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| Perry Como and Vivian Blaine |
DOLL FACE (1945). Director: Lewis Seiler.
"Doll Face" Carroll (Vivian Blaine) is a top burlesque performer who tries to go legit, but when one producer, Flo Hartman (Reed Hadley), finds out who she really is he refuses to hire her. Doll Face's manager and boyfriend, Mike (Dennis O'Keefe), comes up with the dubious notion of showing that she has "class" by hiring a ghostwriter, Fred (Stephen Dunne), to pen her memoirs -- as a burlesque queen! As Fred falls for Doll Face, and singer Nicky Ricci (Perry Como) tries to get dancer "Frankie" (Martha Stewart) to warm up to him, Mike decides to turn Doll Face's memoir into a Broadway show. Can Doll Face finally go legit? And will she wind up with Mike or Frank?
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| Stephen Dunne and Carmen Miranda |
This was adapted from a play by Gypsy Rose Lee but
Doll Face should certainly not be confused with
Gypsy! The script for this is no world-beater, although most of the performers are game. Vivian Blaine had her most famous role in
Guys and Dolls, but in this I found her lacking in distinction. O'Keefe is as buoyant as ever, and poor Carmen Miranda is given no romance and only one catchy number, "Chico from Puerto Rico." The songs by McHugh and Adamson [
Four Jills in a Jeep] are pleasant, however, with "Here Comes Heaven Again" arguably being the best. Reed Hadley is fine as the producer, who ultimately opts to work with Doll Face, and Perry Como is mildly appealing as Nicky. Handsome Stephen Dunne is billed in this as "Michael" Dunne, the name he used in his earliest appearances. He later starred as "Steve" Dunne on
The Brothers Brannagan for TV.
Verdict: Acceptable but rather minor musical. **1/2.
Wow, that Gypsy Rose Lee was indeed multi talented--she was also an adept storyteller--did you ever see The G-String Murders (can't remember the movie title, but that was the name of the story)? And also a talented comic actress, in addition to creating the sexy persona of the world's most erudite stripper! (Love that "Zip" number in Pal Joey that she inspired!).
ReplyDeleteAlso need me a Carmen Miranda fix, and a look-see at Broadway great Vivian Blaine doing her thing, so this seems like just the ticket!
-C
Gypsy Rose Lee also was in the supporting cast of the "Pruitts of Southhampton" -- later known as the short-lived Phyllis Diller show -- and bolstered Anita Ekberg of the massive mammaries in "Screaming Mimi." G-String Murders became "Lady of Burlesque" with Barbara Stanwyck!
ReplyDeleteI like "Zip", too. In fact I love (the original) Pal Joey. I think Rodgers and Hart were making fun of Lee with that song -- the supposedly intellectual stripper -- but they did it adeptly!