Du Barry Was a Lady

On reviewer said that only a 5th grade child could appreciate this movie. Well, when I first saw it-the year of it's release-I was a 2nd grade child. Red Skelton's prat falls and his mugging seemed hilarious to me-then! Otherwise, I was clueless as to what was going on.

What stayed in my memory for decades after was the dazzling color, This was probably the first technicolor movie I had even seen. Technicolor movies were still scarce and a great novelty. Thus, the color itself was enough to etch this film in my memory. Also, all the color was amped up beyond any connection to real life, and the sets, the clothing and even Lucy's hair were bright and saturated color. Wow!

Now, unfortunately, the movie lacks wit and it drags a bit. I now worry that Skelton might injure himself in one of his multitudinous falls. Lucy is not at all funny, and, despite her showy looks, not a whit sexy. Virginia O'Brien is very good. Too bad she didn't have more songs. No one in the movie seemed to have any more of an idea of who Dubarry was and what her relationship to Louis X IV was than I did at the age of seven. The music was good and Ziggy Elman and Buddy Rich were happily prominent..

When a bunch of young women parade in front of the camera, you can expect that one or two go on to some movie fame. I spotted Marilyn Maxwell and Hillary Brooke in this movie. It had enough to keep me watching, and it brought back colorful memories of a distant world to me.

When MGM bought the rights to Cole Porter's DuBarry Was A Lady for the Arthur Freed unit as per usual the naughty Porter score was completely emasculated and songs old and new from a variety of sources were interpolated into the film. It was like his lyric of Friendship, a perfect blendship.

If you're attentive however you can hear at least two of the songs played as background music, When Love Beckoned and Well Did You Evah which was later interpolated by MGM into High Society for that never to be forgotten duet with Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra. Only Friendship, Do I Love You Do I and Katie Went To Haiti made the final cut in the score.

Sad also that Ethel Merman and Bert Lahr did not get to repeat the roles they did on Broadway and Darryl Zanuck would not let Betty Grable come over from 20th Century Fox. Ethel only did two of her Broadway roles for the movies, Call Me Madam and Anything Goes and Lahr for whatever reason after the Cowardly Lion from The Wizard Of Oz was given a whole of mediocre parts.

It was said that Merman was not film box office, but certainly Lucille Ball wasn't either at that time. Red Skelton was however, his career was on the rise and so television's two most famous redheads got to team on the big screen.

Lucy is the star of a nightclub chorus and Red is the hat check man who hits the lottery. He's been crushing out on Lucy for forever, but now that he's rich he thinks she might give him a second look. He puts the big moves on her. but she can only see hoofer Gene Kelly. Still his money is tantalizing.

When Red tries to slip Gene a mickey finn he winds up drinking it himself and dreams he's back in the court of Louis XV as Louis XV with Lucy as the notorious Madame DuBarry. And Kelly turns up as the dashing rebel the Black Arrow, rival for the affections of the Madame.

In both the modern and period story MGM packed a lot of entertainment in the 89 minute running time. What court or nightclub would not like to have Tommy Dorsey and his Orchestra as its personal band? There are some nice solos by drummer Buddy Rich and singing with the Pied Pipers are Jo Stafford and newly arrived vocalist Dick Haymes.

Virginia O'Brien contributes a few numbers. She never did any acting roles of note, but was always welcome in an MGM production for her singing and devastating dead pan delivery of a song. Making his big screen debut as the nightclub fortune teller was Zero Mostel with just a trace of his zaniness in play.

This was one of the few films that Gene Kelly was in that he really did not have control of his material yet. Nevertheless his Black Arrow persona was a hint of what you saw later in a high flying dance number in Anchors Aweigh and in The Three Musketeers and The Pirate.

A thin plot is just an excuse to hang a lot of comedy and musical entertainment. But what I would have given to see Merman and Lahr do a faithful adaption on screen.

This 1943 Arthur Freed production had a great cast, gorgeous Technicolor, various personalities of the day like Tommy Dorsey (and Dick Haymes and Jo Stafford singing in the flashback sequence), but it's a rather boring film. It's a movie made for a person with the intellect of a fifth grader. I had to stop the film after an hour and watch it the next day to complete it, as my patience had reached its limit for the day. I will say that many musicals of the day had puerile plots, but this one really was on the lower half of the scale.

Lucy and Red, both talented, didn't strike me as all that funny. And Lucy singing with Rita Hayworth's voice double Martha Mears looked and sounded strange. When you're looking for Rita, and you get Lucy, it is quite the shock. I will admit that after checking my facts Martha sang for Lucy before she sang for Rita in Cover Girl one year later, but I still "heard" Rita singing.

Gene was good as always but I couldn't quite see why he wanted Lucy so much. She was beautiful but cold in an icy manner.

Clara "Auntie Em" Blandick had a small bit in a subway which was quite good. And Lana Turner also appears in the film in an uncredited cameo.

Virginia O'Brien, always fun, helped the proceedings as well.

If you're a fan of the MGM musical, you should see it, but it's not a film that will make a list of the top film musicals.

MGM bought a seventeen song musical comedy, threw out thirteen songs ("It Ain't Etiquette", "Well, Did You Evah", and "But In The Morning, No" can still be heard as backg round music) and had five studio composers take care of the rest of the score ("Salome" is their best contribution).

The plot--Film takes place in a nightclub. Louis (Skelton) is in love with May (Lucille Ball). After he accidentally drinks a Mickey, he dreams he's back in 1743 France, where he is Louis XV, and May is Madame DuBarry.

To me, Skelton is unbearable when he plays stupid; here, he takes forever to get the idea he's back in France, and tramples jokes into the ground. I don't know if that's his fault or the fault of director Del Ruth.

Ball is good as May/Madame DuBarry. She saves the second half of the film with her comedy skills where she makes a fool out of Louis XV. She is dubbed for most of her songs, but her real voice can be heard in the song "Friendship".

Gene Kelly is good as Alec/The Black Arrow. He has the best song ("Do I Love You") and an excellent dance number on the nightclub stage.

Virginia O'Brien makes "Salome" a memorable song. Look for Marilyn Maxwell in a bit , and Lana Turner in an uncredited bit.

Now don't get me wrong, `Dubarry Was A Lady' Is not the best Movie Musical I 've ever seen, but it is one of the prettiest. I can't figure out how they where able to achieve such a creamy coloration in the film but the rich pastels used on the sets and costumes are just stunning. There are some wonderful big band numbers with Tommy Dorsey and his orchestra, featuring Dick Haymes. And a campy `Salmome' number by Virginia O'Brien. Gene Kelly looks great and does one nice dance routine, but he mostly sits around mooning over Lucille Ball. Speaking of Lucille Ball, this was her big debut at MGM, and MGM's first full Techincolor musical, and she looks incredible! Her firey red hair and trim figure were perfectly set off by the contemporary costumes, and she looks great in the powdered wigs too!

Give it a look!