DELIGHTFULLY DANGEROUS

DELIGHTFULLY DANGEROUS (1945). Director: Arthur Lubin. 

15-year-old Sherry Williams (16-year-old Jane Powell) lives in a girls' school that is paid for by her sister, Josephine (Constance Moore of Buck Rogers), a big Broadway musical comedy star -- or so Sherry thinks; Josephine is actually a burlesque queen known as "Bubbles" Barton. Things come to a head when Broadway producer Arthur Hale (Ralph Bellamy) comes to the school and is impressed with Sherry's talent, but not with her youth. As for her sister, he just can't see putting a burlesque star in one of his "classy" shows. But this being Hollywood, chances are good that one or both ladies will wind up starring in a Broadway show. 

Ralph Bellamy and Jane Powell

Delightfully Dangerous features some excellent performances, with a very young Powell on top of things even at that early stage of her career (this was only her second film). Constance Moore has such style and class that one can't imagine anyone objecting to putting her on Broadway. Ralph Bellamy is Ralph Bellamy, his lack of sex appeal stripping the film of any sexual tension. Arthur Treacher and Louise Beavers are fun as Bellamy's butler and Moore's maid, dresser, and confidante. Ruth Tobey is cute as Sherry's best friend, Molly, and Shirley Hunter makes her mark as a bitchy classmate named Nadine. Christian Drake is appealing as Jimmy Burns, a young sailor and friend of Hale's who is attracted to Sherry when she's all dolled up and looks older than her years. 

It's interesting that at one point Josephine does a parody of the high-pitched soprano style of singing when that's just the sort of thing Powell specialized in. The show that Hale finally puts on is a combo of the old and new, with Straussian melodies interspersed with jive. While some of the production numbers are just plain weird and even a bit dull, the finale is colorful and features some excellent dancing. By far the best number features "Bubbles" on the stage at the burlesque house, doing a sharp, fun and sexy rendition of "I'm Only Teasing." There are some plot similarities to Doll Face which also came out that year.   

Verdict: Another typically unreal but somewhat entertaining Hollywood musical. **1/2. 

LUXURY LINER

George Brent and Jane Powell

LUXURY LINER (1948). Director: Richard Whorf. 

Widower Jeremy Bradford (George Brent) is the captain of a luxury liner. His precocious daughter, Polly (Jane Powell), wants to go with him on a cruise to Rio, but he insists that she finish her studies first. The determined young lady decides to become a stowaway, first to spend time with her dad, and second to audition for famous tenor Olaf Eriksen (Lauritz Melchior), who is also voyaging to South America. Instead she winds up peeling potatoes and scrubbing the corridors! Others on the boat include the man-hungry soprano Zita Romanka (Marina Koshetz); Laura Dean (Frances Gifford), who is trying to get away from her ex-fiance; and said fiance Charles Worton (Richard Derr), who is determined to win her back. Although Polly tries to get the lovers back together, a complication is that her father is falling for Laura himself. 

Brent with Frances Gifford

Luxury Liner is a gorgeous MGM technicolor bauble with no pretentions to great art, but it is an entertaining trifle that is good to look at and listen to. There is no score as such, just some older tunes that work well with this material. Melchior gets to sing Wintersturm, there's a dandy production number with Polly leading the kitchen staff in Alouetta, Polly sings a bit of Massenet's Manon, and even Xavier Cugat and his band get into the act with a zesty Latin number. Powell, who has a beautiful voice, even looks attractive when she does a trouser role in her school play at the film's opening. The Pied Pipers singing group get a number and Met soprano Koshetz also gets a chance to shine. Amiable and amusing as a man-chaser, she appeared in several other films as well. Brent does well with this unchallenging material, as does Powell, and Gifford was in everything from the great serial Jungle Girl to Henry Aldrich Gets Glamour, acquitting herself nicely in all. Melchior not only has a fine voice but a winning personality; he also did other movie musicals. Thomas E. Breen makes an impression as the sailor, Mulvey, as does John Ridgely, 

Verdict: The captain has a grand piano in his cabin! ***. 

THE FEMALE ANIMAL

Heartbroken: Hedy Lamarr

THE FEMALE ANIMAL (1958). Director: Harry Keller.

