Burlesque star (Blaine) makes it in the big time.Burlesque star (Blaine) makes it in the big time.Burlesque star (Blaine) makes it in the big time.
Stephen Dunne
- Frederick Manly Gerard
- (as Michael Dunne)
Donald MacBride
- Lawyer Ferguson
- (as Donald McBride)
Lex Barker
- Jack - Coast Guardsman
- (uncredited)
Juanita Cole
- Dancer
- (uncredited)
Jimmy Cross
- Harry
- (uncredited)
Boyd Davis
- Spencer Bennett - Publisher
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- Trivia"True to the Navy" (written by Elsie Janis and Jack King), sung and danced by Carmen Miranda, was deleted from this movie, but the song as filmed still exists. Paramount held exclusive rights to the song and it would not permit Twentieth Century-Fox to include Miranda's number in this movie. It was performed previously on screen by Clara Bow in Paramount on Parade (1930), which can be seen on YouTube. The song bears a striking resemblance to "You Can't Get A Man With A Gun" written by Irving Berlin in 1946 for the Broadway musical "Annie Get Your Gun".
- GoofsThe lyrics to "Chico, Chico" mention a wolf at "Hollywood and Pico." Those two streets run parallel and never intersect, but lyricist Harold Adamson likely assumed that most people not living in L.A. wouldn't know or care.
- Quotes
Flo Hartman: I'm also a man who should have his head examined. Not that it would do any good because the doctors wouldn't find anything in it.
- SoundtracksSomebody's Walking in My Dream
(uncredited)
Music by Jimmy McHugh
Lyrics by Harold Adamson
Sung by Vivian Blaine at audition
Later sung and danced by Martha Stewart in finale
Featured review
Not much of a Carmen vehicle
I came across this movie only as an inclusion in the Carmen Miranda Collection, and I am commenting here for those in the same situation, who are wondering if this is worth having.
As for Carmen: she sings one number, "Chico Chico (from Porto Rico!)", which features a lot of dancing with the chorus. The main drawback as far as Carmen is concerned is that the film is in black and white, and we are deprived of some of the gaudiness and festiveness that we expect from her participation in a movie. I know that Technicolor was expensive, but it seems bizarre for Fox to have made black and white musicals after the public came to expect color, and to cast the colorful Carmen Miranda in them! A better number was excised from the movie, but included in the Special Features --- Carmen wears her famous outfit with the phallic lighthouse atop her head (which lights up on the downbeats at the end of the song), and the number is done in a burlesque style on a runway. Carmen gets quite a bit of dialogue in this movie, and is actually integrated into the plot, not just a nightclub performer as in some films (like "Down Argentine Way"). I wish she were given more musical numbers to do, though. One funny bit (five seconds long) has Carmen's character, "Chita," disparagingly mimic Carmen Miranda!
The movie itself is watchable and has some fun moments, but on the whole suffers from a bland cast. Vivian Blaine lacked the spark of an Alice Faye or Betty Grable, the other Fox stars of the day, and came across as brittle and not particularly likable. The leading men, including Perry Como, were also uninteresting, and there is even a misogynistic undertone to the movie, with male characters bragging about beating their girlfriends to keep them in line. There is something wince-inducing about seeing bland Perry Como threaten to beat his girlfriend, who gets turned on by it! As for the music, there are a couple of serviceable numbers, but they are reprised to death -- I found myself muttering "oh no, not this one again" by the middle of the movie. Como and Blaine's "Hubba Hubba" duet was the only number which for me was fresh and fun, and not overdone.
In general, this is not a terrible or unpleasant film, but is not one many would want to rewatch. As another commenter noted, the melodrama seems to take over at times, and for me, the characters are not sympathetic or likable enough for me to get drawn in by the non-musical aspects of the plot. If you are wondering whether this adds anything of value to the Carmen Miranda collection --- in my opinion, it is only a very minor addition.
As for Carmen: she sings one number, "Chico Chico (from Porto Rico!)", which features a lot of dancing with the chorus. The main drawback as far as Carmen is concerned is that the film is in black and white, and we are deprived of some of the gaudiness and festiveness that we expect from her participation in a movie. I know that Technicolor was expensive, but it seems bizarre for Fox to have made black and white musicals after the public came to expect color, and to cast the colorful Carmen Miranda in them! A better number was excised from the movie, but included in the Special Features --- Carmen wears her famous outfit with the phallic lighthouse atop her head (which lights up on the downbeats at the end of the song), and the number is done in a burlesque style on a runway. Carmen gets quite a bit of dialogue in this movie, and is actually integrated into the plot, not just a nightclub performer as in some films (like "Down Argentine Way"). I wish she were given more musical numbers to do, though. One funny bit (five seconds long) has Carmen's character, "Chita," disparagingly mimic Carmen Miranda!
The movie itself is watchable and has some fun moments, but on the whole suffers from a bland cast. Vivian Blaine lacked the spark of an Alice Faye or Betty Grable, the other Fox stars of the day, and came across as brittle and not particularly likable. The leading men, including Perry Como, were also uninteresting, and there is even a misogynistic undertone to the movie, with male characters bragging about beating their girlfriends to keep them in line. There is something wince-inducing about seeing bland Perry Como threaten to beat his girlfriend, who gets turned on by it! As for the music, there are a couple of serviceable numbers, but they are reprised to death -- I found myself muttering "oh no, not this one again" by the middle of the movie. Como and Blaine's "Hubba Hubba" duet was the only number which for me was fresh and fun, and not overdone.
In general, this is not a terrible or unpleasant film, but is not one many would want to rewatch. As another commenter noted, the melodrama seems to take over at times, and for me, the characters are not sympathetic or likable enough for me to get drawn in by the non-musical aspects of the plot. If you are wondering whether this adds anything of value to the Carmen Miranda collection --- in my opinion, it is only a very minor addition.
helpful•133
- tpanebia
- Aug 18, 2008
Details
- Runtime1 hour 20 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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