Underappreciated Film Musicals- Page 4

[roquat]

Posted: 11/13/05 at 2:18pm

COVER GIRL, a 1950s Gene Kelly/Rita Hayworth musical. It's uneven, and there's a horrible flashback subplot set in the 1890s, but there's a lot of good-natured, colorful invention in the musical numbers, and Hayworth dances splendidly (she also mimes delivering the beautiful ballad "Long Ago and Far Away" with uncommon empathy, while another woman's voice is coming out of her.) The Technicolor still looks great.

DANCING LADY (I'm pretty sure this is the title, and that it's from the late 30s or early 40s--it's in black and white). A rather typical backstage story, not really interesting, but it features a number about beer delivered by Joan Crawford (??!!!) and a young up-and-coming contract player named Fred Astaire, both of whom are dressed in stereotypical Swiss outfits (braids, lederhosen, clogs, the works) Has anyone else heard of this one? Not to be missed. Miss Crawford's singing and dancing (which actually got her into the movies) is enjoyably terrible.

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 11/13/05 at 10:16pm

Oooh Goodtoon, You're good! Very, very good!

I assume you have the Vitaphone "Swing, Swing, Swing" shorts tape with Betty Hutton with Vincent Lopez' orchestra singing "Old Man Mose", right? I really want to see her OTHER Vitaphones, but to my knowledge they are not available. I'm also keen to see the early Martha Raye shorts (big Martha fan here) ..I hope they even still exist.

Whats so sad about Roberti and Penner is that they both died when they were VERY young - heart attacks for both. I don't think Roberti was even thirty years old.

Updated On: 11/13/05 at 10:16 PM

[DG]

Posted: 11/14/05 at 3:01am

I just want to say this exchange has been fascinating - so much that I know nothing about! Hopefully, at some point, I'll be able to track some of these things down and open up to them.

But anyway, thank you for the sharing

[wexy]

Posted: 11/14/05 at 3:13am

Mr Magoo's Christmas Carol.
Good tunes by Bob Merril and Jules Styne and to me, a holiday favorite.

[My Name in Lights]

Posted: 11/14/05 at 4:27am

GODSPELL

With a very young Victor Garber as Jesus, and Lynne Thigpen as one of the disciples. I don't think many people saw it, but ever so rarely it is run on TV...if you get a chance, it is worth watching. Lots of talent, and not a boring moment in the whole movie. I mention that fact, because much as I love musicals, a lot of them are very slow moving and long; and sometimes, the music itself can be boring. GODSPELL, however, is great; and it is all done on the streets of NYC.

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 11/14/05 at 6:04am

Goodtoon, three of my favorite instances of 'background music': "How Blue the Night" from FOUR JILLS IN A JEEP in the shipboard dance scene in GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES (a nice tip to Harold Adamson who was brought in to add new songs to BLONDES) and "The More I See You" underscoring the 'white glitter tuxedo' party in BIG. Whoever at Fox thought of using that (Penny Marshall?) deserves MAJOR brownie points.

The strangest and boldest instance I know of is the use of "Over the Rainbow" during the most tense scenes in I WAKE UP SCREAMING, with the sassy Alfred Newman arrangement of it that finishes the film over the final credits. I've never seen such a 'cross-studio' use like that before.

I never realized that about DAYTIME WIFE, though it's been years since I've seen it. I remember noting how gorgeous a couple Power and Darnell made (she was FIFTEEN when she made it, can you imagine!!!) and how funny Joan Davis was in her too-brief scenes (her bit with the stamps and the chocolate).


And Thank you, DG, for appreciting this back-and-forth here! I learn a lot from such conversations here.

Updated On: 11/14/05 at 06:04 AM

[Forester]

Posted: 11/14/05 at 8:04am

FEAR OF A BLACK HAT - Go and see it man.

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 11/15/05 at 4:22am

Goodtoon, I have never seen SENSATIONS of 1945. Alas, I only know it from stills. What I would like to know is, what was Eleanor Powell doing at United Artists?! I know what you mean of wanting pre-recordings - I feel that way about REVILLIE WITH BEVERLY and JAM SESSION, all with great bands, including the most biarre version of "Night and Day" with Frank Sinatra trying to sound like Dick Haymes.

Completely forgotten into a black hole are Paramounts 1940s musicals - RAINBOW ISLAND, HERE COME THE GIRLS (I think Veronica Lake's only Technicolor Film), RIDING HIGH, SWEATER GIRL, PRIORITIES ON PARADE (with a blonde Ann Miller!!!), LOUISINA PURCHASE, LET'S FACE IT, etc. I've seen a tape of HAPPY GO LUCKY (in amazingly good color) and it so explains why Betty Hutton became a movie star and why Mary Martin didn't.

