Drôle d'histoire

This film is from 1945, in gorgeous (but a little too dark in the night-time scenes) Technicolor, with songs by Kurt Weill and Ira Gershwin! It's a war-time pageant and everyone wants to get in the army, and a genie appears to help Fred MacMurray do a "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" entry into various times of American history. Anthony Quinn is funny as a street-smart Indian, and I never realized how gorgeous June Haver and Joan Leslie were. So-so songs and a terrible title explain how unknown this goofy film is. Gregory Ratoff was evidentially a better actor (Symphony for Six Million) than a director, but at 77 minutes this film is worth your time, especially if you like musicals. Nice to look at, and the choreography is pretty amusing.

Look at the number of actors on the IMDB cast list who had their scenes deleted (Roy Rogers, yet!), and you'll smell trouble: It's not typical for a big, expensive Technicolor wartime musical like this one to clock in under 80 minutes. Sure enough, it's a disjointed, haphazard musical fantasy, though full of talented people behind the scenes, notably Ira Gershwin and Kurt Weill. The songwriters bring a little pep to the story of a 4-F wannabe soldier who finds a magic lamp inhabited by an inept genie, who keeps putting him into the wrong century. The historic events visited feel terribly random -- the American Revolution, Columbus' voyage, Puritan New England -- and make one curious about what sequences were omitted. It's a cute idea -- the screenwriters, Morrie Ryskind and Sig Herzig, were Broadway veterans, and one suspects they originally conceived this as a stage musical -- but it's spun out with little real wit, and an aggressively uninteresting supporting cast fails to mine the minimal humor in the script. MacMurray, normally not a song-and-dance man, reveals a pleasant baritone but hasn't much to play, and he looks distinctly uncharmed by either of his leading ladies, though he did in fact marry June Haver. There's one celebrated sequence, a 10-minute mini-opera-bouffe called "The Nina, the Pinta, the Santa Maria," where Bill (MacMurray) convinces Columbus' crew not to mutiny, since America needs to be discovered. (A wonderful couplet describing America's bounty was disallowed by the censors: "The girls are delightful/ Their sweaters are quite full.") Suddenly the whimsy takes off, and the singing's splendid, and the film feels as bizarre and pixilated as "The Wizard of Oz." It doesn't last, though, and then it's back to 20th Century Fox's back lot and more halfhearted jests about history and patriotism.

A try at something different, certainly, in an age where Hollywood musicals were mainly backstagers, and it has its moments. But mostly it's a missed opportunity. If the missing footage ever turns up, it might be worth looking at.

This is a delightful fantasy operetta romp through American history, with a score by Kurt Weill and lyrics by Ira Gershwin.

Bill Morgan (Fred MacMurray) wants to join the Army but is ruled 4F. Instead, he is put in charge of local scrap recycling. He breaks a lamp, and frees a genie. Morgan tell the genie he wants to get into the Army--but doesn't mention which century he wants. Morgan's girlfriends Sally (Joan Leslie) and Lucilla (June Haver) accompany him through the centuries.

The fine score carries the film through and past its sillier moments. Leslie has the best song - "If Love Remains". The Christopher Columbus segment is done as an opera with MacMurray breaking up the grand opera with a patter song in the style of Gilbert and Sullivan. Haver is the liveliest of the three, as a born con woman, throughout the centuries. Watch for Anthony Quinn and read the traffic signs--no matter what century they're in.

This heavy-handed big-budget 1945 Fox Technicolor comedy-romance musical features a great deal of rarely heard mediocre music, most of it by two of the greatest songwriters in the history of musical theater: the German composer Kurt Weill [ThreePenny Opera) and the American lyricist Ira Gershwin, George's brother, (Porgy and Bess). The only number among many that somehow rises above the ordinary is a well-staged ten-minute operetta parody, The Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria, with clever W.S. Gilbert-type lyrics by Gershwin, well sung by Columbian tenor, Carlos Ramirez as the mutinous Benito, Fortunio Bonanova (the music teacher in Citizen Kane) as Columbus, and the ever reliable Fred MacMurray, as always doing his very best to bring some life to feeble songs, dialogue, and silly situations. Throughout the film, Fred sings, reasonably, and on one brief occasion even tries to dance, badly, as he pursues two beautiful young woman through time--the charming June Haver and the lovely Joan Leslie. Gregory Ratoff, who could do better and did sometimes, is credited as director, although George Seaton did a number of uncredited scenes. Otto Preminger, before he stopped acting to direct, can be seen briefly in one of his nasty German general roles, and Tony Quinn in one of his many Indian parts, this time played for comedy.

Saw it as many times as I could before it left the scene. A delightful and entertaining film with some of my very favorite stars. Only wish I could find it again! Would certainly buy/view it if I could. Please, somebody, bring it back. Fred MacMurray was perfect in his role as a patriot during World War II, and his leading ladies, Joan Leslie, and especially June Haver were beautiful and charming. It was a musical, but also romantic, funny, and clever. This was my favorite movie starring June Haver, although I always liked her. Her dazzling smile lit up the screen, and her beauty and talent were an asset to any film. The supporting cast lent credit to their individual roles. A well-balanced and light-hearted film; only wish we had more like it!