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| Doris Day |
Melinda Howard (Doris Day) is a struggling show girl waiting for a big break who has just come back from Europe to see her mother, a big Broadway star named Jessica Howard (Gladys George) who lives in a mansion. Apparently Melinda has been away for quite some time, because she is completely unaware that her mother, far from being a Broadway star, has descended into alcoholism and near-oblivion and is now croaking out songs in a not-so-posh supper club. The mansion is now owned by theatrical producer Adolph Hubbell (S. Z. Sakall), who lives there with his formidable wife, Anna (Florence Bates). Taking pity on Melinda, dance man turned butler Lefty (Billy De Wolfe of Dear Wife), importunes Hubbell to let her stay in her "mother's" mansion, and to try to get her a job in a new Broadway show. However, Hubbell's relationship to the much younger woman is misinterpreted, especially by Mrs. Hubbell ... Lullaby of Broadway is one of Day's best vehicles, an amusing and charming trifle with some classic old tunes and excellent performances all around. Sakall, who can be cloying in some movies, is well-cast and wonderful as Hubbell, and Bates is his equal as his jealous and over-sized wife. De Wolfe also gives a winning performance, although I thought much less of Anne Triola as his girlfriend and the maid; she had very few credits. As the male lead, Gene Nelson [So This is Paris] is perfect, dances quite well, and does an astounding jump from the floor onto the top of a piano! Gladys George [Flamingo Road] is also memorable as the dissipated if plucky Jessica.
Verdict: Day struts her stuff in an entertaining musical. Watch for the sequence with Day's floating head! ***.
Doris was and is a sparkler, and this was one of her best under the original Warner Bros contract. Need to see this again, because I only vaguely remember the "Doris heads" - an homage to Ruby Keller's floating heads in Busby Berkeley's "I Only Have Eyes for You" number, perhaps?
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You're probably right about that. I remember my sister and I got a big kick out of her "floating head" when we watched this over and over again on "Million Dollar Movie" in New York as children. I was delighted to find that the movie is just as much fun as I remember.
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