magnificent music and his romantic life. You almost wish he'd just go back to Lola, who is a heck of a lot more interesting. 

The Big Finale: Mainly of interest to fans of Novarro, opera, or the early talkie era.

Home Media: Another rare title that currently can only be found from time to time on TCM.

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Animation Celebration Saturday - Pinocchio (1940)

Disney, 1940

Voices of Dick Jones, Cliff Edwards, Christian Rub, and Walter Catlett

Directed by Ben Sharpstein and Hamilton Luske
Music by Leigh Harline; Lyrics by Ned Washington

This was Disney's follow-up to their massive hit Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The story of a little puppet and his cricket friend who run up against temptation (and four of the nastiest villains in animation) wasn't a hit on first release, but is now considered to be one of the studio's most enduring classics. How does Pinocchio's story look today? Let's start with our narrator Jiminy Cricket (Edwards) as he introduces his friend's story and find out...

The Story: Pinocchio (Jones) was created by lonely toy maker Geppetto (Rub), who longed for a son of his own. The Blue Fairy (Evelyn Venable) gave him his wish and brought Pinocchio to life. To keep him on the straight and narrow, she anoints Jiminy as his conscience. 

The little cricket discovers how tough it is to be the conscience to a puppet when Pinocchio is easily swayed from attending school by con animals "Honest" John (Catlett) and Gideon. They sell him to Stromboli (Charles Judels), a puppeteer, who wants him for his show and has no desire to let him return to his father. Even after they manage to escape Stromboli, the two confidence critters sell Pinocchio on the idea of "Pleasure Island," a place where boys can do whatever they want. This works out even less well, ending with Pinocchio half-donkey and barely avoiding a frightening Coachman (Judels). Now they have to rescue Geppetto from the belly of a whale, or Pinocchio will never truly become a real little boy. 

The Animation: Gorgeous to this day. The opening and closings with the star are stunning in their detail. You could spend time just checking out all the details on the clocks and toys in Geppetto's workshop, or checking out the buildings and shenanigans on Pleasure Island. This was the first animated film with "effects" animation, and it still looks pretty good, especially Pinocchio and Jiminy underwater.

The Song and Dance: One of Disney's lushest and most beautifully drawn films. It's also one of their scariest. The villains are some of their most frightening - the Coachman in that brief "devil" shot is utterly terrifying! Gags from Jiminy and Geppetto's pets Figaro the kitten and Cleo the goldfish help balance things out. Edwards did so well as Jiminy, he would continue to voice the character for the rest of his life. The music is excellent, too. "When You Wish Upon a Star" won an Oscar and is considered to be something of a theme for the entire Walt Disney Company.

Favorite Number: In fact, the film opens and closes with Jiminy performing "When You Wish Upon a Star" over one of those lush blue backdrops. Geppetto dances with his new "Little Wooden Head" creation after he finishes him at the workshop, introducing him (and us) to his kitten Figaro and fish Cleo. Foulfellow uses the catchy "Hi Diddle Dee" to convince Pinocchio that it would be wonderful to join the theater. "I've Got No Strings" is Pinocchio's puppet act; it starts off with him doing a slightly awkward solo, but ends with him dancing - or trying to dance - with marionettes from all over Europe.

Trivia: At least six more songs intended for Jiminy Cricket, Foulfellow, the chorus, and the boys at Pleasure Island were written, but eventually dropped. Jiminy's song, "I'm a Happy-Go-Lucky Fellow," would eventually be used in Fun & Fancy Free. 

This was the second movie released on the Walt Disney Classics video label in the mid-80's after Robin Hood. 

Disney originally intended to make their own sequel in the mid-2000's, but it's one of the many John Lasseter canceled when he took over the animation studio in 2006. They seem to have more luck with a live-action version that's just about ready to film.

What I Don't Like: This is one of their few animated movies where the villains get away with everything. No one ever punishes Foulfellow, Gideon, Stromboli, or the Coachman for any of the terrible things they do, nor do we find out what happened to the other donkey-boys. Pinocchio just evades them and dashes off to the next temptation. Pinocchio himself isn't really all that interesting, either. He's another character things just happen to. 