Tippling unhappy aging actress Vanessa Windsor (Hedy Lamarr) almost has an accident on her film set, but she is saved by handsome extra Chris Farley (George Nader). Entering into a romance with Vanessa, Farley moves into her beach house as a "caretaker," but he bridles at the thought of being seen as a gigolo. He accidentally gets involved with a pretty blond named Penny (Jane Powell) -- also coming to her rescue -- and is unaware that she is actually Vanessa's daughter. The fur will fly when Vanessa finds out she's competing with her own daughter for the man she's falling in love with ...

Jane Powell as a "drunken slut?" 

The Female Animal was forty-four-year-old Lamarr's last picture. It's likely that she wasn't crazy about being cast as Jane Powell's mother,  as Powell was only fifteen years younger, although Lamarr was still quite beautiful. She also gives a good performance in this, vividly bringing to life the sad situation of a successful woman who fears aging and being alone in the twilight years but who is doomed to meeting mostly men who just want to use her. Her emoting makes her character more sympathetic than she might have been. Most of Powell's great pictures [Seven Brides for Seven Brothers] were also behind her at this point, but she was obviously trying to broaden her range -- as a drunken slut, no less! -- and succeeds admirably, giving a terrific performance as a young woman who feels abandoned by her self-centered mother -- Vanessa fears the public even knowing that she has a daughter that age.

George Nader and Hedy Lamarr

George Nader is also good in the film, and there are notable turns from Jan Sterling as a fading actress with a yen for younger men, James Gleason as a bar owner, Jerry Paris as Chris' buddy, Mabel Albertson as Chris' landlady, and Ann Doran as Vanessa's sympathetic nurse. The movie is, in essence, a soap opera, but it works quite well on that level, and features the occasional saucy line, although it does not boast what one might call a brilliant screenplay.  Harry Keller also directed The Unguarded Moment with Nader and Esther Williams (also trying to broaden her range).

Verdict: No Sunset Boulevard, perhaps, but entertaining and generally well-acted. ***. 

SMALL TOWN GIRL

Farley Granger and Jane Powell

SMALL TOWN GIRL (1953). Director: Leslie (Laszlo) Kardos.

Rich and patronizing playboy Richard Livingstone III (Farley Granger) speeds through the small town of Duck Creek, sasses Judge Kimbell (Robert Keith), and winds up thrown in jail for thirty days. Richard importunes the judge's daughter, Cindy (Jane Powell), to let him out one night for his "mother's" birthday. Richard has a jealous if unfaithful fiancee in Broadway star Lisa Bellmount (Ann Miller), but during a night in New York he and Cindy start to fall in love. How will the judge react when he is apprised of this situation?

Jane Powell

Small Town Girl is the perfect example of a well-turned out MGM musical. The players are fine and enthusiastic (Granger is much better than you might imagine); the TechniColor is vivid and beautiful; there are a couple of more than pleasant tunes ("Small Towns;" "The Fellow I Follow"); some excellent production numbers; and an essentially amiable if lightweight veneer that puts over the slight but entertaining storyline. Jane Powell [Seven Brides for Seven Brothers] again proves an adept leading lady with a lovely voice and good delivery. And besides Granger, Powell has a host of excellent supporting players and character actors to back her up.

Bobby Van 

First among these is Bobby Van [Lost Horizon], who plays Ludwig Schlemmer, the boy next door who has Broadway aspirations. Van is by no means handsome in Hollywood terms, but he is so irrepressible and talented that it doesn't matter; he has a kind of Al Jolson delight in performing. The most famous highlight of Small Town Girl is when Van literally hops his way across town in sheer spirited excitement, a well-choreographed (Busby Berkeley) sequence that was filmed with only a few cuts. When Ludwig meets Ann Miller and tells her his name, she says "Well, keep it quiet and no one will notice." Ludwig's father is played by "Cuddles" Sakall, whose character in this seems more grumpy and unpleasant than lovable.

