Musical Documentaries - Soul to Soul

Cinerama Releasing Corporation, 1971

Starring Ike & Tina Turner, Wilson Pickett, Carlos Santana, and Guy Warren

Directed by Denis Sanders

Music and Lyrics by various

Juneteenth is the newest Federal holiday, but African-Americans in Texas and other southern states have celebrated it since 1865. It honors African-Americans being released from slavery in Texas, the last state of the Confederacy to do so. This year, we honor their independence by celebrating freedom of a different sort. Ghana declared its independence from England in 1957. Poet Maya Angelou approached the government in the early 60's about a concert with African-Americans and local talent, only to see that government overthrown. It took another pair of Americans, father and son Ed and Tom Mosk, to convince the Ghana Arts Council that the time was right for Ghana to rock. How does the concert look today? Let's begin right in the thick of things, with Tina Turner shimmying to the title song, and find out...

The Story: Some of the top names in rock, jazz, and soul arrive in Ghana to appear in Black Star Square (now Independence Square) and celebrate the 14th anniversary of their independence. In between numbers, we see them interact with the people of Ghana, and even get to see some dynamic West African folk dances and ceremonies.

The Song and Dance: Wow. As awesome as the performances were, I think the people of Ghana may have them beat. Some of their routines were downright incredible. It's wonderful to see how the people of West Africa bring the musicians in on their ceremonies, and how much they respect them and treat them like royalty. For the African-American musicians, this was a chance to learn about their own heritages and discover more about the world many of their relatives and ancestors came from. 

Favorite Number: We open with Tina Turner showing off her early raw style with the title song. She and Ike go into their hit "River Deep, Mountain High" towards the end of the film, and they also get the bluesy "I Smell Trouble." Wilson Pickett delights the huge crowds with his dynamic performances of his major hits "In the Midnight Hour" and "Land of 1,000 Dances." Carlos Santana wows the crowd with his frenzied guitar playing and manic energy to his two biggest hits of the time, "Black Magic Woman" and "Jungle Strut." Amid the celebrating, jazz singers Les McCann and Eddie Harris remind the crowds of "The Price You Gotta Pay to Be Free," while the Staple Singers wonder "When Will We Get Paid." Roberta Flack puts out the only ballad of the night, crooning about "Trying Times." Amoah Azango is a local witch doctor who can do incredible things by just shaking a calabash, a ball-shaped percussion instrument. 

Trivia: Robera Flack's performance was cut from the current DVD copies at her request.

What I Don't Like: Some of the language, in the music and between the performers, and a few of the dances from the people of Ghana may border today on stereotypical or inappropriate. Some of the discussions between numbers does use language that may offend today.

The Big Finale: If you're a fan of soul, jazz, or rock from this era, want to learn more about African, rock, or black cultural history, or if you loved Summer of Soul from last year, you'll want to dig around for this celebration of all kinds of independence, cultural, personal, and countrywide. 

Home Media: The DVD is majorly expensive, hard to find, and edited. There's currently a copy on YouTube with Japanese subtitles that retains Flack's number, though it's admittedly not in the greatest shape. If you really love the music, you may want to sign with The Coda Collection, which streams musical films and documentaries with a subscription.

DVD

The Coda Collection

YouTube

Cult Flops - Hedwig and the Angry Inch

New Line Cinema, 2001

Starring John Cameron Mitchell, Miriam Shor, Andrea Martin, and Stephan Trask

Directed by John Cameron Mitchell

Music and Lyrics by Stephan Trask

There's a lot to celebrate this week, so we're going to begin by honoring Pride Month with one of the most unique musicals of the last 20 years. John Cameron Mitchell's magnum opus began not as a theater workshop, but as a series of gigs in small rock venues and clubs, like the ones played by the title character. It finally debuted off-Broadway in 1998 and was a hit, running two years. It was inspired by his life growing up as a gay youth with a love of mythology whose major general father had the family situated in East Berlin in the late 80's; Hedwig was loosely based after his German babysitter. How does this exploration of gender politics and what it means to be uniquely you look more than 20 years later, at a time when gender politics are more in the news than ever? Let's begin with one of Hedwig's (Mitchell) concerts in the early 90's, as she explains who she is and what happened to her, and find out...

