Muñequita linda

Lively 1949 musical with Mark Stevens and June Haver in the leads. Did Mark do his own singing here?

The film is a tribute to those who wrote light opera and saw their music turned into wonderful vehicles for Tin Pan Alley. Such was the case here with S.Z. Sakall as the impresario.

Interesting to see Charlotte Greenwood in a totally non-singing and non-dancing role in this film.

Sakall tastes a climb from poverty to wealth as Stevens adopts his music to "modern" times. With a guilty conscience for not pursuing his opera, Sakall drops out, but is quickly found.

The tunes sung are delightful.

"Oh, You Beautiful Doll" is rather underestimated 20th-Century Fox musical that can be best appreciated if you have seen or liked the similar Gay 90s musicals the studio churned out throughout the 1940s. I saw it for the wonderful June Haver who, along with Alice Faye and Betty Grable, is one of my favorite musical stars of the 1940s and early 50s.

It's not that great -- but not ghastly either, if you take it for what it is: Another of Fox's glossy turn-of-the-century musicals that, despite its apparent banalities, may cheer you up thanks to the lively tunes and stars' charisma. "Oh You Beautiful Doll" features Haver as Doris Fisher, the bubbling, charismatic daughter of a famous opera composer Fred Fisher (S.Z. "Cuddles" Sakall). Fisher, whose actual name is Alfred Breitenbach, is a straightforward, hard working musician who unexpectedly finds success at Tin Pan Alley when a happy-go-lucky song plugger Larry Kelly (Mark Stevens) steals Fisher's songs for some of the popular tunes of the day. Doris falls for Larry despite her father's protests. I was surprised to see that Haver seems to work well with Stevens, and their collaboration here is much more satisfying than their previous, soapy "I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now"(1947).

John M. Stahl's direction is quite routine, but the Technicolor & period setting are as usual glorious and lovely to look at. The songs and numbers are generally well done. The best numbers are "Peg O' My Heart", "Oh You Beautiful Doll", "I Want You To Want Me To Want You", "When I Get You Alone Tonight".

Worth a look.