The Big Finale: One of Disney's most charming and unusual fantasies. Watch this one with slightly older kids who can handle some of the scarier stuff with the bad guys and Monstro the Whale.

Home Media: Easily found in all formats. Your best bet for streaming would be Disney Plus if you have a subscription.

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Disney Plus

A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court (1949)

Paramount, 1949

Starring Bing Crosby, Rhonda Fleming, Sir Cedric Hardwicke, and William Bendix

Directed by Tay Garrett

Music by Jimmy Van Heusen; Lyrics by Johnny Burke

Of course, Lawrence Olivier wasn't the only star who occasionally indulged in swashbuckling fantasies. Even easy-going Bing Crosby found himself caught up in a romantic adventure or two, and not just on the road with his buddy Bob Hope. This is the third adaptation of the Mark Twain novel about a blacksmith who finds himself back in medieval times and shows the residents how modern people live. How does this version fare? Let's head to Pendragon Castle in England, just as the tour begins, and find out...

The Story: Hank Martin (Crosby) tells the castle's owner Lord Pendragon (Hardwicke) his story when he shows him a priceless pendant given to him by the lovely Lady Alisande (Fleming). Martin is a car mechanic in early 1900's Connecticut who is knocked out and wakes up in medieval times. He's found by a burly knight named Sir Sagemore (Bendix), who brings him to his bosses King Arthur (Hardwicke), Merlin (Merwyn Vye), and Morgan Le Fay (Virginia Field). The aging and ill Arthur at first agrees with Merlin that Hank should be executed as a "monster." Hank uses the light from his watch to convince Arthur and the locals he's a sorcerer. Lady Alisande was always convinced, especially after Hank flirts heavily with her.

Merlin and Morgan have their own plans. They first set Alisande's fiancee Lancelot (Henry Wilcoxon) on Hank in a jousting match, but Hank uses rope tricks to get him off his horse. When Hank convinces Arthur to dress as a peasant and see the suffering in his own kingdom, they end up in Merlin and Morgan's hands as slaves. Hank, however, still has one more trick in his little black almanac that could save them all.

The Song and Dance: For once, Crosby being out-of-place in a historical film actually works as part of the plot. He does very well as the laid-back mechanic who uses his knowledge of the future to get himself and others out of a few big jams in the past. Bendix has some funny moments as Hank's strongest and most loyal ally in Arthur's court, and Rhonda Fleming is spirited and lovely as the intelligent Alisande. The color is absolutely gorgeous, nicely illuminating the stunning costumes and shadowy sets representing a fairy-tale Camelot. 

Favorite Number: We start off with Hank explaining to the kids in his Connecticut town why you should always keep trying, even "If You Stub Your Toe On the Moon." "Once and for Always" is Alisande and Hank's big duet, performed first after the ball to introduce him to the court, and later after they've all been tossed in prison by Merlin. Hank, Arthur, and Sagemore are "Busy Doing Nothing" as they try to pass for peasants on the road through Camelot.

What I Don't Like: The plot does come a little closer to the original Mark Twain book than the 1927 Rodgers and Hart stage musical, but it's still not a 100 percent adaptation. (For one thing, Morgan Le Fay shows up here, too.) The music, while cute, isn't the most memorable. Alisande's sudden change from Hank to Lancelot and back again is a bit of a mood whiplash in the middle of the movie. While it does set up for Hank leaving the kingdom, it also makes little sense with what comes before or after. Also, note this sticks to the book's interpretation as Merlin as a lot younger and more villainous than usual.

The Big Finale: If you love stories of knights and princesses and Camelot or fish-out-of-water tales, or are a fan of Crosby, you'll want to give this glowing fantasy tale a try.

Home Media: Currently DVD only in North America as part two Bing Crosby sets (although it does show up on TCM from time to time). 

DVD - The Bing Crosby Collection Double Feature

DVD - Bing Crosby: The Silver Screen Collection, the 1940's

Cult Flops - The Beggar's Opera

Warner Bros, 1953
Starring Lawrence Olivier, Dorothy Tutin, George Divine, and Stanley Holloway
Directed by Peter Brook
Music by John Gay; Lyrics by John Gay and Christopher Fry

The Beggar's Opera may be one of, if not the longest-lived musical (or "ballad opera") in the English language repertoire. It's original production debuted in 1728, an action-paced spoof of Italian opera with a roguish anti-hero highwayman who dodged the wealthy and romanced any woman he could find. Most people know it better today in the German version The Threepenny Opera, but the original still makes occasional appearances to this day. Brook was a British wunderkind, a stage musical director who made hits at a young age. This would be his first shot at a film, but he didn't see eye-to-eye with Olivier over how to play the leading man and ran over budget, and the film wound up being a flop. What happened? Let's head to Newgate Jail in London during the early 1700's and find out...

