The Dolly Sisters

This colorful musical directed with great style by Irving Cummings is a delightful way to spend some happy moments. This 1945 Fox film presents the life of two sisters that became a sensation in America at the beginning of the last century. The music is the best excuse to watch this happy movie.

We first meet the young Dolly Sisters, Jenny and Rose, as they arrive in America from their native Hungary. The girls are talented and soon, they are delighting the vaudeville circuit with their charm and talent. Their career soared after Harry Fox, who later became Jenny's husband, introduces them to the great Oscar Hammerstein, who sees in the women, an amazing capacity to entertain the public of the era.

As played by Betty Grable and June Haver, the Dolly Sisters are irresistible! The real sisters were not blond, but who could fault the stars with the disarming way they act in the musical? Ms. Grable and Ms. Haver are a sight for sore eyes!

As the man in Jennie's life, John Payne plays Harry Fox convincingly. Mr. Payne projects a virile figure and he is perfect opposite the gorgeous Betty Grable. His composition in the movie, "I'm Always Chasing Rainbow" was written by Harry Carroll and Joseph McCarthy whose inspiration is the Chopin's Fantasy and Impromptu in C Minor and it blends perfectly in the composition and in the subtext of the film. There are also appearances by that charming character actor, S. Z. Sakall, who plays the girl's uncle. Also Reginald Gardiner does good work as the Duke of Breck.

This is a fine musical that will delight fans of the genre.

The real-life Dolly sisters were brunettes but that didn't stop Fox from pairing Bette Grable and June Haver as the famous duo, in addition to fictionalizing their rise to fame in vaudeville and the legit circuit. Nevertheless, this is a typical 1940s charmer of a musical, with the talented John Payne for added appeal and good performances by S. Z. Sakall and Reginald Gardiner. Grable and Haver are seen in a good number of singing and dancing routines and there is even one new song ("I Can't Begin To Tell You") supposedly penned by John Payne. It's all very likeable technicolored entertainment in lavish style. Betty's role is a little more dramatic than usual and she does a good piece of emoting in the final scenes. If you're a Grable fan, you can't afford to miss this one! And she was never better than when she was teamed opposite John Payne--good chemistry and believable sparks.

"The Dolly Sisters" is Betty Grable and June Haver's most joyously tuneful musical, a gaudy, loud, exquisitely Technicolored extravaganza of songs, dancing, and romance, the kind of vacuous yet tasteful fluff 20th Century Fox did well with great success. The studio head, Darryl Zanuck intended as a vehicle for Alice Faye & Betty Grable, but he couldn't convince Faye to get out of retirement, so producer George Jessel casted June Haver, and the movie become one of the top grossing pictures of the 1940s.

Grable and Haver (fantastic throughout) are the Hungarian born blonde sisters, Jenny & Rosie that took Broadway by storm. Their story begins with their arrival in New York in 1904, their subsequent rise from vaudeville acts to Broadway & Folies Bergere of Paris. They meet an aspiring composer Harry (John Payne) who arranges a meeting with Oscar Hammerstein to appear his Music Hall. Betty falls in love with Harry while June settles for a far less troubled romance with Frank Latimore. Betty is particularly very revealing, especially when she gets the nervous breakdown. Good performances also by S.Z. Sakall and Reginald Gardiner.

Lots of rollicking, uproarious songs/numbers, including the Oscar-winning "I Can't Begin to Tell You", the haunting "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows", plus some kitschy stuff like "Powder, Lipstick and Rouge", "Give Me The Moonlight, Give Me The Girl".

"Dolly Sisters" can be best appreciated if you see it back to back with June Haver's 1946's musical, "Three Little Girls in Blue", a joyous merriment in need of resurrection.

