Some of the flashy Fox musicals of the '40s with Betty Grable or June Haver were fun and very watchable, especially when the leading men were actors like John Payne or Don Ameche who could both act and sing.
But Alice Faye and Betty Grable must have been busy elsewhere or maybe turned down this script--which is pretty likely--and Fox used its second string Faye replacement, VIVIAN BLAINE, to play the gal who sings her heart out in some forgettable ballads full of the usual romantic clichés. They surrounded Blaine with some good talent--namely PHIL SILVERS and CARMEN MIRANDA--but gave her MICHAEL O'SHEA for a leading man, a guy who obviously doesn't belong in a musical and wishes he were somewhere else.
Script troubles defeat everyone, especially Miranda and Silvers, who play cousins (hard to believe, I know), who use their Southern mansion as a shelter for war wives while their hubbies play military games. The thin and very predictable story gets no help from a bevy of songs that never landed on the hit parade, although the splashy Technicolor numbers have all the gaudy splendor that Fox was famous for--all to no avail.
PERRY COMO tosses off a slow ballad with a modest amount of charm, and VIVIAN BLAINE warbles a sweet ballad in Alice Faye's throaty style (especially in the scene where she pretends making a play for GLENN LANGAN), but Carmen Miranda's comic abilities are wasted on a ridiculous role and Phil Silver's big song and dance number is strictly for the birds.
In fact, that can describe the whole picture--it's definitely not "something for the boys", that's for sure.
But Alice Faye and Betty Grable must have been busy elsewhere or maybe turned down this script--which is pretty likely--and Fox used its second string Faye replacement, VIVIAN BLAINE, to play the gal who sings her heart out in some forgettable ballads full of the usual romantic clichés. They surrounded Blaine with some good talent--namely PHIL SILVERS and CARMEN MIRANDA--but gave her MICHAEL O'SHEA for a leading man, a guy who obviously doesn't belong in a musical and wishes he were somewhere else.
Script troubles defeat everyone, especially Miranda and Silvers, who play cousins (hard to believe, I know), who use their Southern mansion as a shelter for war wives while their hubbies play military games. The thin and very predictable story gets no help from a bevy of songs that never landed on the hit parade, although the splashy Technicolor numbers have all the gaudy splendor that Fox was famous for--all to no avail.
PERRY COMO tosses off a slow ballad with a modest amount of charm, and VIVIAN BLAINE warbles a sweet ballad in Alice Faye's throaty style (especially in the scene where she pretends making a play for GLENN LANGAN), but Carmen Miranda's comic abilities are wasted on a ridiculous role and Phil Silver's big song and dance number is strictly for the birds.
In fact, that can describe the whole picture--it's definitely not "something for the boys", that's for sure.