Reviews

...I attended this film twice--willingly, joyously and paid both times. It is a humdinger...and it is hard to say which performer is better...they are all wonderful...the two young men who portray Mr. Zeffirelli as a boy and young man are charming.. Florence is a presence and the light of Northern Italy is lovely and wraps them all in pale amber warmth...that makes the story seem less of a struggle than it probably really was. It is about a group of English and American women who live in Italy prior to WWII--how they work together to support and nurture an orphaned boy--and how the coming of the war affects them all...it is a memoir..and necessarily colored by the memory of the director... and his love for the people he is portraying. Unlike my neighbor upstairs (Mr. Fletch)...I thought this was a delightful work of art...with a cast to die for.

...I think it was made for British television...and it is a live performance...and it actually captures that... and it is a show full of fun and engaging performances. It is one of those shows that you enjoy and then enjoy more each time you see it.

..and with Marge and Gower Champion and Jack Lemmon...it is lots of fun. Fun is what Betty Grable was about...and this film is at its best during those sequences aimed at amusing. ...These days people do not understand Betty Grable very well. In her day she was everyman's and every womans ideal. Indeed no woman has broken Betty's box office record (eleven years in the top ten). And, in the forties and early fifties, women still dominated the box office to an amazing degree--Mom chose the films the family was going out to see. Though it was a bit early to be obvious, Betty in many ways represented a manifestation of what we would now call a liberated woman. She was nearly always working (in revealing clothing!), and she was self supporting. In real life she was a very successful working mother--and particularly during WWII she was an inspiration to women manning the homefront as much as an inspiration to the armed forces fighting overseas. She was pretty, talented, popular, and the highest salaried woman in the United States. Now she is remembered primarily as a 'pin up'--which she also was, but the title tends to diminish the many other factors that created her popularity. One thing is certain, in "Three for the Show" or any other of her starring films--she will entertain you royally within the limitations of the material she was given.

...This is a curious series of films. They are not really very good...but they are quaintly interesting. "Sunkist Stars at Palm Springs" is the best of the three or four I have seen. They were made...well, partly to promote Technicolor...partly to give studios a chance to see some of their stars in Technicolor..the films are produced by MGM, from what I hear, profits went to the Motion Picture Relief Fund--so none of the studios complained if/when their stars turned up..and a lot did..Clark Gable, Alice Faye...many others....the sad thing is they are heavy on names and short on having them do anything really delightful. Betty Grable takes off her skirt, revealing shorts and dances with the chorus girls--most of the others just stand there...Johnny Weiss muller frolics in the pool...but curiosities is what they will remain. Even so, at eighteen minutes...you won't get really irritated and you may spot a personal favorite along the way.

...I think this is my favorite. Oh, I am devoted to "Manhattan"...and "Bullets Over Broadway", but "Everyone Says I Love You" creates such a divinely mad world, and the cast is so great, and the cinematography is so beautiful that I am glad I have my copy to watch at home...because it is fresh a delightful each and every time. And I love the references to the Marx Brothers and Betty Grable (Cuddle Up a Little Closer). It is the most constantly entertaining film in my collection (close to 1,000). THANK YOU, Woody Allen!

...."Sweet Rosie O'Grady" and "Mother Wore Tights" were Betty Grable's favorites of her films. It is easy to see why they are. "Sweet Rosie" is just possibly Betty at her peak. To give credit where credit is due, Betty's peak lasted a remarkably long time. In this Betty is an established star in England returning to the United States. Robert Young is a newspaper reporter who dredges up her less than glamorous beginnings as a singer in a beer garden. They then proceed to scrap and humiliate each other right through the whole film. Reginald Gardnier is the guy who loses Betty. He must have liked Betty a whole lot. He lost her in a total of six films. Certainly no one could call him a quitter. He does get Betty's maid as a sort of consolation prize. Betty and Robert Young do finally resolve their differences and admit they like each other a lot. The whole thing is brisk and colorful--and like all Betty Grable films: a lot of fun.

..."How to Marry a Millionaire" is now and will always be a scrumptious film. It is the first film to be filmed in the Cinemascope process. "The Robe"--filmed second, was released first--while "HTMaM" was used within the industry to promote the new process. That is why it has a full symphony orchestra, great panoramic views of New York City and fashion shows, and Monroe, Grable and Bacall--three very glamorous ladies--all to make the most of the new wide screen process...and to make the other studios want to try it. Thanks to those same ladies, it is also a delightful film to watch any day...even if you have no intention of producing a film in any process.

...And at the zenith of her 'love goddess' period. This films is a literal (and completely non-musical) version of the Carmen story. When Rita dances in the film (and she does dance!)-- she is always hidden from the camera/audience--as a way of saying: love goddess at work--no frills necessary. Even so, she makes Carmen truly naughty--so much so that you wonder that she lives as long as she does. Carmen is a woman with more than the necessary number of tragic flaws. Rita makes her beautiful and vibrant--but tragic nevertheless.

This film is a post-war notice to women (who had been 'minding the store' while all the guys were over- seas)--that they just might have some choices. Not a strong statement to be sure--but surprising in its way. Not surprising is that Hollywood chose Betty Grable to represent the modern woman in this period picture. Betty was (in 1947) the highest salaried woman in the United States--and a box office champion (at a time when women really pretty much dictated what movies we were going out to see). So it is not Betty Grable the famous pin-up you are seeing (though she is also present, but under more wraps than usual)--it is Betty Grable the successful woman--who was a role model for women at that time in a way. They cared that she was glamorous, married, had children and a career--and was a hell of an entertainer. This film is charming and presents a slightly softened Betty--but a resourceful and independent Betty. As is so often the case, the resolution of the film is not a true triumph--but we are talking about the 1940's--so they took the ball as far as they felt they could. I like this film. I hope that you will, too. Betty and a great bunch of character actors will give you a really pleasant ninety minutes or so.

...this movie has everything that everyone expects of Betty Grable every time. It is bright and colorful and silly and funny and loads of fun. Betty, (ever the independent and employed woman) is working as an entertainer in an odd little dive. Well, a friend of the owners does what we would now call a corporate take-over--and then he does a make-over on Betty and she becomes a big musical comedy star--but wait--it is more complicated than that! See this and you will understand why Betty Grable was loved at the box office for so long. She is wonderful.