The Story: As we follow Hedwig and her band, the Angry Inch, through a series of gigs for a small chain of ratty clubs, we learn her life story and see why she's traveling. She began life as Hansel Schmidt, an East German boy raised by his uncaring mother after his American soldier father ran out. He's obsessed with "The Origin of Love" that talks about how there were once three beings, and they were split into two halves. He wants to find his other half, and marries American officer Luther Robinson (Maurice Dean Wint) to get out of East Germany. His sex change operation to pass as Robinson's wife is botched badly, leaving him with scar on his vagina that's the "angry inch" of the title. 

After Robinson leaves her for a man, she forms a rock band with Korean-born army wives and takes up babysitting. The friend of one of her charges, Tommy Speck (Michael Pitt), strikes up a friendship with her. It becomes something deeper when she teaches him history and songwriting and grooms him for the stage. Renamed Tommy Gnosis, they become a success in local venues...but Tommy leaves her and steals her music after he becomes an overnight star and learns she's not a woman. Hedwig is convinced Tommy is her other half and arranges it so her gigs follow his sold-out tours. Her husband Yitzhak (Shor) is jealous, but she's still in love with Tommy.

The Song and Dance: Mitchell's relationship to the subject matter makes this far more intimate than most musicals. The low-budget works with the down-and-dirty locations, the dingy bars and dump of a trailer where he lives with Robinson after they leave East Germany. There's even pencil-sketched animation representing the mythology Hedwig always talks about with the two halves of the whole. Mitchell's touching and even heartbreaking as the East German who only wants to find the other part of himself; Pitt nearly matches him as the object of his affections, who goes from callow and curious youth to self-centered rock god. 

Favorite Number: We open with "Tear Me Down" at the first gig, as Hedwig explains why he wants to stay in drag. He and the band tell the audience about "The Origin of Love" as he describes how the two halves were separated. "Sugar Daddy" and "Angry Inch" relate how Robinson lead him with love and convinced him to have that sex change operation. "Wig In a Box" depicts how he brought the band together and accepted his new feminine persona. "

Wicked Little Town" gives us how Hedwig first met Tommy; "Freaks" and "The Long Grift" go into Tommy's harsh abandonment of Hedwig and his rise to fame. "Hedwig's Lament" and "Exquisite Corpse" bring us to Times Square, as Hedwig finally finds herself in the spotlight...and starts to bring together both sides of her persona...as the band goes from black to white-clad and she literally sheds her layers of clothes and sexuality.

Trivia: Hedwig was a major success off-Broadway from 1998 to 2000; it also turned up briefly in an equally small fringe West End house. While the movie was a flop in 2001, it did see a Broadway revival with Neil Patrick Harris as Hedwig and Lena Hall as Yitzak that ran a year and won a best revival Tony. It's since become a favorite with the midnight movie circuit; the stage show is popular with small theaters looking for more adventurous material.

What I Don't Like: As you can tell, this is very dark for a musical. It's also very indie, with it's non-linear story and obviously cheap and low-budget sets and costumes. It can occasionally get a bit too arty or meta-physical for its own good, especially in that strange finale that has a naked Mitchell walking off into the shadows. The discussion of gender politics, body parts, and Cold War history, not to mention some fairly heavy swearing, makes this absolutely not for children. 

The Big Finale: If you're looking for something different in your musicals, are interested in gay theater history, or want to see how a small musical can be done right, you'll want to head down to the concert to check out Hedwig and her band of hard rock-loving misfits. 

Home Media: It was re-released on DVD and Blu-Ray by The Criterion Collection in 2019 and can be easily found for streaming as well.

DVD

Blu-Ray

Amazon Prime

Family Fun Saturday - Another Cinderella Story

Warner Bros, 2008

Starring Selena Gomez, Jane Lynch, Drew Seely, and Jessica Parker Kennedy

Directed by Damon Santostefano

Music and Lyrics by various

The original A Cinderella Story was a non-musical romantic comedy featuring then-hot ingénue Hilary Duff as the put-upon teen of the title. It was such a smash with kids, Warners followed it with a series of direct-to-DVD films that all followed the same theme. This was the second in the series, and the first to be a musical. Selena Gomez was another popular teen star of the time, having made waves the year before in the Disney Channel fantasy sitcom The Wizards of Waverly Place. How well does she do in a less overtly magical story? Let's begin with a dance routine in the head of Mary Santiago (Gomez) and find out...

The Story: Mary was taken as a child by lazy and vain fading pop star Dominique Blatt. She and her silly twin stepdaughters Bree (Katherine Isabelle) and Britt (Emily Perkins) treat Mary like a servant, working her to the bone. The spoiled duo make Mary's life miserable in and out of school, where they bully her and her more courageous best friend Tami (Kennedy). 

