Follow the Band

This film is one of many that Mitchum was offered to pad out his career. As an actor, he needed to have work experience behind him in order to be hired. Therefore, his agent sent him for every role being offered, paying Mitchum between $75 per day and $100 per week. I think we can safely call this film padding.

I recall seeing this film when it first came out. It was one of a number of similar light romantic comedies built around a name dance band, and featuring cameo performances of stars as night club acts. One of the cameos in this one is Leo Carrillo doing one of his very funny stand-up comedy routines. Before he became a film star, Leo did the night club, vaudeville circuits and Broadway, as a dialect comedian and chalk-talk cartoonist. Leo's act is worth the price, as he appears as a night club act, doing one of his Italian dialect routines as a character named "Tony" using a telephone booth to contact an array of imaginary characters. Beyond some really good laughs, this routine should be mandatory for any aspirant to doing stand-up comedy. For real fans of Leo, you'll have to excuse the mispronouncing of his name by the master of ceremonies, as "Leo Car-ee-yo", (s/b "ka-reel-yo") sorry that. But don't miss this one, or the cameo by the late great Frances Langford, or the early electric guitar of Alvino Rey!