Miller struts her stuff

Then there's Ann Miller [Carolina Blues]. There may well have been better female dancers in Hollywood musicals, but in this Miller stars in a zesty production number, "Feel That Beat," wherein the members of the band are hidden behind walls and under the floor, with only their arms and instruments protruding. As for the rest of the players, Robert Keith is fine as the judge, as is an uncredited Chill Wills as the friendly sheriff, Happy. Fay Wray is the judge's wife; Billie Burke is her dithery self as Richard's society mother; William Campbell is a reporter; Marie Blake is a shop customer; and Beverly Wills, the daughter of Joan Davis, plays Ludwig's sister, Deidre. Nat King Cole also sings a number, "Burn Low." Photographed by Joseph Ruttenberg.

Verdict: Delightful MGM musical. ***.   

SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS

Jane Powell rules the roost: 7 brothers instead of dwarves

SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS (1954). Director: Stanley Donen.

In the Oregon territory of 1850 rugged farmer Adam (Howard Keel) comes to town and is instantly smitten with a busy waitress named Milly (Jane Powell), and vice versa. The two get hitched and Milly discovers that she now has six brothers-in-law that she has to attend to. The crude brothers, who are taught manners by Milly, go a-courtin', but when things don't proceed as fast as they want, they resort to kidnapping potential brides upon the advice of Adam. Milly is outraged and orders the men into the barn while Adam goes off to a cabin to wait out the winter, unaware that Milly is pregnant ... Seven Brides has been denounced as misogynous in some quarters, but while some of the characters may be misogynous, I don't really think the film is. Sure, it's handy that the brothers all turn out to be gentlemen who never molest the ladies, and even handier that all of the women fall in love with the boys (it might have added some dramatic conflict if one or two of the gals had preferred their old boyfriends or just found none of the brothers appealing), but I don't believe any of this is meant to be taken seriously. In any case, the main thing about the vastly entertaining Seven Brides is not the plot but its sheer enthusiasm, its embrace of life, its excellent performances, and the wonderful singing and dancing throughout. Powell and Keel are perfection and they're nearly matched by the other players, including Ian Wolfe [Dressed to Kill] as Reverend Elcott; and Russ Tamblyn, Jeff Richards [Born Reckless] and the other brothers as well. (Ruta Lee -- billed as Ruta Kilmonis -- and Julie Newmar -- billed as Julie Newmeyer -- are two of the wives.) Seven Brides is also distinguished by the fact that it has one of the best scores for a movie musical that is not based on a Broadway show (although decades later Seven Brides was turned into a musical for the London stage). Johnny Mercer and Gene de Paul provided genuinely memorable tunes such as"Lonesome Polecat" "Sobbin' Women;" "Bless Your Beautiful Hide;" "When You're in Love;" and especially the beautiful "Wonderful Day" and infectious "Spring, Spring, Spring."  Wonderfully photographed in CinemaScope and Technicolor by George Folsey. The choreography is by Michael Kidd, who was also an actor [It's Always Fair Weather].

Verdict: Whatever its peculiarities, this is a top-flight musical. ***1/2. 

HIT THE DECK

HIT THE DECK (1955). Director: Roy Rowland.

Young sailor Danny (Russ Tamblyn of Follow the Boys) is the son of rear admiral Smith (Walter Pidgeon). When Danny thinks that his sister, Susan (Jane Powell), a show business aspirant, may be taken advantage of by theater star Wendell Craig (Gene Raymond), he and his Navy buddies Rico (Vic Damone of Athena) and Bill (Tony Martin) break into his apartment where he sits with Susan and assault him. Their stupid actions result in the sailors being chased all over Manhattan by the shore patrol (including Alan King in an early role). Meanwhile Danny falls for Carol (Debbie Reynolds), who appears in Craig's show, and Ginger (Ann Miller) despairs that long-time fiance Bill will ever marry her. Rico's mother (Kay Armen of Hey Let's Twist) finds that her fiance, Peroni (J, Carrol Naish), may find her too old when he sees she's got a grown son. The "plot" is just an excuse to hang some songs and dance numbers on, so we've got Powell doing the snappy "Sometimes I Love You," Armen and the cast doing "Sing, Hallelujah!" and other numbers. Miller is typically saucy, Martin and Powell can sing, but Naish, Armen, and especially Gene Raymond make the best impressions. The silly  picture aspires to funniness but never quite gets there.

Verdict: More widescreen Technicolor twaddle. **.

THREE SAILORS AND A GIRL

Gene Nelson, Jane Powell, Gordon MacRae

THREE SAILORS AND A GIRL (1953). Director: Roy Del Ruth.

