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Sunday, May 18, 2008

DU BARRY WAS A LADY (1943)

After stinking up the Cole Porter/Ethel Merman B’way hit PANAMA HATTIE, M-G-M producer Arthur Freed cold-cocked the great man again. The first half of this one is largely a series of night club specialty acts - not such a bad idea on this dopey show since it allows us early looks at the young Zero Mostel pre-comb-over, some kid by the name of Buddy Rich on Tommy Dorsey’s drums and even new star Gene Kelly, still looking lean & hungry as he dances his way out of Lucille Ball’s dressing room & straight into his stage routine, courtesy of debuting dance director Charles Walters. But then Red Skelton drinks a ‘Mickey Finn,’ imagines he’s Louis XV and the whole cast show up as characters in his court. Shades of THE WIZARD OF OZ! The original show was (and still is) strikingly smutty, but with songs like 'Katie Went to Haiti' & 'Friendship' bowdlerized; and the complete deletion of 'In the Morning, NO!,' 'Well Did You Evah' & 'It Ain’t Etiquette,' it’s all hardly worth the effort. At least, Lucy looks gorgeous and the film was a big money maker, but what a waste.

WATCH THIS, NOT THAT: If you want to see what Lucille could do on a Burly-Q stage, try her out in DANCE, GIRL, DANCE/'40.

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