Mary's school is up in arms when handsome pop star Joey Parker (Seely) returns for his senior year. He's hoping to regain his inspiration and remember why he started dancing. His best friend Dustin "The Funk" (Marcus T. Faulk) arranges a dance contest for the end of the school year. Dominique wants to shove her girls at him or at least sing with him, but he can see straight through her and refuses. Meanwhile, Tami convinces Mary to attend their school's Black and White Ball with her. She dances with Joey without knowing who he is...and flees when she finds out. She leaves behind her music player as the only clue to her identity. Joey has to figure out who has that specific playlist, then convince Mary to finally come out of her stepfamily's shadow for good.

The Song and Dance: Gomez makes a lovely Cinderella here, showing all of the charm that made her a favorite on Waverly Place and other Disney programming of the time.  She's also a good enough dancer to pull off some of the more intricate moves in several numbers, including when she and Seely are matching moves in the "two-way mirror dance class" number. Lynch may be the craziest, most over-the-top stepmother in these movies yet, with her wild costumes and mile-high beehive hair, even if you don't believe for a minute that she was ever a major pop star. We also get a rare reference to some older versions of Cinderella where the stepmother gives her tons of chores like picking peas out of lentils in the ever-growing list of chores Dominique piles on Mary.

Favorite Number: We open with serious dancers in black before a black backdrop performing the hit "Tell Me Something I Don't Know" with Mary. The number ends abruptly when Mary's awaken by the domineering Dominique. "Hold 4 You" and "Baby Got Bacne" are part of the ridiculously over-the-top advertisement for zit cream that Dominique's been reduced to doing in order to hang on to her lavish lifestyle. Dustin and Joey sing about how they're going to find a "1st Class Girl" who will capture Joey's heart. Joey falls hard for Mary when they do the "Valentine's Dance Tango" at the Black and White Ball. They write "New Classic" during a date at Dominique's mansion; later, this becomes the song Joey uses to convince Mary to come onstage for the big finale at the dance contest.

What I Don't Like: Not only is Seely no more interesting as the male lead than other "Prince Charmings" in the Cinderella Story movies, but he's a decade older than Gomez and looks it. The stepsisters have all the personalities of two wet mops and other than arranging for Mary to find Joey with his ex-girlfriend Natalia (Nicole LaPlaca) and their awful dances in the end don't have much to do. Dustin and Tami are the obvious "best friends" too, and while Kennedy can be charming, Faulk is just annoying. It's also as obviously low-budget as the other films in this series, with most of it set in the school or mansion. And yes, there's the fact that the story is a mass of cliches you've seen a thousand times before in stories of this stripe and will again (including four more times in this series). 

The Big Finale: As with the other movies in this series, this would make great background noise for a slumber or birthday party for girls in the appropriate 8 to 14 age range.

Home Media: Easily found on all formats; it's on disc paired with the original Cinderella Story. HBO Max currently has it with a subscription. 

DVD - A Cinderella Story/Another Cinderella Story

Blu-Ray - A Cinderella Story/Another Cinderella Story

HBO Max

Judy Garland Centennial - Presenting Lily Mars

MGM, 1943

Starring Judy Garland, Van Heflin, Spring Byington, and Richard Carlson

Directed by Norman Taurog

Music and Lyrics by various

By the early 40's, Judy was a full-grown adult and one of the biggest stars at MGM. They were ready to give her the glamor treatment and a vehicle of her own, without support from a leading man or elaborate special effects. Presenting Lily Mars started life as a best-selling novel by Booth Tarkington in 1933. It was originally planned as a drama for Lana Turner, but Turner dropped out and the studio retooled it as a screwball backstage musical for Garland. How well did they do? Let's begin in small-town Indiana, where the eccentric Mars family begin their day, and find out...

The Story: Lily Mars (Garland) would do anything to land a part in stage producer John Thornway's (Heflin) new musical, including remind him that his doctor father helped bring her into the world. Thornway doesn't think much of amateurs and thinks she's too much of a child to bother with. She's so desperate for a role, she follows him to New York. 

He does find her a place to live in a theatrical boarding house, but she still wants a real acting job. He's dating Isobel Rykay, the Russian actress who is appearing in his current operetta, but Isobel isn't thrilled with John's attention Lily. Lily gets the lead when Isobel throws a fit and vanishes right before the curtain goes up...but she's devastated when Isobel returns in time for the show. It takes her family's encouragement to remind her that even the smallest part can be a step up to something better along the line.