The one thing I have noticed about 1940s Paramount musicals is they usually have horrible scenic design - REALLY bad, overcluttered sets. HERE COME THE WAVES looks as bad as great as it sounds.

Double ditto for 1940s RKO musicals, though of all things, BELLE OF THE YUKON is coming out on DVD.

Do you have the DVDs of the 'soundies' that are out there? I'd love to know more about them.

Updated On: 11/15/05 at 04:22 AM

[BT]

Posted: 11/15/05 at 10:33am

In college I got a chance to screen some original Warner Bros. musical prints. There were some gems, especially The Gold Diggers of 1933 and 42nd street - Dick Powell being young and healthy in his underwear...

[RobbO]

Posted: 11/15/05 at 10:35am

evita

moulin rouge

[lildogs]

Posted: 11/15/05 at 10:47am

Brendan, what "underappreciated" means (to me) is films that aren't considered in the Top Ten of musicals--not as highly regarded as Singin', Cabaret, My Fair Lady, Sound of Music, West Side...all very successful regardless of what people may think of their respective qualities.

PJ: I LOVE ELEANOR POWELL! I think she and The Nicholas Brothers are the best film dancers-period.

roquat, Cover Girl was nominated for Best Pic...though somewhat forgotten today--although they've shown it at Chelsea Classics not too long ago.

I also think Hedwig and Dancer are great films, jrb.

[Goodtoon]

Posted: 11/15/05 at 1:20pm

Those WB / BB films are full of energy and vitality! Great viewing.

Dick Powell always seems to be having a good time in all his films. Watching him watch some other performers in action is interesting as he really seems to be appreicating them and not merely acting. In VARSITY SHOW, he watches the great dancer John Bubbles do a rountine and he is clearly in admiration, showing much pleasure, yet not scene-stealing. Same thing in THANKS A MILLION where he is watching Rubinoff play the violin.

His dead on impersonation...alomst a parody/mockery of Al Jolson in HARD TO GET is a panic. He arrives at a swanky party in blackface and is stopped at the door. He states (in a Jolson voice) "I'm da singa". Then he wails out "Sonny Boy" from a balcony. Too much! :0
Updated On: 11/15/05 at 01:20 PM

[MrMidwest]

Posted: 11/15/05 at 1:56pm

There was a thread about 8 Women recently, but I'll just mention it here also because I think it fits the topic.

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 11/15/05 at 9:33pm

Goodtoon, have you ever seen GOING PLACES? I only know the "Mutiny in the Nursery" number with Dick Powell, Louis Armstrong and Maxene Sullivan - Fantastic!!!!! I'd love to know if the other numbers are half as good.

I saw that, of all things, PIN-UP GIRL is coming out on DVD. If it weren't for the lame-brained plot and horrible finale, it would actually be good. The score is a lot of fun, Grable looks terrific and Martha of course rocks. And the Technicolor is very unusual in that the colors that predominate are shades of red, white and blue. I hope they include the cut "This Is It" and anything else they can dig up. The Charlie Spivak vocalists are really good, but they are not the most photogenic people!

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 11/16/05 at 8:39am

Yes, GoodToon, that's where "Jeepers Creepers" is from.

Yes, Betty was pregnant at the time of PIN UP GIRL and it kind of undercuts the title that she is really heavily clothed throught most of the film. She was HUGE in the USO number (you can see how heavy her calves were under her dirndl dress) and she barely dances except with Hermes Pan & Angela Blue in "Once Too Often" (I really like the song). No fast taps or jitterbugging though. And yeah, I did like the color, though it almost looks like Cinecolor at times.

Do you like Marcie McGuire? She was an RKO star who is TOTALLY forgotten. She was known as "The female Mickey Rooney" and introduced "I Get The Neck Of The Chicken" - the only thing I've heard of hers - in SEVEN DAYS LEAVE (with Vic Mature and Lucille Ball's last RKO film before moving to MGM) Marcie made a bunch of RKO B-musicals and Vanished (I think) after appearing in IT HAPPENED IN BROOKLYN at MGM. I like her from what I've heard.

Thank you for your gracious note - I hope things improve with your personal business soon (whatever they are) and come back soon - always great to meet other knowledgeable and enthusiastic fans here! I hope to El-See-Zee you soon!

