My Sister Eileen

A musical remake of the original Broadway play, MY SISTER EILEEN is a little-known gem from Columbia in the mid-'50s, produced in lively Technicolor and starring JANET LEIGH as Eileen and BETTY GARRETT as her writer/sister, both newcomers to the Greenwich Village scene. And naturally, the story and the film are very dated when viewed today.

But for light entertainment, it passes inspection beautifully. BOB FOSSE and TOMMY RALL are excellent ingredients as singer/dancers and both of them have more screen time than usual here. JACK LEMMON doesn't have much to do as the publisher in love with Garrett and gets to sing the film's most undistinguished song--unfortunately.

The "Conga" number that comes near the end of the film is a treat, the Brazilian soldiers bursting into dance at the drop of the word "Conga," with some imaginative choreography by Bob Fosse. KURT KAZNER is the Greek landlord who actually joins in the number, as do most of their Greenwich Village neighbors.

A bright, unpretentious and sunny film, it's long on charm but short on inspired musical numbers. It's a wonder Columbia decided not to use the Comden/Green Broadway score but hired Jule Styne and Leo Robin to write a new one. Watch for DICK YORK as "Wreck," the husky neighbors who looks out for the girls.

Passes the time pleasantly, but is easily forgotten.

Trivia note: Director Richard Quine was featured in the original MY SISTER EILEEN starring Rosalind Russell in the 1942 film version.

I had heard that this second musical version of "My Sister Eileen" (the first being the Broadway show "Wonderful Town") was very underrated. Well, it's not.

Columbia Pictures owned the movie musical rights to "Eileen" and when Leonard Bernstein wanted too much money for "Wonderful Town", Columbia passed on adapting the Broadway hit, and created its own musical film adaptation. Unfortunately, this version isn't just inferior to "Wonderful Town" - the score and script are truly mediocre in their own right. The songs are all forgettable, which is surprising given that the composer is the great Jule Styne who went on to write "Gypsy" and other shows. Either he and lyricist Leo Robin had very little time to write the score or inspiration took a vacation.

The two saving graces in this film are Betty Garrett, who plays the more tomboyish Ruth. Unlike Rosalind Russell who played Ruth both in the non-musical film and in "Wonderful Town," Garrett can really sing and she's less self-conscious about being the center of attraction - she's much more natural in the role.

The other occasional grace is Bob Fosse's choreography. In some numbers, especially one dancing "duel" between him and the terrific Tommy Rall, the film comes alive. Unfortunately, some of the other dances - particularly the climactic "Conga" sequence, fall flat, perhaps due more to director Quine than Fosse.

Janet Leigh plays Eileen and she's very charming, though not quite the kind of looker who would have men literally at her feet all the time. She sings fairly well, and dances rather better. And since she's top billed, the script gives her character more emphasis than the original play. Jack Lemmon plays a publisher on whom Ruth has a crush; Lemmon is good, though his one song is far from a highlight - he's no singer.

It's a pity that Columbia and Bernstein didn't see eye to financial eye - it would have been great to see Garrett do "Wonderful Town," though Leigh and Lemmon would never be able to handle their parts in that score.

Where has this film been all these years? What a completely charming piece of entertainment with a nice score by Jule Styne (Gypsy, Funny Girl, Bells Are Ringing). OK, so it's no Singin' In The Rain or Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. But it's equally as good as a lot of the other lesser MGM musicals of the 1940s and 1950s such as Summer Stock and On The Town. Based on the 1940 play of the same name (Book by Joseph A. Fields and Jerome Chodorov;) Betty Garrett and Janet Leigh are perfect as the Sherwood sisters. They both shine in their performances. And top it off, the film highlights some wonderful choreography by none other than legendary Bob Fosse. His work is, as it always was, stylish and pure class. The only glitch in the casting is that of Jack Lemon. He tries to be a slick, man-of-the-world New York publisher. But his performance just falls a bit short of his usual standards. And sadly there was very little chemistry between Garrett and Lemon, making the blossoming romance of their characters somewhat hard to believe. Still, even with this small weak link in the chain, overall the film really works.

It does seem strange that just the year before this film was released, Broadway produced their own musical version of the original 1940 non-musical version of My Sister Eileen, called Wonderful Town (Music by Leonard Berstein; Lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green). While Wonderful Town wasn't a huge Broadway smash, it did run 559 performances, which was respectable for 1954. With a musical stage version of the play already existing as a part of the world of musical theater, I tend to wonder why Columbia started from scratch with this film and didn't film the Bernstein, Comdon & Green musical. But still, it's nice to know that there are two different musical versions of this charming play to enjoy.

This is one of the most entertaining musicals to ever come out of Hollywood. Light and witty, sweet and subtle, it's almost as if Lubitsch made it. The songs are a joy, the dancing a treat and the story deliciously simple. Janet Leigh and Jack Lemmon shine, but the true star is the glorious Betty Garret, who should have been much bigger than she was. Please check this out, it's a charmer

The first time Fosse was given the job of choreography for an entire movie, he came up with "The Competition Dance", a terrific number for himself and Tommy Rall. But the movie should have made a star out of Betty Garrett. Who knows, if MGM had made the film it probably would have. The score, by the way, is far better than that of "Wonderful Town", the stage version that Columbia wanted to film until the producers asked too much for it. Rent it, buy it, enjoy it. By the way, there is a soundtrack recording, but you'll have to spend weeks tracking it down. It may be worth it just to hear Jack Lemmon's take on "It's Bigger Than Both of Us".