Golden Girl

I saw this movie back when I was a young teenage girl of about 13 years, and it has stuck in my memory for 50 years now. It was a sort of Cinderella story to me in it's purest form. I would love to own this movie to let my grandchildren watch it as I feel they would really get something from it! Movies today just don't compare in my opinion. Most are just watched and forgotten, but since I've not been able to get this one out of my head for 50 years must say something about it? The stars, both Mitz Gaynor and Dale Robertson were superb! Her songs and dances were wonderful, and the acting was of the best quality. I'm sure this movie boosted both their careers a great deal. I could watch it a thousand times and not tire of it. Would love to find it available somewhere out there. Thanks for reading my review.

An ok film and great for Mitzi Gaynor fans. It seemed like a Calamity Jane wanna be... but Dennis Day, a pretty bland performer (albeit with a really good voice) and Mitzi are not a match for Howard Keel and Doris Day and an MGM production. It's the usual Hollywood totally fabricated biography, 90% fiction, so don't expect this to be a true story. One of the great things about Mitzi was that although she wasn't in the league of Cyd Charisse or Vera Ellen as a dancer....at least she did her own singing which made her a true all-around performer (her voice is not all that powerful, but it is pleasing). At 19, when this was filmed, her energy is boundless and when she's onstage, particularly with Dennis Day, he becomes invisible.She is cute, talented and this really was her first chance to strut her stuff.

How could I have lived 61 years & not properly appreciated the talent & beauty of Mitzi Gaynor?

She was great...she has the rare ability to present innocence, freshness, and be quite sexy....what a lady.

The story of the Bella Union, or at least some of it was fascinating to me.

I only wish there had been something said of her visit to Tombstone Arizona, the Birdcage Theater, which also hosted Eddie Foy, shortly after Wyatt Earp & Doc Holliday spent evenings in the, then new, Birdcage.

Could anyone elaborate on the historical accuracy of her relationship with a Southern Officer? Since she never married, it leaves one wondering.

This movie, along with South Pacific will initiate many searches/viewings of Mitzi Gaynor movies.

Does anyone here have any further info on Mitzi Gaynor's present activities....still making appearances?....healthy?

Although the plot plays fast and loose with history, the film is based on the early stage career of 19th century singer Lotta Crabtree, as played with gusto by Mitzi Gaynor, who shows herself to be one of the great dancers of 20th century cinema. Under the guidance of her stage mother, 16-year-old Crabtree began performing for sex-starved California miners and later wealthy city slickers across America, earning a fortune for her family. Set against the background of the Civil War, the melodrama centers on her romance with a South spy and her relationship with her brother-like partner, played by Dale Robertson and Dennis Day, respectively. The beauty of the film is its music, with Gaynor irresistibly innocent and vivacious, Day in his best tenor form, and Carmen D'Antonio as European stage entertainer Loa Montez, Crabtree's inspiration. Top among the cute songs is "Kiss Me Quick and Go." Curiously, "Oh Dem Golden Slippers," which repeats throughout the film, was not written until 1879, many years after the Civil War.

This is a film I went to the cinema and watched on its release.... Throughout the 51 years since then this is the film that has stayed in my memory.

I found the plot quite enthralling - the action criss crossed from the Civil War to the theatre and the lives of all those involved. The drama and the joys were all there. The cast were all good in the roles and there was a wide range of Hollywood names of that era. The musical numbers were toe tapping and will run through your mind after you have watched it ... main numbers are Golden Slippers and Dixie which you sing for days afterwards (in my case 51 years afterwards).

The costumes were what you expected of a large Hollywood musical of the era - colourful and glorious.

Sadly it seems to be a film that is lying in the vaults forgotten but it would be nice if it could be re-released....if only to see a young Dale Robertson...