"Are you certain Judy Garland started like this/"

When some submarine sailors on leave, including Twitch (Gene Nelson of So This is Paris) and Porky (Jack E. Leonard of The Fat Spy), want to spend their back pay on girls and booze, the more sensible "Choirboy" (Gordon MacRae) importunes them to invest the money instead. His original intention is Wall Street, but due to the intervention of producer Joe Woods (Sam Levene) and Broadway hopeful Penny Weston (Jane Powell), they wind up putting $50,000 in a hopeless show. But will the combined talents of George Abbot, Moss Hart, and Ira Gershwin (none of whom play themselves), not to mention the U. S. Marines, turn this turkey into a hit? Three Sailors and a Girl suffers from the same problem as the show-within-a-show, U.S.S. Texas, in that it has serious book problems. Not only is the script a mass of cliches, but the characters are paper-thin stereotypes. Fortunately, there's some pleasure in the movie, including a few funny lines, the beautiful voices of both MacRae and Powell, and the snappy dancing of Gene Nelson (his fancy footwork in a garage is one of the film's highlights). The songs were contributed by two Sammy's: Cahn  and Fain, and the songs are at the very least pleasant and one or two are memorable: "The First Time That We Kissed;" "There Must Be a Reason." Jack E. Leonard, who was introduced in this picture, seems to be channeling Lou Costello at times, but has an amiable, portly presence. Small roles are enacted by Merv Griffin, Paul Burke, Jack Larson, and Burt Lancaster, who plays a show biz hopeful who is rejected because he looks too much like Burt Lancaster. Archer MacDonald is quirky as librettist Melvin Webster, and Veda Ann Borg [Jungle Raiders] is vivid as Woods' girlfriend. By now Sam Levene could have played this fast-talking role in his sleep but he's very good. George Givot is fun as the ham opera star Emilio Rossi, possibly an affectionate parody of Ezio Pinza.  Jack E. Leonard eventually developed a more brash personality and was more of a stand-up
comic than actor.

NOTE: This is not to be confused with Three Girls and a Sailor; Three Girls and a Gob; Three Gobs and a Girl; A Girl, A Guy, and a Gob; Three Sailors Go to Paris with a Gal; Three Sailors Go to Paris with a Guy; Three Gay Sailors, a Guy, and a Gob; or numerous others.

Verdict: More "technicolor twaddle," but some fun. **.

ATHENA

Jane Powell, Steve Reeves and Edmund Purdom

ATHENA (1954). Director: Richard Thorpe.

Athena Mulvain (Jane Powell) and sister Minerva (Debbie Reynolds) -- two of several siblings -- belong to a family of health nuts, vegetarians, numerologists, and body builders run by Grandpa (Louis Calhern) and Grandma (Evelyn Varden). Grandpa is seventy-eight but can swing around the parallel bars with ease. Athena and Minerva find themselves falling for men who don't quite believe in the same things they do, with the former setting her cap for Adam Shaw (Edmund Purdom), a lawyer running for Congress; and Minerva becoming involved with boyish crooner Johnny Nyle (Vic Damone). Both women already have highly muscular boyfriends, Ed (Steve Reeves) and Bill (Richard Sabre), both of whom compete in the Mr. Universe contest at the end of the movie; and Adam has a sophisticated fiancee named Beth (Linda Christian). Will true love win out in the end, or will Adam and Johnny find themselves in some crushing body blocks? Athena is a very silly and kitschy musical with some pleasant songs by Martin and Blane, the best of which is "Love Can Change the Stars," well-warbled by Powell. Powell also does a creditable job with an aria from Donizetti's "Daughter of the Regiment." Obviously wealthy, the Mulvain family come off at first as free-spirited non-conformists who are at one with the earth and all that, but in one of the better scenes Adam tells Grandpa that they are actually intolerant of (indeed obnoxious toward) others who don't think as they do. Athena is typical of so many movies in which supposedly nice people simply decide they want someone for themselves and don't give a damn for the fact that they are already involved with someone else. The actors in this are all good, but Louis Calhern, as he often did, gives the best performance, and there are notable turns from Kathleen Freeman as Adam's secretary and Ray Collins as a political associate.  Calhern and Collins appeared together in Invitation. Steve Reeves is so handsome it's a wonder he ever bothered with the beard that he wore for most of his career. He was a real-life Mr. America and Mr. Universe, and his American career could have been developed, but he didn't want to slim  down the muscles for the role in Samson and Delilah that was eventually given to Victor Mature. Reeves became a name after the Italian Hercules became a surprise hit, and he was reportedly offered the role of James Bond in Dr. No but turned it down. In all but two films, Reeve's excellent voice was dubbed. NOTE: The body builders of the fifties and sixties were a different breed from what you see today, typified by Arnold Schwarzenegger, whose musculature is so overdone that he resembles something that was mutated in an H-bomb explosion. Steve Reeves had a great physique but he was in no way grotesque.

