Au pays du rythme

Betty Hutton, one of the nominal stars of Star Spangled Rhythm, was not just doing it for defense as in her number, but the whole studio was doing this All Star flag waver for the defense of the morale of the USA.

I can never resist one of these all star spectaculars and there's only one I would ever have given a bad review to, and this isn't the one. Everybody working on the Paramount lot got to do his bit for defense in this film, some bits being longer than others.

The nominal plot of this film has Betty Hutton as a switchboard girl at Paramount studios and Victor Moore, a former silent western star, now working as a security guard at the studio trying to convince Eddie Bracken and a bunch of his sailor buddies that Moore is really the head of the studio. For that they have to con and bamboozle Walter Abel who is a real studio executive out of his office and off the lot so they can do their masquerade uninterrupted.

Of course Bracken asks the inevitable, pop can you get all these stars down for a big Navy show, and the con has to continue. But all of this nonsense is just an excuse for some musical and comedy numbers by the Paramount players.

Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer wrote the score and out of it came two really big standards, That Old Black Magic which was nominated for Best Song that year, but lost to another Paramount film song, White Christmas and Hit the Road to Dreamland.

The latter was done as director Preston Sturges was playing himself and screening a musical number from his latest film. As the projector rolls on screen it's Dick Powell and Mary Martin on a Pullman car singing about finally hitting the hay after some romance. The scene is so well done I wish it was included as an integral part of a real film.

That Old Black Magic is sung by Johnny Johnson and danced by ballet star Vera Zorina. It was enormous hit that year, recorded by a flock of singers. Oddly enough not by Bing Crosby though he got to sing it in another film, Here Come the Waves.

Of course the finale is a wartime flag waving number with Bing Crosby singing Old Glory about the flag and the wonders of the country behind it. The number about the flag probably wouldn't fly today still and that's a pity.

It's even more of a pity that these musical extravaganzas are a thing of the past with the decline of the Hollywood studio system. Star Spangled Rhythm is one of the best of its kind.

Pretty much this is Paramount's contribution to the war effort in 1942. Plot basically sees Victor Moore as Pop, who by way of some deceit has to keep up the pretence to his sailor son Johnny Webster (Eddie Bracken) that he is head of the studio, when in fact he is just a gatekeeper there. As Johnny and his sailor pals make their way to the studio, Pop, aided by switchboard operator Polly Judson (Betty Hutton), sets about putting on a all star show for the boys. Cue sketches and variety turns by a ream of Paramount performers. Some of the situ comedy works, such as Bob Hope in the shower with William Bendix and Hutton trying to scale a wall aided by two bendy blokes, other moments, however, fall a little flat. But when the froth is war-oriented or the stars are poking fun at themselves, it scores well and the musical numbers are never less than pleasant.

Good old time cinema while it's also fun to play spot the star. 7/10

Sailor Johnny Webster (Eddie Bracken) and his pals are on shore leave in California. Johnny's dad Pop (Victor Moore) is the head of Paramount Pictures, which is also where Johnny's girlfriend Polly (Betty Hutton) works. Only Polly and Pop have been lying to Johnny, as Pop is only a lowly guard at the front gate. They decide to try and continue with the ruse, which results in comic hi-jinks as they try to avoid the real studio chief Mr. DeSoto (Walter Abel). This all leads up to a big show put on by the stars of Paramount for the Navy boys.

As corny, frivolous, and plotless as these all-star wartime crowd-pleasers are, I still like them. Maybe it's the upbeat attitude, the stars goofing around, or the rapid pacing, I'm not sure, but they seldom fail to leave a smile on my face. Having Betty Hutton and Eddie Bracken as the leads in the main "story" doesn't hurt, either, as they are both manic and funny. One of the aspects of this particular extravaganza that stood out for me were the lovely ladies in energetic dance numbers.. Paramount kept this one in theaters longer than usual, and it ended up being one of the top ten hits of the year. It also nabbed Oscar nominations for Best Score (Robert Emmett Dolan) and Best Song ("That Old Black Magic").

Shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the US mobilized unlike any society before or since.

A large part of that was because of a very cooperative media, especially the new medium of movies. The White House asked them to rush some feel-good films into production and this was paramount's first response. It is a collection of skits wrapped in a thin story. Most of the skit material is in the form of a "show" for sailors, but many of them inexplicably use cinematic conventions that couldn't be staged.

Because this was stitched together so quickly, it is of widely varying tone and quality. I suppose the parts you like will depend on who you are.

There's a pretty big, lush production number (ostensibly a movie being shot that some sailors visit) that has atypically svelte and acrobatic girls. Later, there's a number where black straight man Rochester dances pretty well.

So far as comedy, there are two classic scenes here that made this enjoyable for me: This was Betty Hutton's first big role and she does Lucy better than Lucy I think. One scene is a hilarious attempt to climb over a wall with the aid of two men. It's amazingly physical, worthy of Keaton. Check her out in "Perils of Pauline," also directed by Marshall, who seems to have understood her.

The other comic bit worth seeing is Bob Hope trapped in a shower with William Bendix, and avoiding being discovered. Hope's not a great comic, in fact he falls flat elsewhere in this project. But this one skit is perfect for him.

Preston Sturges is one of the main figures in folded films (films about film), and he plays himself here, screening a film.

Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.

Eddie Bracken is in the Navy. His dad (Victor Moore--aka Bronco Billy) is a guard at Paramount but has told him he is head of the studio. His girl (Betty Hutton who he has never met) does her part to keep the deception going. When Eddie gets shore leave with his buddies they naturally want to go to the studio and then the fun begins as the attempts at keeping the deception going get more involved and intricate up to the point where dad agrees to hold a show for the whole ship.

No question that this movie was to be patriotic and to showcase Paramount stars. This is a good vehicle for it. You get a chance to glimpse studio life in its' various forms and to see many stars of the time perform brief numbers. Yet the stars don't overwhelm the story.

Some very funny scenes such as when Betty wants to get into the studio by climbing over a wall and during the show for the ship's men there is an absolutely hilarious sketch with men showing how women act when they get together for an evening of playing cards. There is also a great sketch where Bob Hope is trying to hide from William Bendix and he has to do it while Bendix is taking a shower with Bob in the shower with him! A nice light-hearted movie with good entertainment.