The Story: The Beggar (Hugh Griffith) is tossed into prison, his unfinished opera scattering around him. The opera revolves around the exploits of famous highwayman Macheath (Olivier), who just happens to be in the prison as well. He hands Macheath the notes, and discovering his voice isn't bad, insists he sing them his story...

Macheath was known for dashingly robbing the rich and romancing their wives. He was wed to pretty Polly Peacham (Tutin), who waits hopefully for his return. Her shocked parents insist on her setting a trap for him. He also has the heart of Lucy Lockit (Daphne Anderson), the daughter of the Newgate jailor Lockit (Holloway), who is still incensed he loved and left her without marrying her. Polly does help Macheath avoid her parents, but he has less luck with another former lover, prostitute Jenny Diver (Yvonne Furneaux), who with her friends turns him over to the police. He does manage to convince Lucy he loves her long enough to get her to help him escape, only to end up in prison again. This time, he may not have a happy ending...unless the Beggar and his friends can make it for him.

The Song and Dance: Dashing swashbuckler with Olivier in fine form as the roguish anti-hero Macheath. He's so charismatic and charming, you can almost overlook his shaky singing and dancing abilities. Love Anderson as the feisty jailer's daughter, too, and Holloway and Devine as the frustrated fathers who'd rather get the money than see their daughters married to a rogue. The Technicolor production ably recreates 1728 England, especially in the robust action sequences at the Peacham's farm and in the finale. Whatever else his faults were, Brook did do wonders with action and movement.

Favorite Number: "Let Us Take to the Road" is the opening number for England's many highwaymen as Macheath admits to his love of what he does. Jenny sings of "When Gold Is at Hand," while Lucy laments "How Cruel are the Traitors" after Macheath has left her a second time. Macheath wonders "How Happy I Could Be With Either" as he tries to decide between his favorite sweethearts towards the end.

What I Don't Like: Some of the effects, like the obvious green screen behind Macheath when he's riding off in the ending, don't look as good today as they probably did in 1953. Ironically, considering Olivier isn't the best singer in the world, most of the cast (besides Olivier and Stanley Holloway) were dubbed. (Although they did credit the singers in the end.) In fact, the theatrical artifice bumping against film realism doesn't always work well, especially in the stagy opening with the Beggar and his work. There's also the fact that this is an opera, and an older opera, at that. If you don't love opera or classical music, you may not be the right audience for this one (although it may help that it's a lot lighter in tone than Threepenny Opera).

The Big Finale: If you love Olivier, swashbucklers, or comic opera, you may want to track down this enjoyable, action-packed romp.

Home Media: On streaming, and on DVD from the Warner Archives.

DVD
Amazon Prime

Animation Celebration Saturday - Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night

Filmation, 1987
Voices of Scott Grimes, Tom Bosley, James Earl Jones, and Don Knotts
Directed by Hal Sutherland
Music and Lyrics by various

Filmation is known today primary for their action cartoons in the 1970's and 80's, including the wildly popular He-Man and She-Ra. By the middle of the 1980's, they had larger ambitions. This was to have been the first in a series of animated musical follow-ups to Disney fairy tales...but Filmation was already in trouble, even as this bombed at the box office. This and the Snow White sequel Happily Ever After would be the only ones that made it out before the studio closed. What happened? Let's begin in the swamp, as a bumblebee named named Lieutenant Grumblebee (Johnathan Harris) is awakened from his sleep by the arrival of a carnival train, and find out...