Verdict: The script is rather annoying, but there are some pleasant moments and performances. **1/2.

ROYAL WEDDING

Fred Astaire and Jane Powell

ROYAL WEDDING (1951). Director: Stanley Donen.

"She's quiet, but deep. At least I hope she's deep or she's wasting a lot of her time being quiet." -- James Ashmond on his daughter, Anne.

Tom and Ellen Bowen (Fred Astaire and Jane Powell) are a brother and sister team of entertainers who take their latest show, "Every Night at Seven," to London just in time for the Royal Wedding. Although Ellen has been a bit of a playgirl, and Tom isn't marriage-minded, they both find themselves falling in love: Ellen with Lord Brindale (Peter Lawford); and Tom with pub owner's daughter and dancer, Anne (Sarah Churchill). But will respective marriages break up the act? Royal Wedding is a bit of MGM fluff but well turned out, with very good performances, some nice singing and dancing, and several highlights. For me it's Jane singing the beautiful romantic ballad "Too Late Now," although Astaire's dancing on his room's walls and ceiling is a close second. Then there's Astaire and Powell's rendition of the comical "How Could You Believe Me (When I Said I Love You)?" The songs are by Alan Jay Lerner and Burton Lane, and another memorable tune is "My Love," warbled beautifully by Powell. Sarah Churchill [He Found a Star] received a lot of bashing for her acting in this, but I think she's charmingly effective, and despite the somewhat mannish features that I've noted, quite lovely -- she was the daughter of Winston Churchill. Albert Sharpe scores in the role of Anne's father, James Ashmond, and Keenan Wynn is fine in dual roles of twin brothers, one for each side of the Atlantic. "I Left My Hat in Haiti" is a snappy production number.

NOTE: Beware which DVD firm you buy, rent or borrow this movie from. Westlake Entertainment offers one of the worst video transfers I've ever seen, with washed-out colors, whole scenes that seem cast in shadows, and so on. You expect this for cheap old B movies and TV shows, but a glossy MGM musical? Fortunately, there are other DVDs of this movie.

Verdict: Dancing on the ceiling indeed! *** out of 4.

A DATE WITH JUDY

A DATE WITH JUDY (1948). Director: Richard Thorpe.

Young Judy (Jane Powell) is dating Oogie (Scotty Becket) but falls for an older man (Robert Stack) when he’s inveigled into taking her to a high school dance. Unfortunately, Stack also meets a beauteous young Liz Taylor at the dance, and Liz sets her sights on the handsome soda jerk. An added complication occurs when Judy erroneously comes to the conclusion that her father, (a somewhat subdued Wallace Beery) is having an affair with dance teacher Carmen Miranda, who is only teaching him to rumba. You can call this dated, hokey, quaint and everything else, but it’s an undeniably charming picture with many amusing lines and sequences. Powell and Taylor are perhaps a bit too sophisticated to be typical high school girls, but Scotty Becket hits the right note, as does Selina Royal as Judy’s mother. Carmen Miranda is at her snappiest, and seeing her teamed with Beery is bizarre to say the least. Miranda’s song Canto le gusta certainly gets across that "let’s go off anywhere to do anything even if we’re broke" attitude of devil-may-care youth. Judaline is a strange number, although it sounds much better when it’s reprised. Corny Side is a pretty bad song, but it’s very well performed by Powell and Beckett. (The best number, of course, is It’s a Most Unusual Day.)

Verdict: This is easy to take and lots of fun if not exactly a great classic. ***.