Hello Frisco, Hello

I don't know what is wrong with Leonard Maltin, giving this 2 stars and calling it a big comedown for the stars. This is one of my favorite musicals starring Alice Faye and she has never been so beautifully filmed in technicolor. Her costumes, hair styles and hats, are gorgeous as is the way she is made up.

Jack Oakie and June Havoc are joyous in their comic musical numbers. John Payne plays his ambitious, clueless, social climbing saloon keeper well enough. The opening number "Hello, Frisco, Hello" going right on into "You'll Never Know" is beautifully staged. Forever after this song was introduced in this film, it was Alice Fayes signature song and thousands of WWII couples danced and dreamed to it. Lynn Bari is also gorgeous as the rich femme fatale from Nob Hill that comes between Payne and Faye. But the story is secondary to the songs and stars.

A real pleasure that I keep in my permanent collections of films of the Golden Era. 8/10

Charming period musical with Alice Faye as a saloon singer in love with social-climbing John Payne who has his eyes on Lynn Bari. The Barbary Coast is aglitter in Fox's brightest technicolor. The slim plot allows Alice to sing one of her most famous songs: "Hello, Frisco, Hello" which won the 1943 Oscar for best song.

With a sparkling supporting cast including Jack Oakie, June Havoc, Laird Cregar and Ward Bond, it is probably the best film teaming Faye with one of her favorite leading men, John Payne. He doesn't get as many chances to sing as she does, but he was regarded as Fox's most dependable leading man in musicals and matches her every step of the way. But it's her wistful rendering of the title tune, photographed in loving camera close-ups, that shows what star quality is all about.

Pleasant and tuneful, this is what war-weary audiences wanted back in 1943. A nice comeback for Faye who had been off the screen for a year.

1st watched 11/24/2001 - 7 out of 10(Dir-H. Bruce Humberstone): Toe-tapping, hit playing musical that doesn't have a plot line much different than many of this dancing/singing genre but it is played out so well by the stars involved that it keeps you interested. The songs have romance, humor, and hit quality chorus's that made me want to have the music itself(if it's available). This is supposed to have been the most popular war-time film and I can understand why although because a lot of people weren't going to the movies back then it's been relatively forgotten. I'm glad I was able to see this and it made me hunger for more of this type. Watch it if you can find it, it won't disappoint you.

One of the best musicals ever to come out of Fox and one of the top Alice Faye showcases. Never mind the plot, just set back and enjoy the sultry velvety voice of the most beautiful Alice Faye, the finest song stylist ever to come out of Hollywood .

This beautiful film introduced the Academy Award winning song-"You'll Never Know" which Faye sings three times in the picture. This haunting song was reprised the following year by her in the wartime musical "Four Jills in a Jeep". It has been recorded countless times, however no one sings it like Faye. She pulls the heart strings in a professional fashion.

If you are not familiar with Alice Faye, do yourself a favor and discover why she was the Number #1 Box-Office star over Bette Davis in the early 1940's. I highly recommend this lavish musical entertainment.

Alice Faye's reign at 20th Century Fox, which overlapped with Betty Grable's, started earlier than Grable's and ended sooner - and on a sour note.

Faye actually came with the old Fox Film Corp. When Zanuck founded 20th Century Fox and was at first a Harlow type, eventually developing into the Alice Faye moviegoers came to love. When she was given a dramatic role, in the 1945 "Dark Angel," the film was re-edited to favor Linda Darnell, and a disgusted Faye left Fox and never returned.

Here she's on top in "Hello Frisco, Hello" also starring John Payne, Lynn Bari, Jack Oakie, June Havoc and Laird Cregar, a big, colorful turn of the century musical in the Fox tradition.

Alice plays Trudy Evans, the linchpin in a group formed by the ambitious Johnny Cornell. Johnny isn't content with the Barbary Coast - he wants Nob Hill.

After opening a series of clubs, he becomes interested in a beautiful widow (Bari) who can give him the respectability he wants. When she goes broke, he tries to buy her house. To the heartbreak of Trudy, who's been in love with him all along, the two eventually marry.

There's one song after another in this musical, including Faye's beautiful rendition of "You'll Never Know," which became a smash hit. Faye's voice was so unusual - low, sultry and smooth, and it fits the music here perfectly. She is beautifully photographed and costumed as well.

Oakie and Havoc provide comic support, and Bari is excellent as the woman who wins Johnny away from Trudy.

The big problem with the film is the character of Johnny (Payne), who is a real louse and a user to boot as he strings Trudy along. Personally, I would have let him stew in his own juice but this is Hollywood after all. And the plot is so secondary to the wonderful music and stars. Highly entertaining.