81% (2) Guys and Dolls 150 min, Not Rated, [Comedy, Crime, Musical, Romance] [Joseph L. Mankiewicz] [23 Dec 1955]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 72%, Rotten Tomatoes: 90%, External Reviews
Awards: Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 2 wins & 3 nominations.
Actors: Frank Sinatra, Jean Simmons, Marlon Brando, Vivian Blaine
Writer: Jo Swerling (based upon the play: "Guys and Dolls" book by), Abe Burrows (based upon the play: "Guys and Dolls" book by), Damon Runyon (from a story), Joseph L. Mankiewicz (written for the screen by)
External Links: Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: All the hot gamblers are in town, and they're all depending on Nathan Detroit to set up this week's incarnation of "The Oldest Established Permanent Floating Crap Game in New York"; the only problem is, he needs $1000 to get the place. Throw in Sarah Brown, who's short on sinners at the mission she runs; Sky Masterson, who accepts Nathan's $1000 bet that he can't get Sarah Brown to go with him to Havana; Miss Adelaide, who wants Nathan to marry her; Police Lieutenant Brannigan, who always seems to appear at the wrong time; and the music/lyrics of Frank Loesser, and you've got quite a musical. Includes the songs: Fugue for Tinhorns, "Luck Be a Lady", "Sit Down, You're Rocking the Boat".
Rotten Tomatoes: When Sky Masterson is challenged to take a missionary to Havana, he finds himself falling in love. But will she return his love when she realizes the trip was a ploy?
Scroll To: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% [ / 6]
75% (2) State Fair 100 min, Approved, [Comedy, Drama, Musical, Romance] [Walter Lang] [30 Aug 1945]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 71%, Rotten Tomatoes: 80%, External Reviews
Awards: Won 1 Oscar. Another 3 nominations.
Actors: Dana Andrews, Dick Haymes, Jeanne Crain, Vivian Blaine
Writer: Oscar Hammerstein II (screenplay), Philip Stong (from a novel by), Sonya Levien (adapted by), Paul Green (adapted by)
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: Farm family Frake, with discontented daughter Margy, head for the Iowa State Fair. On the first day, both Margy and brother Wayne meet attractive new flames; so does father's prize hog, Blue Boy. As the fair proceeds, so do the romances; must lovers separate when the fair closes?
Rotten Tomatoes: Twentieth Century-Fox couldn't make a film version of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein's Oklahoma in 1945--that particular Broadway musical would remain a "hot ticket" until the end of the decade--so the studio did the next best thing by hiring Rodgers & Hammerstein to pen the score for the Technicolorful State Fair. Fox had previously made a non-singing movie of Philip Stong's novel in 1933, with Janet Gaynor and Will Rogers in the leads. The musical remake downplayed the older characters in favor of the younger members of the cast. Set during the annual Iowa State Fair, the story concentrates on the Frakes family: father Charles Winninger, mother Fay Bainter, and grown-up children Jeanne Crain and Dick Haymes. Each has his or her own reason for attending the fair: Winninger intends to win the "prize hog" ribbon, Bainter hopes to defeat her longtime snooty rival in the food contest (she wins when the judges get schnockered on the alcohol in her entry), Crain falls in love with fast-talking journalist Dana Andrews, and Haymes woos footloose and fancy-free vocalist Vivian Blaine. Musical highlights include the Oscar-winning "It Might as Well be Spring," "It's a Grand Night for Singing," and the title number. To avoid confusion with the 1962 remake, the 1945 State Fair was for many years retitled It Happened One Summer for TV showings. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Scroll To: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% [ / 6]
62% (1) If I'm Lucky 78 min, Approved, [Musical] [Lewis Seiler] [02 Sep 1946]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 63%, External Reviews
Actors: Carmen Miranda, Harry James, Perry Como, Vivian Blaine
Writer: George Bricker, Robert Ellis, Edwin Lanham (story), Helen Logan, Snag Werris
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English, Portuguese Country: USA
Plot: Out-of-work swing band maneuvers a gig working for a political campaign, by drawing in and entertaining prospective voters at rallies. The candidate is really a stooge for a corrupt political machine, which discovers the band's handsome and appealing singer would make a better stooge. Meanwhile, romance blossoms between the band's singers. When election day approaches, the band's singer wants out of the campaign, but the machine threatens to smear him and his pals in the band if he quits.
