Sweet Rosie O'Grady

Awesome vehicle for Betty Grable and Robert Young. Filmed in bright technicolor, it was the quality type of musical that MGM could seldom pull off. This film is rarely seen today and gets no breaks because it was a 20th Century Fox property, instead of being in endless repetitive repeats as the MGM lesser-quality films of the era are on TCM.

Regardless, when you get the chance, this is one to sit back and enjoy. Grable is magnificent and Young is surprisingly good. The music is outstanding.

A Music Hall star, Madeleine Marlowe (Betty Grable) returns from London to America where she has wowed society and is romantically linked with a Duke, Charles (Reginald Gardiner). On her return, a reporter Sam (Robert Young) exposes her as a former Burlesque Queen, Rosie O'Grady. The film then follows the tricks that Rosie and Sam play against one another in order to get the upper hand. At the end, love is in the air.

Unfortunately, the songs and dances in this film aren't any good and this lets the film down as the story doesn't have the strength to carry the film alone. The scenes with Betty Grable are good, but when she is not on screen, there are some pretty dull moments. Its not that the cast are bad, although there is a poor scene where Sam and Charles get drunk which could have been edited out, its just that the overall film isn't quite good enough. The music needed to be better in order to make this film passable or even good. Its a better story than her other offering "Coney Island" from the same year, but that film is better because of the music numbers that it contains.

Its OK but it doesn't need to be seen again.

Robert Young is perfectly cast as a wise-guy reporter writing for a pre-Enquirer rag called the Police Gazette who is assigned by his crusty Editor, played perfectly by Adolph Menjou (Walter Burns from the original Front Page), to write a series of expose-type articles on returning stage star Betty Grable's burlesque beginnings. The Technicolor is luscious throughout. Reginald Gardiner is a stitch, as usual, playing Betty's British betrothed who breaks off the engagement as a result of the scandal. Virginia Grey is perky and decorative as Grable's maid. Byron Folger also lends support as a perfectly prissy prig (what else?).

Betty, of course, is the star. She sings and dances with aplomb. The added delight is her comic timing and chemistry with Young. We enjoy and believe them at each others throats which makes the inevitable payoff in each others arms that much more enjoyable.

...."Sweet Rosie O'Grady" and "Mother Wore Tights" were Betty Grable's favorites of her films. It is easy to see why they are. "Sweet Rosie" is just possibly Betty at her peak. To give credit where credit is due, Betty's peak lasted a remarkably long time. In this Betty is an established star in England returning to the United States. Robert Young is a newspaper reporter who dredges up her less than glamorous beginnings as a singer in a beer garden. They then proceed to scrap and humiliate each other right through the whole film. Reginald Gardnier is the guy who loses Betty. He must have liked Betty a whole lot. He lost her in a total of six films. Certainly no one could call him a quitter. He does get Betty's maid as a sort of consolation prize. Betty and Robert Young do finally resolve their differences and admit they like each other a lot. The whole thing is brisk and colorful--and like all Betty Grable films: a lot of fun.

Much better than many of the acclaimed MGM musicals. Take a look at "Summer Stock" and compare it to this. "Rosie O'Grady" wins by a mile. Voters and reviewers have not been privy to seeing this classic because movie networks continuously show film product from MGM, Warners, and RKO, but they do not own the movie rights to Fox. Thus, the public has rarely seen these movies. I am 70 years old, have heard of Betty Grable before, but this is the first Grable film I've ever seen. I saw it courtesy of FXM. In years to come as all movies are put up to critical comparison, it won't be only MGM vs. MGM like it is now... there are many great musicals, from every era, from several studios, that the general public has rarely seen. This is one of them. Not spectacular, but better than the average MGM musical of the 40s. Grable had personality, style, and she could sing.