Starring Jane Powell, Edward Purdom, Debbie Reynolds, and Vic Damone
Directed by Richard Thorpe
Music by Hugh Martin; Lyrics by Ralph Blaine
We celebrate the upcoming Olympics this week with two musicals revolving around sports, starting with this unique celebration of good health and bodybuilding from the mid-50's. This was originally intended to be a vehicle for Esther Williams, but when she went on maternity leave, the title daughter of a vegetarian bodybuilding coach became a singer for Powell. Damone was another popular singer at the time, and Purdom was being hyped as the next big star at MGM after the success of The Student Prince. How do they all work with the story of a conservative senator who falls for lovely Athena and her fresh-air lifestyle? Let's begin with girls mobbing the studio to see singing idol Johnny Nyle (Damone) and find out...
The Story: While Johnny worries about being sued by his former agent, his lawyer friend Adam Calhorn Shaw (Purdom) worries about the peach trees he just bought. He meets perky Athena Mulvain (Powell) at the nursery, where she gives him advice on how to deal with the trees. She even turns up in his yard to do the mulching herself. Her grandparents and seven sisters are major advocates of healthy lifestyles, including vegetarianism, anti-smoking and drinking, and exercise. They're also proponents of numerology and astrology, which is why Athena immediately claims that the stars have lead her to Adam, and they also direct her sister Minerva (Reynolds) to Johnny.
Adam thinks this is absurd at first. He's already engaged to wealthy and sophisticated Beth Hallston (Linda Christian). He eventually finds himself falling for Athena, even though her grandfather Ulysses (Louis Calhoun) disapproves of the relationship. He wants Athena to marry Ed Perkins (Steve Reeves), the bodybuilder he's preparing for Mr. Universe. Adam invites Athena to a formal dinner, but Beth angers her when she serves vegetables stuffed with meat, while Adam is equally angry when Grandpa complains about him at the Mr. Universe contest and Adam easily knocks Ed out. It would seem that Grandma's right about there being rocky times ahead, but it's Adam who ultimately gives up his career so that "love can change the stars."
The Song and Dance: This is one of the most unusual musicals MGM ever did. For one thing, it's interesting that it advocates health-conscious lifestyles more than two decades before they started to become more common. The only thing strange about how the Mulvains live today would be some of Grandpa's more out-there breeding theories. While she seems a bit out of place, Powell's doing her best as the most determined of the seven sisters, and Calhoun is hilarious as her body-obsessed grandfather.
Favorite Number: We open at Johnny's TV show, with him singing "The Boy Next Door" on a neighborhood set to an audience of rapt female fans. Athena's "Vocalize" when she's mulching the peach trees later becomes "Harmonize" at the Mulvain family dinner. Johnny first encourages Minvera to "Imagine" a relationship with him at the family's health food store. He reprises it later near the end of the movie.
Athena insists to her grandmother and sisters that "Love Can Change the Stars," which Johnny also sings later. "Never Felt Better" is the chorus number for Athena, Minerva, the sisters, and the bodybuilders when they make over Adam's home to be more open and plant-friendly. "Venezia" is Johnny's big Italian chorus routine at the night club. Athena sings the aria "Chancun le sait" from the opera The Daughter of the Regiment at the disastrous dinner party.
Trivia: Purdom had an affair with Christian during filming and later married her, though the union was short-lived.
"The Boy Next Door" is "The Girl Next Door" from Meet Me In St. Louis with the gender changed.
What I Don't Like: Sometimes, this movie is too weird for its own good. Healthy lifestyles seem like a strange thing to base a major musical around. Real-life health advocate Williams would have made a lot more sense in the title role than the miscast Powell, and her swimming numbers might have given the film a much-needed lift. Purdom isn't any more interesting here without Mario Lanza's vocals than he was in The Student Prince. Richard Thorpe's disinterest in the whole affair is obvious from his pedestrian direction. Damone and Reynolds really don't have much to do beyond their numbers. The plot point with Johnny being sued by his agent is barely mentioned again after the first twenty minutes. Speaking of the numbers, most of them really don't have much to do with the story, and other than "The Girl Next Door," are dull and unmemorable.
The Big Finale: I do give them credit for trying something different, but this is too weird to be one of the better MGM musicals. For major fans of Powell, Reynolds, Damone, or the big MGM shows of the 40's and 50's only.
Home Media: The remastered Warner Archives DVD is currently out of print, but the Blu-Ray is available, and it's easily found on streaming.
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