The Song and Dance: "Sweet" and "adorable" aren't normally adjectives you'd apply to a backstage musical, but the small-town vibe on this one has more in common with Sing You Sinners than 42nd Street. Garland is so funny and charming as the talented young woman with hope in her eyes, you can see why this movie confirmed her star status. Despite also working on Girl Crazy at the time, she's as fit and happy as she ever was. I also like Connie Gilcrest as the singer-turned-washwoman who mentors Lily to stardom, Byington as her daffy mother, Leonard Kinsky as the show's dour costume designer, and Douglas Croft as her brother Davey who insists on collecting unique door knobs everywhere he goes. 

Favorite Number: Our first big number isn't until nearly 20 minutes in, but it's "Tom Tom, the Piper's Son," a swingy nursery rhyme riff Lily sings to cover her escape from the Thornways' party. Eggerth's first number is the Eastern-European inflected "Is It Really Love, or the Gypsy In Me?" complete with stereotypical costumes and fiddles. "When I Look at You" is first performed Eggerth during a rehearsal. Garland reprises it - and puts a lot more emotion into it - later at the Panorama Club with Bob Crosby and His Orchestra. "Where There's Music" is the huge finale, with dancers in white swirling around Garland in a black gown. Future director Charles Walters joins her for "Three O'Clock In the Morning," and she sings "Broadway Rhythm" with Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra in the very end. 

Trivia: Walters went on to direct Garland in Easter Parade and Summer Stock. 

What I Don't Like: MGM reshot the finale to make it bigger and more appropriate for the star Lily became...but I'm going to agree with Norman Taurog and say it feels out of place and too big for this small movie. Heflin's character switches too quickly from annoyed producer who wishes this kid would stop hounding him to being totally over the moon about her. For what's supposed to be Garland's vehicle, an awful lot of time is spent with the more traditionally glamorous Eggerth, including two major operetta-style numbers. There's also the story falling into sitcom territory again. These are backstage cliches of the highest sort, even if they are played for comedy.

The Big Finale: This and Listen, Darling proved to be pleasant surprises. Don't let them being two of Garland's lesser-known vehicles scare you off. Highly recommend these low-key charmers for fans of Garland or those looking for sweeter, homier takes on the backstage or family comedy genres. 

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

DVD

Amazon Prime

Judy Garland Centennial - Listen, Darling

MGM, 1938

Starring Judy Garland, Freddie Bartholomew, Mary Astor, and Scotty Beckett

Directed by Edwin L. Marin

Music and Lyrics by various

Judy Garland would have turned 100 on June 10th. To honor her centennial, our first two entries this week cover two of her lesser-known vehicles. This was the last movie she made before achieving international stardom with The Wizard of Oz and Babes In Arms. We also honor the start of summer vacation season with this tale of two teens who take the mother of one on a road trip to find her a husband. How well does it come off now? Let's start with the end of the school year, as Herbert "Buzz" Mitchell (Bartholomew) gives a speech for the school that doesn't come out the way he intended, and find out...

The Story: Buzz's girlfriend Pinkie Wingate (Garland) is having far more trouble than figuring out what to do during summer break. Her mother Dottie (Astor) claims she's going to marry a stuffy banker (Gene Lockhart) in order for her children to have a better life. Pinkie's so disturbed by her mother being engaged to someone she doesn't love, she and Buzz practically force Dottie and Pinkie's brother Billy (Beckett) into their trailer for a vacation. 

They meet not one, but two candidates for their mother's hand on the road. Richard Thurlow (Walter Pidgeon) is a carefree photographer and bachelor who loves being on the road. He claims to not want to settle down, but he and Dottie hit it off right away, and Pinkie and Scotty like him. They also like J.J Slattery (Alan Hale Sr.), a wealthy man who lets the children stay at his home. Pinkie favors Richard, but practical Buzz prefers J.J. Now the two have to figure out which man is really right for Dottie, before their vacation comes to an end. 

The Song and Dance: Charming B-movie is basically a family comedy with a few songs, but those songs do show Garland to best advantage. One, "Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart," became associated with her for the rest of her life and remains a standard to this day. Astor and Pidgeon make a very sweet and believable couple, especially during the second half when they're laughing over the kids' antics, and Hale makes a twinkly-eyed rich old bachelor. 

Favorite Number: We open with Pinkie singing "Zing!" with the school orchestra. She does so well with it, you can see why her mother wanted to send her away for vocal training. Once Dottie's become more used to the idea of basically being kidnapped, she and the kids sing about how being "On the Bumpy Road to Love" is rough on more than the rear.  Pinkie reassures Billy during a rainstorm that all that thunder and lightning are just "Ten Pins In the Sky" making noise. 

