Panama Hattie

Ann Sothern is "Panama Hattie" in this 1942 film based on the Broadway musical starring Ethel Merman. Also starring are Dan Dailey, Red Skelton, Rags Ragland, Ben Blue, Virginia O'Brien (as Flo, originated on Broadway by Betty Hutton), Marsha Hunt, Lena Horne and the Berry Brothers. The story concerns a vivacious nightclub singer (Sothern) who falls in love with a man (Dailey) who has a young daughter, but she has competition from a socially prominent woman who warns Hattie that she's not of his class and won't make a good wife. There is a subplot concerning spies who are uncovered by three sailors (Skelton, Ragland and Blue).

This a very old-fashioned musical comedy plot with pleasant music, the highlight being "Just One of Those Things" as sung by the beautiful Lena Horne. The singing from Sothern and O'Brien is very good, and Sothern does well as the insecure, vulnerable and sometimes overdressed singer. The problem for me are the Three Stooges-like sailors - a little bit of that goes a long way.

Watch it for the singing and the patriotic "Good Neighbors" finale - it was wartime.

The Great Depression was over and its ending was celebrated in this gay, fun-loving, happy-go-lucky musical featuring soon to be TV stars, Red Skelton and Ann Sothern. It marked the debut of the magnificent Vincente Minelli, whose career was to span our greatest musicals and some of our finest melodramas. Metro was a powerhouse for musicals, with wonderful art direction from the staff of Cedric Gibbons and numbers staged for DP George Folsey. Supremely talented singer/actresses Virginia O'Brien and Lena Horne each get two numbers along with the amazing dances of The Berry Brothers. It's hard to be blue when everyone is having such a good time.

The comic antics of Red Skelton was substituted for the songs of Cole Porter in this MGM adaption of his Broadway show Panama Hattie. That a Porter score would survive almost intact from Broadway was unheard of. His other contemporaries suffered the same fate, but in Porter's case more so because of the sophisticated and naughty lyrics he wrote.

Ethel Merman starred on Broadway beginning a run that lasted 501 performances. Only Rags Ragland who along with Ben Blue was one of Red's sidekicks as a trio of oafish sailors who capture enemy spies by accident is the only survivor from the Broadway cast.

Ann Sothern takes Ethel's place as the star and she performs along with young Jackie Horner the big hit of the Broadway show Let's Be Buddies. Only I've Still Got My Health and Fresh As A Daisy survived from Porter's original score. Songs were written and interpolated from many sources. But one of the best is from Porter himself when Lena Horne sang Just One Of Those Things. In fact it doesn't get better than that.

In the title role Sothern is the owner of a nightclub located in the Panama Canal Zone which is frequented like Rick's Cafe Americaine of all kinds of people from our Armed Forces and from an international assortment of mysterious and intriguing figures. Some of them are planning to do damage to the Canal.

Some are planning to damage to Sothern like Marsha Hunt who has her eye set on Army sergeant Dan Dailey. But with Sothern guarding what she's got a previous claim on and the comic sailors guarding the Canal the spirit of America carries on.

Panama Hattie is more Red Skelton than Cole Porter and Porter fans will not be happy. But it is a fun wartime film.

It's a war-time propaganda film, so allowances will be made! In lieu of a clear, solid story, we see huge star after star sing or dance, or do a standup bit. My personal favorite is the amazing miss virginia obrien; she only did about twenty films, but every one is a hilarious gem. I won't list the cast list, but check it out.. it's just incredible. With all those directors and writers, it's no wonder it's kind of a big mish-mash of a story... from the filming dates, it looks like it was re-hashed after pearl harbor, with scenes added, and removed. Ann sothern is hattie, who runs the joint where the story takes place. And some nonsense about getting upset at something the little girl says. Sothern was maisie in films for years, before and after panama hattie. Watch this one just for the parade of stars that come strolling by. Mostly good stuff. Shows on turner classic now and then. I'm surprised at the low-ish rating, but to be fair, the story is a little wacky, and it's based on only 480 votes so far.

After years of only reading a bit about this movie, I finally saw Panama Hattie on a DVD I borrowed from the library. Adapted from a Cole Porter musical comedy, this film version only retains 4 of his songs from it with another one he wrote called "Just One of Those Things" from another musical he wrote it for. Lena Horne sang that one and another song written by someone else which she performs with The Berry Brothers dancers who also have another number. The stars are Ann Sothern in the title role and Red Skelton as one of three sailors-the others being Rags Ragland and Ben Blue-who are involved in a plot to expose spies. Ms. Sothern has a romantic subplot involving her romance with Dan Dailey but really, it doesn't really go anywhere while the sailors/spies one at least has some good laughs. Oh, and since this was made during wartime, it ends with a number meant to get America cheering the eventual destruction of the Japs which while understandable for the time it was made sounds very politically incorrect today. But none of this is supposed to be taken seriously so on that note, Panama Hattie is worth a look for anyone interested in these vintage old movies.