Never mind the studio with more stars than there are in heaven, this war-time musical has more colours than there are in a rainbow. "Cover Girl" really is a feast for the eyes and one can imagine it cheering up cinema-goers of the day and taking their minds off events overseas.
The plot is a little silly as it tends to be in so many musicals I guess as lovely show-girl Rita Hayworth finds herself torn between true love for a jobbing choreographer (Gene Kelly obviously) and an ardent suitor who's a rich theatre-owner, in almost exactly the same dilemma as her identical grandmother forty years ago. Her present-day pursuer is coincidentally sponsored, if that's the right word, by an even richer publishing magnate on the search for the face of the year to emblazon on his magazine's cover, who wouldn't you know it was the spurned lover of Rita's granny all those years ago. The latter scenario gives Hayworth the opportunity to dress up in turn-of-the-century costumes and sing (albeit her vocals are obviously dubbed) more old-fashioned Vaudevillian numbers. The outcome in both time-frames naturally is never in doubt.
Employing the familiar device of a pair of love-birds (Kelly and Hayworth) and their tag-along pal, on this occasion a slightly camp Phil Silvers of all people, the film is undemanding entertainment, if not, in my opinion, of the very best of its type. The songs I'm not totally familiar with and sound to my ears pleasant if not outstanding. Charles Vidor directs solidly and occasionally stolidly, the camera staying fairly static throughout especially for the tiresome cavalcade of contemporary popular woman's magazine covers and Hayworth's ancestor's hackneyed routines of yesterday, including the worst attempt at a Cockney accent until Dick Van Dyck in "Mary Poppins".
The best sequence is undoubtedly when Kelly dances with his own bad self in a routine reminiscent of similar trick-devices employed by the great Astaire. Hayworth however holds her own in her own numbers and photographs beautifully in glorious colour. Neither has to overstretch themselves in the straight-acting stakes and it's probably fair to say they don't try too hard anyway, but one can still easily imagine this light and bright movie cheering up war-time audiences back in the day.
The plot is a little silly as it tends to be in so many musicals I guess as lovely show-girl Rita Hayworth finds herself torn between true love for a jobbing choreographer (Gene Kelly obviously) and an ardent suitor who's a rich theatre-owner, in almost exactly the same dilemma as her identical grandmother forty years ago. Her present-day pursuer is coincidentally sponsored, if that's the right word, by an even richer publishing magnate on the search for the face of the year to emblazon on his magazine's cover, who wouldn't you know it was the spurned lover of Rita's granny all those years ago. The latter scenario gives Hayworth the opportunity to dress up in turn-of-the-century costumes and sing (albeit her vocals are obviously dubbed) more old-fashioned Vaudevillian numbers. The outcome in both time-frames naturally is never in doubt.
Employing the familiar device of a pair of love-birds (Kelly and Hayworth) and their tag-along pal, on this occasion a slightly camp Phil Silvers of all people, the film is undemanding entertainment, if not, in my opinion, of the very best of its type. The songs I'm not totally familiar with and sound to my ears pleasant if not outstanding. Charles Vidor directs solidly and occasionally stolidly, the camera staying fairly static throughout especially for the tiresome cavalcade of contemporary popular woman's magazine covers and Hayworth's ancestor's hackneyed routines of yesterday, including the worst attempt at a Cockney accent until Dick Van Dyck in "Mary Poppins".
The best sequence is undoubtedly when Kelly dances with his own bad self in a routine reminiscent of similar trick-devices employed by the great Astaire. Hayworth however holds her own in her own numbers and photographs beautifully in glorious colour. Neither has to overstretch themselves in the straight-acting stakes and it's probably fair to say they don't try too hard anyway, but one can still easily imagine this light and bright movie cheering up war-time audiences back in the day.