Trivia: Garland and Astor would play mother and daughter again in a far more famous MGM musical, Meet Me In St. Louis. 

Garland was already doing preliminary makeup and costume testing for The Wizard of Oz by this point. 

What I Don't Like: Once again, this is basic sitcom fluff. Pinkie and Buzz are extremely lucky they didn't get into far more trouble for not only more-or-less kidnapping two people, but forcing two more into their schemes. I really do wish it was a lot longer than 70 minutes. They could have expanded it into a full musical. Astor couldn't sing, but Hale and Pidgeon could, and songs for them and Beckett might have been nice. And speaking of Beckett, Billy comes off as more of a spoiled brat than a cute kid, especially when he throws an absolute fit after being attacked by a skunk and not wanting to give up his "Daniel Boone" wild west outfit. 

The Song and Dance: Cute way to pass an hour on your own family's vacation if you're a fan of Garland or charming low-key romantic comedies. 

Home Media: Easy to find on DVD and streaming, the former in a remastered edition from the Warner Archives.

DVD

Amazon Prime 

Animation Celebration Saturday - The Last Unicorn

Jensen Farley Pictures/Rankin-Bass, 1982

Voices of Mia Farrow, Jeff Bridges, Alan Arkin, and Tammy Grimes

Directed by Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass

Music and Lyrics by Jimmy Webb

Tales of high fantasy, of swords and mages and knights and barbarians, became big business in the late 70's and early 80's. In the wake of the overwhelming success of Star Wars and the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons, sword & sorcery novels that were previously considered the realm of sci-fi geeks were now enjoyed by people who had never even read the Lord of the Rings series. Rankin-Bass, who had done film versions of Return of the King and The Hobbit, now turned their attention to a later fantasy novel. The book of the same name debuted in 1968 and was shopped around to several studios, Rankin-Bass was the last they talked to and finally signed on. How does this darkly romantic tale of unicorns and magicians and red bulls look today? Let's start with the unicorn of the title (Farrow) and a singing Butterfly (Robert Klein) who sends her on her way and find out...

The Story: After much cajoling, the unicorn finally goes out into the world to figure out what happened to others like her. She first encounters Schmedrick (Arkin), an incompetent magician, at the sideshow of old witch Mommy Fortuna (Angela Landsbury). He rescues her from Mommy's cage, and later from bandits. The head bandit's frustrated lover Molly Grue (Grimes) agrees to join them as well. 

They do find the legendary red bulls who drove the unicorns to the sea, but it's attracted to the Last Unicorn. Schmedrick turns her into a human to hide her from the bull. He names her the Lady Amalthea when they're found by Prince Lir (Jeff Bridges) and his father King Haggard (Christopher Lee). It was Haggard who ordered the unicorns driven to the sea for his amusement. Schmedrick and Molly look for clues that will lead them to the bull and how to fight it...but meanwhile, Amalthea is falling for Lir, and becoming more and more human and less like a unicorn...

The Animation: While not on the line with even what Disney was doing at this point, it's still some of the best work to come from Rankin-Bass. Most of it was animated by Toei Animation in Japan. Not only had many of these people animated some of the most popular animated shows in Japan, but some would go on to form Studio Ghilbi, creators and animators of some of the most beloved anime ever. The wide eyes and flowing lines of Rankin-Bass are here augmented by some still-impressive special effects, including the red bull and the unicorns in the sea.

The Song and Dance: Dark and dreamy, this has been a favorite of me and my sisters since we were very little. Farrow is perfect as the wide-eyed mythical creature who is delicate enough to make a willowy human, yet tough enough to take on a long journey cross-country. Arkin and Grimes also do very well as the magician who discovers he's better at this whole magic thing than he thought and the cook who wishes she could have seen the unicorn in her younger, more innocent years. Lee's King Haggard is appropriately frightening, and the red bull is the stuff of nightmares when we finally do see it. 

Favorite Number: The dreamy title song has become a bit of a standard over the years; here, it's heard in the opening and closing credits, performed by country band America. They also perform "Man's Road" twice, as the Unicorn as traveling alone early in the film, and later when she's close to her goal with Molly and Schmedrick. "In the Sea (Where Do Unicorns Go?)" has them questioning what happened to those unicorns as the now-human Amalthea tries to remember her goals...but only knows she's in love with Lir. Bridges and Farrow duet late in the film as Lir tries to tell Amalthea how much he loves her, and "That's All I've Got to Say."