Rotten Tomatoes: The second of Perry Como's two starring vehicles for 20th Century-Fox, If I'm Lucky is an easygoing remake of 1937's Thanks a Million. Como plays the old Dick Powell role as Allan Clark, an entertainer who is maneuvered into politics by conniving manager Wally (Phil Silvers, in the role originated by Fred Allen). It all begins when Clark, hired to appear at a political rally for bibulous gubernatorial candidate Magonnagie (Edgar Buchanan), wins the hearts of the voters. One thing leads to another, and before long Clark himself is on the way to the governor's chair. With a newly acquired set of scruples, the singer-politico publicly reveals that his backers are crooks, but wins the election all the same! Though the satirical edge of Thanks a Million is muted in the remake, the musical numbers by Perry Como and costar Vivian Blaine help to take up the slack.
Scroll To: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% [ / 6]
62% (1) Greenwich Village 82 min, [Musical] [Walter Lang] [07 Feb 1945]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 62%, External Reviews
Actors: Carmen Miranda, Don Ameche, Vivian Blaine, William Bendix
Writer: Earl Baldwin (screenplay), Walter Bullock (screenplay), Michael Fessier (adaptation), Ernest Pagano (adaptation), Frederick Hazlitt Brennan (story)
External Links: Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: In 1922, novice composer Kenneth Harvey arrives in New York from Kansas, hoping to publish his concerto; he meets speakeasy owner Danny O'Mara, who hopes to put on a broadway show. Ken's affairs take a turn for the better when he falls for singer Bonnie Watson. But while he labors on orchestration, O'Mara is surreptitiously adapting his tunes to the Greenwich Village Gaieties.
Rotten Tomatoes: Those willing to accept Carmen Miranda as a "typical" 1920s type will be able to swallow the rest of the lavish but rather silly 20th Century-Fox musical Greenwich Village. Most of the action takes place in a New York speakeasy managed by tough guy Danny O'Mara (William Bendix). Providing entertainment in this rowdy establishment is songwriter Kenneth Harvey (Don Ameche), singing sensation Bonnie Watson (Vivian Blaine) and fortune-teller/dancer Princess Querida (Carmen Miranda). Harvey aspires to become a serious composer, while O'Mara has yearnings to produce a hit Broadway show. Everything works out to everyone's satisfaction by fadeout time, and Harvey (of course) falls in love with Bonnie. Specialty acts included the ballroom dance team of Tony and Sally De Marco, the precision-tap specialists The Four Step Brothers, and an up-and-coming group of nightclub comedians called The Revuers (Judy Holliday, Adolph Green, Betty Comden and Alvin Hammer), whose main routine, alas, ended up on the cutting room floor.
Scroll To: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% [ / 6]
60% (1) Something for the Boys 87 min, Approved, [Comedy, Musical] [Lewis Seiler] [01 Nov 1944]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 60%, External Reviews
Actors: Carmen Miranda, Michael O'Shea, Phil Silvers, Vivian Blaine
Writer: Robert Ellis (screenplay), Helen Logan (screenplay), Frank Gabrielson (screenplay), Herbert Fields (book), Dorothy Fields (book)
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: The oddly-assorted Hart cousins: revue singer Blossom, con man Harry, and machinist Chiquita (who gets radio through her teeth!), inherit southern plantation Magnolia Manor, which alas proves to be a "termite trap" and tax liability. Fortunately, Sgt. Rocky Fulton from a nearby army camp appears with a plan to convert the place to a hotel for army wives; but to pay bills until then, they decide to put on a show. Of course, romantic and military complications intervene...
Rotten Tomatoes: This adaptation of the Cole Porter Broadway musical involves a crumbling southern plantation which is converted into a home for servicemen's wives. Running the operation are three cousins. When money runs out, the threesome contrive to put on a fundraising show.
Scroll To: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% [ / 6]
59% (1) Doll Face 80 min, Not Rated, [Comedy, Musical, Romance] [Lewis Seiler] [31 Dec 1945]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 60%, External Reviews
Actors: Carmen Miranda, Dennis O'Keefe, Perry Como, Vivian Blaine
Writer: Harold Buchman (adaptation), Gypsy Rose Lee (play), Leonard Praskins
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: Burlesque queen Doll Face Carroll is dismissed from an audition for a legitimate Broadway show because she's considered unrefined. Her boss/manager, Mike, decides that she can acquire some polish and also get plenty of publicity by writing her autobiography; he hires a ghost writer to do all the work but doesn't consider that Doll Face and her collaborator might have more than a book on their minds.
Rotten Tomatoes: This film focuses on Vivian Blaine, a stripteaser with artistic pretensions. On the advice of her manager/ boyfriend Dennis O'Keefe, Vivian undergoes a "refinement" process. The next step for the girl is to write an intellectual autobiography, for which a ghostwriter is engaged.
Scroll To: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% [ / 6]