With the first Bing Crosby/Bob Hope ROAD pic doing blockbuster biz, Paramount upped the ante on Bing’s next: production polish, sets that looked nailed down, even a less ramshackle plot. Bing’s still his default lackadaisical character, now a songster ‘ghosting’ tunes for famous, but stymied B’way composer Basil Rathbone, while co-star Mary Martin, in just her second pic*, secretly does his lyrics. Naturally, they meet-cute, unaware of the connection before wising up after a brief fallout and then striking out on their own. Just one problem: everyone thinks their stuff sounds too much like Rathbone’s! A neat idea (Billy Wilder denies credit on his Original Story credit) that plays as if it had been ordered up for Astaire/Rogers. And no wonder with Fred & Ginger specialist Dwight Taylor on script. But where his earlier stuff was complimented with some of the greatest song & dance ever put on celluloid, the numbers here are no more than charming & pleasant. Still, reasonably good fun, with a surprising amount of live singing when there’s just piano accompaniment. Plus, a striking debut for the mordantly witty, pianistically gifted Oscar Levant, best known at the time as a Gershwin devotee and as the musical expert on radio’s INFORMATION PLEASE.
READ ALL ABOUT IT: More of a HEAR All About It. Sony Classical has just put out A RHAPSODY IN BLUE: the Complete Oscar Levant on eight remastered discs in a fancy LP-sized package (book included), with the famous Gershwin recordings and much more. Pricey though.
ATTENTION MUST BE PAID: *Paramount tried Martin in a dark brunette look that doesn’t quite work for her. A problem never fully solved during a short Hollywood sojourn. So, back to B’way for ONE TOUCH OF VENUS and legend in SOUTH PACIFIC, PETER PAN & THE SOUND OF MUSIC.
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