The Story: The carnival train belongs to The Emperor of the Night (Jones) and the puppet master Puppetino (William Windom). Pinocchio (Grimes) is now a real boy, and the Blue Fairy (Ricki Lee Jones) reminds him that he must learn to make his own choices. She gives him a new concience, a wooden glow-worm he names Gee Willikers (Knotts), to keep him on the straight and narrow. He's still easily swayed by con-men, though. The rascally raccoon Scalawag (Ed Asner) and monkey Igor (Frank Welker) trade a fake ruby for the jewel box the boy is supposed to deliver to the mayor. Geppetto is so upset over its loss, Pinocchio runs away.

He looks for work at the carnival, where he falls for a beautiful marionette named Twinkle at the puppet show. Puppetino uses an organ grinder to force him to dance and turn him back into a puppet. The Good Fairy restores him, reminding him not to take his freedom and ability to make choices for granted. Determined to make good, the boy tells his glow worm friend he intends to find the jewel box and return it to his father. Scalawag and Igor...not to mention Puppetino...still want to take him off the straight and narrow path and into their land of false fantasy. It'll take all the help of Lieutenant Grumblebee and his bug friends and a pinch of Blue Fairy magic to stop the evil Emperor and get Pinocchio back on track.

The Animation: Pretty decent for a low-budget animated film. There's some great effects, especially at the rainbow "Neon Carnival" and in the finale when Pinocchio goes up against the Emperor. Filmation always did create awesome, imaginative villains for their productions, and this one is no exception. The Emperor himself is an incredible design, with his flowing, changeable carmine cloak, four hands, and devilish face. Puppetino is equally impressive, and even scarier; his thick lips and purplish face looks like the stuff of a child's worst nightmares.

The Song and Dance: This is a weird one, but then, the Disney Pinocchio and the Italian book both are based on aren't exactly sweetness and light either. At the very least, it's more interesting and better-made than Happily Ever After. The animation is better and less stiff and Puppetino and the Emperor of the Night are nifty and genuinely frightening villains, especially for a cartoon from this era.

Favorite Number: "Neon Caberet" is the big number when Pinocchio follows Puppetino into the Land Where Dreams Come True, and it's a wild riot of brilliant colors and Art Deco-inspired design. Pinocchio performs "You're a Star" onstage to a delighted crowd, dancing with his beloved Twinkle...but the fantasy isn't as real or as enjoyable as he thinks...

What I Don't Like: I'd love to know what audience Filmation intended this for. Pinocchio is regarded as a children's story, but there's some truly nightmarish images in this film, especially Puppetino and his puppet show and with what the "Land Where Dreams Come True" turns out to be. The story is both overly complicated, and something of a rehash of the Disney film. (To the point where Disney sued Filmation for copyright infringement.) Gee Willikers is silly, annoying, and fairly useless, and the bugs he recruits to rescue Pinocchio (including Grumblebee) aren't much better. The sequence with them trying to escape a huge frog comes out of left field and seems to be there more to give them something to do than for any importance to the story. The music is dull, and the score is the tinny synthesizer music common in low-budget films during the 80's and 90's. There's the odd action finale that also seems out-of-place, both in the movie and in a Pinocchio story.

The Big Finale: Too weird to be a huge favorite, but it's apparently picked up a cult following in the past few years. If you like your animated fantasy on the dark-ish side or are a fan of Filmation's TV projects, you may want to give this one a shot at least once.

Home Media: To my knowledge, this is not on disc in North America. Your best bet is streaming; several companies have it for free, including Amazon and Tubi.

Amazon Prime

Back to School Again - She's Working Her Way Through College

Warner Bros, 1953
Starring Virginia Mayo, Ronald Reagan, Gene Nelson, and Don DeFore
Directed by H. Bruce Humberstone
Music and Lyrics by various

This wasn't what I planned on reviewing tonight, but that fell through. This one really fits better with Bathing Beauty anyway. Steve Elliot  is hardly the only person involved in show business to want to bump up his education. This heavy reworking of James Thurber and Elliott Nugent's 1942 play The Male Animal turns it into a stripper's right to attend school and further her education. How does the story look now, as more people from all walks of life attend college despite the costs? Let's start in a burlesque theater, where star dancer Angela "Hot Garters Gertie" Gardner (Mayo), is giving her last performance, and find out...

