This version of Girl Crazy was the first of three films made from the famous Gershwin Brothers musical. MGM bought the rights from RKO who did this version to do their more famous and much better adaption that starred Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland.
In the tradition of Hollywood RKO junked nearly the entire memorable Gershwin score with only a few numbers left. The main characters of the Broadway story were relegated to the background and a whole new plot was written for RKO's comedy stars Wheeler&Woolsey. It's the reverse of what MGM did when they bought Rio Rita which RKO did film faithful to the Broadway show and turn it into an Abbott&Costello film.
Now if you're a fan of Wheeler&Woolsey that's not the worst thing, if you're a Gershwin purist, skip this one absolutely. All that's left from the Broadway show is Bidin' My Time, But Not For Me, and I've Got Rhythm the last done as a saloon ballad by Kitty Kelly.
Eddie Quillan as the playboy from Chicago gets sent west to grow up a little, but instead he brings the nightlife of Chicago out west when he opens a dude ranch. One of the people he sends for his sharpie Robert Woolsey who gets taxi driver Bert Wheeler to drive him from Chicago to Arizona. Wheeler's not a total dummy however, he does have his own reasons for fleeing the Windy City.
The two of them get to tangle with tough guy Stanley Fields out west and of course they come out on top.
Somehow RKO persuaded the Gershwin Brothers to write one original song for this film and it was done by Bert Wheeler and Dorothy Lee and it's entitled You've Got What Gets Me. It's worse than any of the discarded stuff from Broadway which includes Could You Use Me, Embraceable You, and Sam and Delilah. I think George and Ira pulled this one from the trunk.
This film is the worst of the three versions of Girl Crazy and far from the best Wheeler&Woolsey.
In the tradition of Hollywood RKO junked nearly the entire memorable Gershwin score with only a few numbers left. The main characters of the Broadway story were relegated to the background and a whole new plot was written for RKO's comedy stars Wheeler&Woolsey. It's the reverse of what MGM did when they bought Rio Rita which RKO did film faithful to the Broadway show and turn it into an Abbott&Costello film.
Now if you're a fan of Wheeler&Woolsey that's not the worst thing, if you're a Gershwin purist, skip this one absolutely. All that's left from the Broadway show is Bidin' My Time, But Not For Me, and I've Got Rhythm the last done as a saloon ballad by Kitty Kelly.
Eddie Quillan as the playboy from Chicago gets sent west to grow up a little, but instead he brings the nightlife of Chicago out west when he opens a dude ranch. One of the people he sends for his sharpie Robert Woolsey who gets taxi driver Bert Wheeler to drive him from Chicago to Arizona. Wheeler's not a total dummy however, he does have his own reasons for fleeing the Windy City.
The two of them get to tangle with tough guy Stanley Fields out west and of course they come out on top.
Somehow RKO persuaded the Gershwin Brothers to write one original song for this film and it was done by Bert Wheeler and Dorothy Lee and it's entitled You've Got What Gets Me. It's worse than any of the discarded stuff from Broadway which includes Could You Use Me, Embraceable You, and Sam and Delilah. I think George and Ira pulled this one from the trunk.
This film is the worst of the three versions of Girl Crazy and far from the best Wheeler&Woolsey.