One of Betty Grables's biggest hits (it grossed over $4 million in 1945) THE DOLLY SISTERS stands as perhaps her splashiest and most lavish musical made at the summit of her career. Originally intended for Alice Faye and Betty, Faye withdrew early in pre-production, not wanting to commit to another exausting musical. Producer George Jessel substituted up-and-coming blonde June Haver, with John Payne (who had worked with Grable numerous times at Paramount and Fox) and Frank Latimore (in a role originally intended for Randolph Scott) as the male-co stars. And although the easy-going Grable usually got on famously with all her female co-stars, June Haver was the exception. It's likely that this was mainly uncharacteristic jealousy on Betty's part - it had taken Grable a decade of hard work to attain her position as Fox's brightest and most bankable actress, while the teenaged Haver had catapulted to stardom in just two years. The fact that none of this animosity shows on screen says a lot for Grables professionalism. As for the storyline...well, to say that it takes great liberties with the lives of its subjects is kind - the real-life Dollys were both small dark brunettes (not leggy blondes), both went through several husbands and Jenny's car accident left her permanently scarred (unlike Grable who gets thru the accident with only a tiny band-aid). Also, the real-life Jenny Dolly was a drug addict who hung herself in 1941 - such elements would certainly be out of place in a bubbly Hollywood musical of 1945! Instead, the film traces the rise and heartbreak of the sisters as they conquer vaudeville, Broadway and Europe, accompanied by numerous nostalgic tunes like "Carolina in the Morning" "Give Me The Moonlight, Give Me The Girl (and leave the rest to Me)" and "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows" and the new James Monaco-Josef Myrow tune "I Can't Begin To Tell You" which was a Hit Parade favorite. What gives the musical its special flavor are its outrageous production numbers by Seymour Felix, which one writer considers to be prime examples of "kitchy vulgarity...monuments to bad taste", which means, naturally that they are irresistably fabulous! "Powder, Lipstick and Rouge" is a Paean to a Make-Up kit ("Beautiful Faces come out of Vanity Cases!") that has to be seen to be believed, and the decidedly un-P.C. "Darktown Strutters Ball" number was usually cut from old TV prints as it featured Grable in Haver in blackface, cavorting around a 'Harlem' set as pig-tailed 'picaninnies' surrounded by chorus girls in hats made of watermelons, dice and playing cards - not until "Springtime for Hitler" in Mel Brooks' THE PRODUCERS was there a musical number that revelled in its tastelessness! Equally eye-catching are the non-stop parade of breathtaking costumes by Orry-Kelly, easily the most lushly glamorous of any Grable film, and both Betty and June look smashing in them. Topping it all off is Fox's succulent Technicolor and elegant set design. Once when a guest on THE CAROL BURNETT SHOW, Grable was asked about a prospective project. She replyed: "It's flashy, it's gaudy, It's vulgar. It's like everything I've ever done. I LOVE IT!" This sums up THE DOLLY SISTERS as well - and you'll love it, too!

There may be better film musicals out there than 'The Dolly Sisters', but it succeeds very well as colourful fun with enough to put a smile on one's face and clearly knows what it's trying to be and what to do with it.

A huge part of wanting to see 'The Dolly Sisters' was the cast. With the likes of Betty Grable, June Haver, SZ Sakall, Reginald Gardiner, John Payne, there are some talented people here. Also, foibles and all, there is an immense soft spot had for the "Golden Age Hollywood" musicals, a soft spot that has been lifelong held. A fair few of them are flawed in the story department but many are compensated by the music, production values, atmosphere and performances.

While 'The Dolly Sisters' has more merits than it has flaws, the story (if we are to forget that biographically it's very much fictionalised) is as flimsy and predictable as they come and some of the latter parts meander, such as a finale that could have had more oomph. Frank Latimore fails to pass the "remotely amusing" test and further fails to inject much charm or enthusiasm.

Lastly the black face routine is in pretty embarrassing taste now, with a lot of unsubtle and unfunny black stereotypes that feel out of date and not for the easily offended, with very gaudy make-up.

However, the merits that 'The Dolly Sisters' has are numerous. It looks lovely, with only the costumes and make-up in the black face sequence showing signs of cheapness, elsewhere the film is handsomely mounted and photographed beautifully and with such great use of colour. The songs are tuneful and a very pleasant listen, especially "I Can't Begin to Tell You" (Oscar-nominated and not hard to see why) and "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows". They are mostly staged with the right amount of entertainment and intimacy.

Scripting is suitably zesty, and Irving Cummings directs with much assurance. The story is not perfect but has such a cheery charm, a huge abundance of fun and heart that it is difficult to be too hard on it. Betty Grable and June Haver were tailor-made for their roles, and are endearing joys to watch. John Payne sings beautifully and looks more comfortable than in some of his other films, while SZ Sakall is so cuddly and funny and Reginald Gardiner is amusing.

All in all, colourful and cheery fun. 7/10 Bethany Cox