The Story: Angela opts to start her semester at MidWest State because her former high school English teacher John Palmer (Reagan) is now an associate professor there. She turns a lot of heads at the school from the moment she arrives, including that of football player and dancer Don Weston (Nelson). His girlfriend "Poison" Ivy Williams (Patrice Wymore) was the queen of the school and the best performer in the drama department before Angela came on the scene, and she's badly jealous. Angela's not the only one dealing with jealousy, either. Palmer's wife Helen (Phyllis Thaxter) is gushing over Shep Slade (DeFore), a former college football star-turned-successful businessman who is visiting for the big homecoming game. Palmer is so jealous, he gets raging drunk after a homecoming game party.

Angela and Palmer convince the student body to put on a musical Angela wrote instead of their usual Shakespearean play. The show is threatened when Ivy prints an article on Angela's previous job in the school newspaper. Now the chairman of the board of trustees Fred Copeland (Roland Winters) is calling for her to be removed, lest she corrupt the noble youth of MidWest, and Ivy wants her role and for her to lay off Don. Palmer won't let her leave without a fight, and finally goes up against the school board with a speech of his own to convince them that anyone, no matter where they came from or what their past was, should be able to further their education.

The Song and Dance: Interesting story about the importance of education and college, no matter who you are or what walk of life you come from. Mayo would later go on to call this her favorite of her movies, and I don't blame her. She gets to play a very intelligent and hard-working woman who is determined to get through college no matter what, even if she has to work the lowest rung of show business to do it. Reagan is a little stiffer as the college professor who admires her spirit, but he appropriately (if you know anything about his later political career) wakes up in the finale, when he gives a very stirring and emotional speech to the school about giving everyone the chance to better themselves. Nelson also does well as the jock who fits in equally well among the theater kids and the athletes.

Favorite Number: We open the film with a glimpse of Angela's previous occupation, a glittering burlesque number set to the 30's Warners song "With Plenty of Money and You." Don and the kids reveal how much Angela charmed them when they drive her up to the Palmers' door singing "We're Working Our Way Through College." Mayo and Nelson get two cute duets together to show off numbers for the proposed musical, "I'll Be Loving You" danced spiritedly on a piano in class and "The Stuff That Dreams are Made Of" at the party. Gene Nelson has an incredible dance routine done all over a gymnasium as he swings on the rings, glides around the mats, and even lands a basketball throw in "Am I In Love?"

Trivia: This was Julie Newmayr's first movie.

What I Don't Like: I'm not a big fan of the subplot involving Palmer's wife and the annoying former jock Slade. Palmer was right. If she loved the guy so much, why didn't she marry him? Other than a very funny routine involving him recreating one of his famous football throws (before Palmer grabs the glass out of his hand), De Fore doesn't have much to do. While the dancing is good, the music is pretty forgettable, and the plot is more than a little dull at times.

The Big Finale: Enjoyable enough time-passer with decent numbers if you ever run into it on TCM.

Home Media: Currently DVD only via the Warner Archives.

DVD

Back to School Again - Bathing Beauty

MGM, 1944
Starring Esther Williams, Red Skelton, Basil Rathbone, and Bill Goodwin
Directed by George Sidney
Music and Lyrics by various

We hit the books - in and out of school - with two very different takes on academics this week. This was Esther Williams' first starring role in a movie. It was originally Skelton's vehicle, but the MGM brass were so enchanted by her performance, they changed the billing and the title to focus on Williams. Were they right, or is this story of a man enrolling in a girl's school all wet? Let's begin at a pool in Los Angeles and find out...

The Story: Songwriter Steve Elliot (Skelton) is in love with swimming teacher Caroline Brooks (Williams) and badly wants to marry her, to the point where he intends to give up his writing career. New York producer George Adams (Rathbone) is horrified. Steve claimed he'd write songs for his big upcoming water pageant before he met Caroline. He hires actress Mario Dorango to storm into their wedding and claim she and Steve are married. Caroline believes it and flies off for her job at a girls' college in New Jersey.

Determined to be near her, Steve manages to use a loophole in the college's charter to be accepted as a student. The teachers do everything they can to get him expelled before Parents Day in early October, from challenging to re-write a Scottish ballad to having him wear a tutu and dance in the ballet class, but nothing works. He keeps trying to talk to Caroline, who refuses to listen to him. Dean Clinton (Nana Bryant) asks Caroline to take Steve out and keep him away so he can get caught sneaking in after hours. Caroline does...but she begins to wonder if maybe she hasn't made a mistake, at least until half the school ends up in Steve's room!