What I Don't Like: First of all, despite the G rating, this is a very dark movie. There's some violence with the red bull, especially in the end when Lir nearly dies, and quite a bit of cursing that's retained on most prints currently available. Mommy Fortuna and her sideshow and Captain Cully and his men have grotesque designs that are the stuff of nightmares, and there's Mommy's gruesome fate. Farrow does well in the book sequences, but she can't sing, making her solo "Now That I'm a Woman" flat and a bit painful. Bridges can't sing, either, and it does no favors to the otherwise-decent "All I've Got to Say." Some of the dialogue gets pretty stiff too, once again mostly towards the end in the castle. 

The Big Finale: If you have young fantasy lovers who are up to some of the rougher moments and characters, they'll find a lot to love in this unique romantic fable. 

Home Media: Easily found on all formats, often for under $10. Look for the remastered "Enchanted Edition"; earlier video and DVD releases cut some of the nastier language. Many online streaming companies have it for free, including Tubi. 

DVD

Blu-Ray

Tubi

Junior Prom

Monogram Pictures, 1946

Starring Freddie Stewart, June Preissler, Noel Neill, and Jackie Moran

Directed by Arthur Dreifuss

Music and Lyrics by various

From 1946 to 1948, B movie specialists Monogram Pictures churned out The Teen-Agers, a series of hour-long musicals revolving around a group of typical swing-loving high schoolers (and later, college students) of the time. This was the first, and is probably the best-known today. Teenagers had started to come into their own as early as the 1920's; by the end of the war years, they had their own language, culture, and world view. The newfound prosperity of the late 40's and 50's suddenly gave them more money to spend, and companies responded with literature, clothing, beauty products, and even movies designed just for them. This is one of the earliest responses to that new culture. Does it still win the vote today, or should it thrown out of the race? Let's begin in music class, where a couple of hep cats are getting bored with opera and its crazy plots, and find out...

The Story:  Freddie Trimball (Stewart) is so upset when a local businessman says he'll withdraw his funding if his son Jimmy Forest (Jackie Moran) doesn't become student body president, he drops out of the race. Freddie rethinks his stance and throws his hat back in the ring when he overhears the cocky Jimmy trying to ask his girlfriend Dodie (Preissler) to the big Junior Prom at the Teen Canteen. Jimmy's campaign manager Roy Dunn (Frankie Darro) courts Dodie's sister Betty (Neill), the head of the school newspaper, and convinces her to write articles in favor of Jimmy. This starts trouble not only between Betty and her sisters, but between the two candidates, too. Now Betty has to decide where her heart lays, before the competition gets too hot for the school to handle.

The Song and Dance: They may not be actual "teen-agers," but there's still a talented core cast around this goofy school tale. Preissler shows off the same knack for comedy and amazingly limber dance moves she displayed in the first two Judy Garland-Mickey Rooney movies at MGM, Stewart has a gorgeous voice (he was originally a singer), and Neill is just as feisty here as she would be a decade later playing a more famous reporter, Lois Lane, in The Adventures of Superman. 

Favorite Number: We open in music class, as the kids give their teacher a hard time about the plots of opera being unbelievable. They'd rather listen to Harry "The Hipster" Gibson "Keep That Beat" and teach them how to swing dance. Freddie and the Clark sisters extoll "Trimbull for President" with their supporters to drown out Jimmy's speech. The kids' record of Eddie Heywood and his orchestra performing "Loch Lamond" turns into what amounts to a video of the real orchestra performing the number. Freddie shows off his singing pipes with "All of a Sudden My Heart Sings" at the Prom. The film ends with a nifty swing dance routine as the kids sing about what happens at the "Teen Canteen."

What I Don't Like: First and foremost, teens have changed a great deal in the past 70 years. Sure, they still chatter away on cell phones, get involved in school elections, and drool over crushes, but most real teens probably would have seen this as somewhere between corny and insulting then, let alone now. Second, none of the actors are actually teens. Granted, most of them can still pass for younger, but Darro's pushing 30 and looks it. Third, this is a low-budget production. It's as fluffy as you can get for a "teen pic," with cheap sets and a silly plot. It's not for someone seeking a darker take on teen life in the 40's or something bigger or higher-budgeted.

The Big Finale: Recommended for some catchy numbers alone if you enjoy the B-films of the 1930's and 40's or swing music. 

Home Media: Not on DVD at press time, but can be easily found on streaming. Tubi has it for free with ads. 

Tubi