Naturally, Universal Pictures wanted to do their bit for the WWII war effort, joining other studios by making a morale boosting/fund raising All-Star Revue showcasing their own studio contract stars. Only problem, stars on the lot were few and far between. Step up, indie producer Charles K. Feldman, currently on site, to dig up a decent enough list of guest stars to do a song or vaudeville routine between a wraparound story featuring the unlikely pairing of dancing tough guy George Raft & world class ballerina Vera Zorina. (Whatever did Zorina’s husband, George Balanchine, make of Raft’s stiff hoofing?) Never mind. Here’s a chance to watch Orson Welles’ magician saw Marlene Dietrich in half; Jeanette MacDonald warbling to wounded soldiers; a stupendous dog act (in a dog town!); Dinah Shore & the Andrews Sisters; a visibly aging W.C. Field do his pool act one more time; Arthur Rubinstein on a little Liszt; and thousands of soldiers wondering who the heck Sophie Tucker is. The best thing in here are panning shot of tens of thousands of soldiers at real U.F.O. shows (running camp shows Raft’s job in the story) as Universal contract players Donald O’Connor & Peggy Ryan dash out on an improvised stage. (Unfortunately, their act, no doubt for technical reasons, was shot back at the studio.) Oddly, Universal’s biggest contract stars (Abbott & Costello; Deanna Durbin) nowhere to be seen.
DOUBLE-BILL/LINK: Real stars aplenty over at Warners in THANK YOUR LUCKY STARS/’43; HOLLYWOOD CANTEEN/’44 and THIS IS THE ARMY/’43 trooping the colors. STARS’ story exceptionally dreary, but essential for Bette Davis doing ‘They’re Either Too Young or Too Old’ and loads of star turns. https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2012/02/thank-your-lucky-stars-1943.html https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2009/05/this-is-army-1943.html
No comments:
Post a Comment