The Song and Dance: There's a lot of entertaining numbers to be found in this unusual academic tale. Skelton has a great time loose in the girl's school. His best moment is probably in the ballet class, where he tries to dance along with the girls in his ridiculous pink tutu, only to get a sticky paper stuck on his hand and be unable to get rid of it. Williams participates in two dynamic water ballets, including the gorgeous one at the end. Rathbone is appropriately smarmy as the Broadway producer who's thinking more of himself than his supposed friend.

Favorite Number: We open well with singer Carlos Ramerez performing "Magic is In the Moonlight" with Xavier Cugat and his orchestra in a romantic Spanish-tinged number. Organ virtuoso Ethel Smith performs wonderful renditions of "By the Waters of Minnetonka" on her instrument before being joined by the girls with South American instruments for the Latin-tinged "Tico-Tico no Fuba." Skelton's challenge in music class to re-write the ballad "Loch Lomond" results in "I'll Take the High Note," a swinging routine with Skelton, the girls, Ethel Smith, and Harry James and His Orchestra.

By far the most famous number from this one is the big water ballet finale. It's pretty obvious Busby Berkeley choreographed this one. There's splashes of color, girls in sizzling pink and green against blinding blue waters, making formations as Williams glides through the center. It's a harbinger of many such dazzling water spectacles her her movies to come, and it's still gorgeous to look at to this day.

What I Don't Like: The plot is annoying as heck. You have to wonder if Caroline really loved him, given she didn't even give him a chance to explain suddenly having a wife. Despite MGM building up Williams, she's a bit dull in a thankless role and really doesn't have that much to do beyond her water ballet. It's really still Skelton's show. This kind of seems like MGM tossed together whichever actors and orchestras were sitting around the studio and threw them into a thin school plot that's colored with a tinge of Latin from Cugat and his people.

The Big Finale: Great numbers make this mainly for fans of Skelton, Williams, or the big MGM musicals of the 40's and 50's.

Home Media: The two Esther Williams collections featuring this movie are currently out of print. Your best bet is streaming or looking for it occasionally on TCM.

DVD - Silver Screen Icons: Esther Williams Vol. 1
Amazon Prime

Happy Labor Day! - The Pajama Game

Warner Bros, 1957
Starring Doris Day, John Raitt, Carol Haney, Eddie Foy Jr.
Directed by George Abbott and Stanley Donen
Music by Richard Adler; Lyrics by Jerry Ross

We celebrate a holiday about working with the only musical I know of that revolves around a labor dispute. The Pajama Game debuted on Broadway in the mid-50's, when many Americans still worked blue-collar jobs in small factories in the north and Midwest like the Sleep-Tite Pajamas. How does the story of how Sleep-Tite's employees fought for a raise - and how one employee fell for a new manager - look today? Let's start at Sleep-Tite, just as it's new superintendent Sid (Raitt) is arriving, and find out...

The Story: On Sid's first day at Sleep-Tite, he insults a man who goes to the grievance committee. The head of the committee is Katherine "Babe" Williams (Day), who clashes with him at first before ultimately dropping the complaint. The other women in the factory think she's in love...and they eventually turn out to be right. She and Sid finally admit their feelings at the company picnic.

Babe, however, doesn't think it'll work out. She's an employee, and he's management. The garment union is pushing for a 7 1/2 cent raise, but the factory's manager ignores it. Fed up with his not listening, the factory workers slow down production. Babe jams the equipment, forcing Sid to fire her. Hoping to make amends, Sid turns to Gladys (Haney), the manager's secretary, to get her key and find out what he's hiding in his ledgers...and how he can help get the factory their raise and Babe back into his arms.

The Song and Dance: The unique story is the hook for some classic numbers, especially chorus routines. Day is absolutely dynamic as Babe, especially in the second half, when she thinks she has to give up Sid for the good of the union. Reta Shaw is hilarious as Sid's tough secretary Mabel, and Thelma Pelish is equally fun as Mae, the biggest member of the union (in all senses of the word). The color's gorgeous, especially during the "Once a Year a Day" chorus routine outside, with its brilliant swirling rainbow petticoats and gleaming gold light.

