Susanna Foster, as Miss "Toodles" Laverne, is quite the 17 year again is certainly no Shirley Temple, Jane Withers, Deanna Durbin or Judy Garland. Probably the youngest actress ever to play a burlesque queen, Foster's Toodles (yep, that's the name she gives), ends up in a music camp after the theater she's working in is raided.
Escaping from reform school, she's in hiding and trying to keep her secret from getting out. Allan Jones is her mentor, helping her out after her initial intro to her cabin mates at the camp doesn't go over so well with her coming off as a bully. Those scenes reminded me of the girl's camp sequences in the Disney classic "The Parent Trap". Foster uses her comical talents to fit in, doing invitations of Dietrich, Hepburn and others, and much better than others I've heard. The burlesque on "Carmen" (three years before "Carmen Jones" on Broadway) is ingenious.
I actually found this musical to be quite good, perhaps a lot more accessible since it deals with various styles of popular music and makes it easy on the ears, giving a 40's touch to the classics. In fact, this could be called the music appreciation movie, as there's nothing long haired about it, and Foster has a personality all her own. I couldn't see Deanna Durbin playing this role as Toodles is basically the Jane Withers character from "Bright Eyes" grown up yet still mean even though she can sing like a lark and scrap like an alley cat. Watching her character reform is a fun story of atonement and growing up.
Escaping from reform school, she's in hiding and trying to keep her secret from getting out. Allan Jones is her mentor, helping her out after her initial intro to her cabin mates at the camp doesn't go over so well with her coming off as a bully. Those scenes reminded me of the girl's camp sequences in the Disney classic "The Parent Trap". Foster uses her comical talents to fit in, doing invitations of Dietrich, Hepburn and others, and much better than others I've heard. The burlesque on "Carmen" (three years before "Carmen Jones" on Broadway) is ingenious.
I actually found this musical to be quite good, perhaps a lot more accessible since it deals with various styles of popular music and makes it easy on the ears, giving a 40's touch to the classics. In fact, this could be called the music appreciation movie, as there's nothing long haired about it, and Foster has a personality all her own. I couldn't see Deanna Durbin playing this role as Toodles is basically the Jane Withers character from "Bright Eyes" grown up yet still mean even though she can sing like a lark and scrap like an alley cat. Watching her character reform is a fun story of atonement and growing up.