The Girl Most Likely

This is an odd, but charming, little film. A remake of an old Ginger Rogers film called Tom, Dick or Harry. But somehow in musicalizing it and making the changes necessary for the new location, something has been lost and I just can't quite put my finger on it.

Your have a great cast! Jane Powell, fresh from her MGM days. Kaye Ballard in one of her very rare movie roles (there are times when she still seems to be playing to the balcony) and a great supporting cast of people like Frank Caddy, Una Merkel, Cliff Robertson, Tommy Noonan and Keith Andes, who was also rarely seen on film. The choreography by Gower Champion is bright and inventive, especially the number on the beach and a score by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane. What else could someone want?

I still don't know.

Ms Powell's character has no redeeming characteristics. She is out for one thing and one thing only - to marry a rich man and she doesn't care who she steps on along the way. Then when she does have the millionaire she just drops him suddenly,on the very hour of their wedding, to go back to Fiancée #2, the mechanic, with no thought to Fiancée #1 (her childhood friend) who seems to be the only one honestly in love with her. Ah love - one can never understand it.

This is one of the last 50s style musical comedies and the final film to present Jane Powell as a singing star. She is supported by Keith Andes, who can truly sing, and comedy by Tommy Noonan and Kaye Ballard. Cliff Robertson's singing is dubbed by Hal Derwin. The songs are only serviceable, even though they are written by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane, who gave us "Meet Me in St. Louis" and "Best Foot Forward". The best musical number, however, is the title tune, actually written by Nelson Riddle, with a vocal by the Hi-Los. Riddle's arrangements, which never seem to date, keep the music interesting. As for the plot, there isn't much of one. As for the comedy, both Noonan and Ballard were better served elsewhere. The choreography, however, is spectacular; this is Gower Champion's first attempt to stage dances for performers other than himself and wife Marge. From here, Champion went to Broadway and became a legend.

Is regrettably viewing it through a 21st century lens. It was not made in the 2000s. It was made in the 1950s, and should be judged accordingly. For its time, it was witty, clever, whimsical, and sharp, with inspired choreography by Gower Champion and direction by screwball comedy master Mitchell Leisen. The cast is giving it their all. Una Merkel, Jane Powell, Cliff Robertson and supporting cast go a long way toward overcoming the modest budget and not-entirely-original story. It's a romantic-comedy-musical that's fun and full of life. How on earth anyone could expect it to conform to a politically correct standard of the 2020s is beyond comprehension. Yes, Howard Hughes had run RKO into the ground by the time this film was made, and it shows around the edges. But if you let yourself be swept into the fifties fantasy suspension of disbelief, there are riches galore and enjoyment on a grand scale to be had. I love this movie.

I saw this one at a theater in Westwood, California during its initial release and hadn't remembered much about it except for the lilting title song performed by the Hi-Lo's (the very best of the male singing quartets of that era) and the lively "Balboa" dance number with a flotilla of dancers splashing through the water's edge on a partially flooded soundstage setting.

Turner Classic Movies showed it earlier today and, oh my!, what a tremendous waste of the various talents involved. Almost everyone in the cast, except for Cliff Robertson, whom I've always found to be close to terminally bland, is criminally underused. The Newport/Balboa Island setting for most of the action isn't capitalized on, except for the title sequence. The production numbers are almost all sub-par, not coming close to the norm in Jane Powell's M-G-M extravaganzas. The treatment of Mexican nationals and American Indians is typical of 1950s all-white heedlessness. And the script is about as silly as they come by any standard, with Jane's final choice of her three suitors (cued by that "Pink Cloud Feeling") being the fadeout disappointment.

Gower Champion's ability to get a troupe of talented dancers into showing some real razzle-dazzle is best showcased in the "Balboa" number and Nelson Riddle's arrangements almost redeem the surprisingly lackluster songs by the usually reliable Ralph Martin and Hugh Blane (who weren't responsible for the listenable title song). All in all, if RKO Radio Pictures weren't already moribund, this one was sure to provide the final nail in its coffin.

There were quite a few low budget musicals made during the '50s that were mostly insignificant but very watchable because they made no pretense at being "great." "The Girl Most Likely" is one of the more likable. There's some wonderfully exuberant choreography by Gower Champion and the score contains a few songs that any musical would be proud to own. This was a musical remake (as so many of this type were) of Garson Kanin's "Tom, Dick and Harry."