If the delightful choreography looks familiar, this was Bob Fosse's first full film assignment, having done the dances for the Broadway version as well. "Steam Heat" in particular shows off the dramatic, knock-kneed Fosse style that would become more familiar on Broadway and in Hollywood in the 60's and 70's.

Favorite Number: Babe claims "I'm Not at All In Love" after meeting Sid for the first time, but the ladies of Sleep-Tite know better. "Hey There" was the big hit ballad, and it gets an interesting number too, with Sid singing it into the Dictaphone, then playing it back and singing to scold his romantic notions. "Once a Year a Day" is that colorful, swirling number at the picnic that gets so wild, it ends with everyone collapsing! "Steam Heat" is extraneous, basically existing for Haney and the male dancers to do their bowler-and-knock-knees thing, but it still looks pretty darn good. "Hernando's Hideaway" has Haney bringing Raitt to Iowa's most infamous dive bar...so infamous, everyone needs to light matches to find their way around.

Trivia: Frank Sinatra was considered for the male lead that eventually went to original Broadway cast member Raitt.

Pajama Game debuted on Broadway in 1954 and was a huge hit, running just shy of three years. It made it to just under two on the West End. It was revived briefly on Broadway in 1978, and more successfully with Harry Connick Jr. as Sid in 2006. Three new songs were added to the 2006 version. It's said to be popular with community and high school theaters.

What I Don't Like: As unique as the story is, it really hasn't dated well in spots. Sid comes off as a bit of a jerk early-on and kind of forces himself on Babe, who kept saying 'no.' Gladys and Hines' subplot is even worse. Hines actually throws knives at Sid in the end when he's drunk and thinks Gladys has been with him - frankly, I'm amazed Gladys even considers returning to him after that. Speaking of Sid, Raitt is really kind of stiff in front of a camera when he's not singing. No wonder this would be his only film.

The Big Finale: Lively background music for your Labor Day barbecue if you're a fan of Day or 50's musicals.

Home Media: Easy to find on DVD; most streaming services have it for purchase only.

DVD
Amazon Prime (Buy Only)

Lullaby of Broadway

Warner Bros, 1951
Starring Doris Day, Gene Nelson, SZ Sakall, and Billy DeWolfe
Directed by David Butler
Music by various

After the war, Broadway remained as important as ever, helped by new inventions like the long-playing LP that could preserve almost an entire show's worth of music and excerpts of shows performed on early TV. The movies tried to regain their previous dominance with audiences by showcasing new performers and technologies. One of those new performers was Doris Day, who rose to prominence in the late 40's and early 50's in frothy musicals after a stint as a big band singer. She and another newcomer, dancer Gene Nelson, joined old hams like Sakall and De Wolfe for this tale of an English performer who comes to America to find the mother she never knew. We begin on-board a cruise ship bound for the US, as Melinda Howard (Day) prepares for that long-desired meeting...

The Story: Melinda thinks her mother, Broadway singer Jessica Howard (Gladys George), is a major star who lives in a New York mansion. The mansion is really owned by kindly businessman Adolph Hubbell (Sakall). Jessica is an alcoholic who performs at a saloon in Grenwich Village. Adolph's butler Lefty (DeWolfe) lies and says Jessica is away on a tour. He offers Melinda a room and reveals that many Broadway performers will be at a party that night. Among them is dancer Tom Farnham, whom Melinda met - and brushed off - on her trip to the US.

Adolph isn't happy about Melinda being there at first, until Lefty tells him what's going on. After Jessica fails to arrive at the party (she was really in the hospital), Adolph offers to take her to dinner. He also brings her to the attention of the producer of the Broadway show Lullaby of Broadway, who takes her as his female star alongside Tom in order to get Adolph as his backer. Adolph buys Melinda a fur coat...but then his wife thinks it's for her. When she learns who it was really for, she names Melinda in a divorce suit. Not to mention, Tom thinks Melinda's relationship with Adolph may be more than it seems. It'll take Lefty and his fiancee Gloria (Anna Triola) to bring mother and daughter together and keep Melinda from leaving the country.