[roquat]

Posted: 11/16/05 at 10:57am

Can someone give me a summary of "Love Me Tonight"? I've heard bits about it over the years, and it contains one of my favorite Rodgers and Hart songs, "Lover"--everything seems to indicate that it has great appeal, but I don't know anything about the stars, the plot, or the rest of the score.

Is it at all like "Hallelujah, I'm a Bum"--a sweetly loony Depression-era fable, also by Rodgers and Hart, written entirely in rhyming couplets? This has to be one of the most experimental major-studio films of its (or any) time--it was ignored or misunderstood by audiences when it was released, but its charm and appeal hold up very well. It also has Al Jolson's best screen work.

I also have to say that, as a child, I was very taken by "The Wiz". With my adult perspective, I understand that it is not a good film, but it is an extremely ambitious one, and the ambitions come tantalizingly close to fulfillment.
The supporting cast, the set design, and the concept of New York City as a contemporary urban-playground Oz are all fascinating. The film only falls short at its center--a deadly solemn Diana Ross, acting like she's in Eugene O'Neill, and stopping the movie cold with her funereally-paced solos.

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 11/16/05 at 1:18pm

Roquat, just about everything you need to know is available at the link. It's the finest work Rodgers & Hart ever did for the screen, and if you only know Jeanette MacDonald from her MGM dfilms with Nelson Eddy, you're missing a much sexier and FUNNIER Jeanette. And though I can't abide Chevalier later on (Hees Gallic loh-vehr routine soon beecomes very theekly laid on -I even hate him in GIGI), he's fresh and charming here. I can't add any more raves about the film except that according to Richard Barrios in his unsurpassed book A SONG IN THE DARK -THE BIRTH OF THE MUSICAL FILM, the score was entirely prerecorded before the script was even finished, which gave director Rouben Mamoulian an oppertunity to integrate music, dialogue and camera movement to an unprecidented degree.
Barrios also notes that because the date of the film kept being shifted, they were obliged to pay off Chevalier's European stage bookings. Adding that to further refining the scripts and paying the salaries of the stars who had comitted to the film, the budget shot to just over $1 million 1931 dollars before filming began.

Barrios also notes that when it was re-released in 1949, several cuts in this pre-code gem were made (the missing footage seems to have been lost forever, alas) including the deletion of the song "A Woman Needs Something Like that" ("A doorbell needs tinkling, a flower needs sprinkling and a woman needs something like that"). Miraculously, Myna Loy's sexy wisecracks were left in: ("Do you ever think of anything but Men? "Yes. Schoolboys.").

LOVE ME TONIGHT

Updated On: 11/16/05 at 01:18 PM

[Roscoe]

Posted: 11/16/05 at 10:59pm

Pennies From Heaven, the one adapted from the Dennis Potter series, with Steve Martin and Bernadette Peters.

Phantom Of The Paradise, a bit dated but some good nasty surprises, easily Brian De Palma's best film.

and South Park: Bigger Longer and Uncut, simply the best American musical film of the last twenty five years. Funny, intelligent, oddly moving, and a great score.

[bluesuadeshoes8]

Posted: 11/16/05 at 11:25pm

NEWSIES!

[MrMidwest]

Posted: 11/17/05 at 12:19am

I kind of like Absolute Beginners with David Bowie. It has some nice sequences.

[Garland Grrrl]

Posted: 11/17/05 at 9:51am

THE INSPECTOR GENERAL w/ danny kaye
THE COURT JESTER w/ danny kaye (the midgets get me everytime)

these are the BEST!

[MrMidwest]

Posted: 9/28/06 at 11:49pm

I would say Call Me Madam is underappreciated. George Sanders really had a voice.

I know it's not exactly a musical, but is Bloodhounds of Broadway any good?

[bwaylvsong]

Posted: 9/29/06 at 12:02am

Kiss Me, Kate

[justme2]

Posted: 9/29/06 at 12:25am

Doesn't Star Spangled Rythym have that "A Sweater, a Sarong and a Peek A Boo bang" number with Sheridan, Goddard and Lake? If so...the best number in that movie isn't musical at all; it has Lynne Overman (talk about underappreciated), Fred MacMurray and others displaying female behaviors at a men's poker game and it's a riot.

[JohnBoy2]

Posted: 9/29/06 at 8:39am

Many of the films mentioned here were not underappreciated at the time of their releases. THERE'S NO BUSINESS LIKE SHOW BUSINESS, for example, was one of the biggest films of 1954; and, THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE, was the biggest hit in the history of Universal Pictures, up to that point. If you're talking about today, then...well, everything is underappreciated, unless it's CHICAGO (which happens to be overaapreciated!)