The Song and Dance: Better than you'd think from the fluffy story. Nelson and Day make a cute couple, and De Wolfe and Triola may be even cuter as the former vaudevillians who are determined to help at least one person make it to the big time. Nelson has a few amazing dance routines, especially near the end of "Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart." Gladys George is also excellent as Melinda's blowzy mother who thinks she's better off hiding her sordid past from her angelic daughter. Their eventual meeting in the last ten minutes is melodramatic but still heart-rendering.

Favorite Number: Day gets a perky rendition of the classic Cole Porter song "Just One of Those Things" in the opening seconds, wearing a tuxedo while singing onstage. De Wolfe and Triola have two hilarious duets, "You're Dependable" at the party, and "We'd Like to Go On a Trip" later on. Nelson shows off that amazing split while jumping off a piano at the party during "Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart." He and Day join the chorus for the charming courtship number "I Love the Way You Say Goodnight" that includes some odd slow-motion special effects towards the end and the big title song finale, with Day in a flowing golden gown.

What I Don't Like: Did I mention that story? Alternatively fluffy and melodramatic, it's very predictable and can get kind annoying, especially towards the end. It also seems like kind of a mish-mash, almost a jukebox musical for previous Warners musical films. There's only three new songs - everything else is mostly from Warners musicals of the 1930's.

The Big Finale: Charming backstage tale with several decent numbers is worth checking out for fans of Day or Nelson.

Home Media: Easily found on streaming and DVD from the Warner Archives.

DVD
Amazon Prime

Music in Manhattan

RKO, 1944
Starring Anne Shirley, Dennis Day, Phillip Terry, and Raymond Walburn
Directed by John H. Auer
Music by Herb Pollack; Lyrics by Herb Magidson

Many small-scale and "B" musicals were made during the World War II years to fill double-bills and let the folks on the home front get their minds off their troubles. They often reflected the reality of the time, with people having difficulty finding places to stay, travel restricted and gas rationed, and returning GIs considered heroes and sometimes even celebrities. Let's join Frankie Foster (Shirley) at the struggling off-Broadway revue she and her boyfriend Stanley (Day) are appearing in and find out just how hard it was...

The Story: Hoping to bump up her act with Stanley and keep the revue afloat, Frankie tries to get to Washington DC to borrow money from her rich father. Their manager Professor Carl Roberti (Walburn) gets her on the next plane by claiming she's the wife of returning soldier Johnny Pearson (Terry). She even gets the bridal suite in DC by claiming to be his wife. Pearson is less angry to find a "wife" sharing his bedroom than amused, despite him really being involved with Frankie's friend in the show Gladys (Patti Brill). Frankie isn't amused and ends up walking back to New York.

The show does become a hit...thanks to the Professor and the cast of the show publicizing her "marriage" to Pearson. Frankie laughs it off at first, until Pearson returns and insists on sharing a room with her. Worse yet, his mother (Jane Darwell) arrives, convinced that she now has a daughter-in-law. Stanley is livid and tries to tell everyone within a five mile radius about the situation, but Frankie's wondering if being "married" to Johnny is really that terrible...

The Song and Dance: Shirley and a decent supporting cast really anchor this goofy little wartime tale. Shirley manages to make some of the stranger twists of the plot believable, even when Terry's mother arrives and things really get out of hand. Darwell and Walburn have a field day as the kindly old lady who really thinks her son found happiness and the slick older agent who thinks he's finally found a way to make their small-time show a hit.

Favorite Number: The movie opens with a spicy Latin dance routine and Dennis Day singing about "One Night In Acapulco." The cutest musical number shows Day and Shirley's morning routine in separate rooms, then brings them together for "Did You Happen to Find a Heart?" They also take part in the big, glamorous finale with lots of chorus dancers and glittering gowns, "When Romance Comes Along."

What I Don't Like: Very typical of its time and of romantic comedy. You can more-or-less figure out who Frankie will end up with less than ten minutes after the movie begins. Day sings beautifully, but he comes off more like a whiny twit than someone who is trying to protect his fiancee. And there's this being just this much shy of B-movie fodder.

The Big Finale: Charming bit of 40's fluff if you're a fan of the era or romantic comedy and run into it on TCM.

Home Media: Once again, this can currently only be found in occasional showings on TCM.

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