Thank Your Lucky Stars

See all of your favorite 1940s Warner Bros. stars as you've never seen them before!

This star-studded WWII morale-booster is not unlike similar star-studded WWII morale-boosters put out by other studios, featuring the big names in brief cameos sprinkled throughout a thin "let's put on a benefit" plot. Here the WB stars perform little vaudeville sketches, singing and dancing, as part of a charity show. And we're talking some big names here: Bette Davis, Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, John Garfield, Ida Lupino, Ann Sheridan, Jack Carson, etc.

The real star, however, is Eddie Cantor. Much of the movie is about how annoying and overbearing Cantor is, with Cantor in a dual role as both a parody of himself and his resentful look-alike. In an exhibit of good-humored self-deprecation, Cantor allows his name to be dragged through the mud by critics of his corny jokes and swollen ego (his alternate character among them). As one character or the other Cantor moves the screwy plot along.

This movie is simply a star-studded, feel-good musical. And it is a lot of fun. The stars who really shine in this are John Garfield, Bette Davis, and Cantor. Dinah Shore is featured prominently in her first screen appearance and we even get to see Spike Jones and His City Slickers in action. Errol Flynn has a nice number and Alexis Smith shows off her dancing background. S.Z. Sakall is hilarious as always and the young romantic couple (Joan Leslie and Dennis Morgan) make sure to plug recent WB successes. (Leslie lets go with impressions of Lupino and James Cagney.)

It's interesting, in the scene where Olivia de Havilland and Ida Lupino dance on either side of George Tobias (in a slightly awkward jive routine), to note the contrast in the actresses' performances. Both de Havilland and Lupino are in the frame, basically playing clones of each other. But it seems like de Havilland just put so much more into her performance, particularly with her facial expressions.

It's a treat to see all of these stars in one movie and it's a treat to see them do something fun and different. The songs won't always blow you away, but they're pleasant enough. The finale is a medley of all the songs we've heard, with the welcome return of the stars we've seen. It's a fitting cap to the viewer's journey, and should leave everyone in a good mood. I think I liked the music more after hearing it all reprised in the finale.

Top-billed Humphrey Bogart has about a minute of screen time and, though he leaves an impression, he doesn't do any singing or dancing.

I am the world's biggest sucker for All Star Films and the genre was never better than during the World War II era, when all the major studios made at least one of them as a morale booster. They all involve getting the stars at the various studios to put on a show for the troops which they do, but with a few problems.

Producers of this show Edward Everett Horton and S.Z. Sakall would like to get Dinah Shore for their show. But she's under contract to Eddie Cantor. Today's moviegoers would not be aware of the fact that at the time Thank Your Lucky Stars was filmed, Dinah Shore was a regular on Eddie Cantor's radio show. And in fact he did have her under contract.

Cantor was also a man known to have a big ego and known for interfering with every aspect of production in film, stage, and radio. His character though in film was the meek little schnook who somehow triumphs over adversity.

Cantor may have had the ego, but he was also a big enough man to allow this public lampooning of his image. He plays two roles in this, as himself and as tour bus driver Joe Simpson who can't get a break because he looks like Eddie Cantor. In between all the musical numbers the plot is simply to have Cantor kidnapped and Joe Simpson to take his place so that Dennis Morgan can get some exposure. Of course there's a young love subplot involving hopefuls Morgan and Joan Leslie, but it doesn't interfere with a plot that's taken from The Man In the Iron Mask.

Arthur Schwartz and Frank Loesser wrote a nice score for this film and the big hit was a number talk/sung by Bette Davis, They're Either Too Young Or Too Old. This number was later done in the Jane Froman bio-film With A Song in My Heart with Susan Hayward lipsynching Jane Froman's record.

I also liked another number where a major Warner Brothers Star lampooned his image and had a jolly good time, singing That's What You Jolly Well Get. Errol Flynn was reported to have enjoyed himself immensely doing that very funny song.

Thank Your Lucky Stars is one of the most pleasant nostalgia trips to a bygone era of the studio system. You couldn't afford to pay all the stars in this film today if they were all free lance independent contractors today. It's why films like this can't be made again.

Cantor was one of the biggest stars of his time. And this WW-II extravaganza showcases his comedy talents playing himself and a look-alike cab driver. Dennis Morgan and Joan Leslie are the lovers, Dinah Shore gets a big buildup but her songs are drippy and awful. Edward Everett Horton and S.Z. Sakall are fun as the guys running the Cavalcade that Cantor forces himself into. Humphrey Bogart does a limp cameo, and big Warners stars appear in a series of funny stage numbers. Bette Davis, Ann Sheridan, and Errol Flynn sing; Olivia de Havilland and Ida Lupino do a jive number; Hattie McDaniel sings in a Harlem number; Jack Carson and Alan Hale do an old-time Vaudeville number; Alexis Smith dances; Spike Jones does a novelty number; John Garfield sings on Cantor's radio show, etc. But aside from seeing these big stars, it's Eddie Cantor who makes this worthwhile. A HUGE stage, movie, and radio star, Cantor is wonderful lampooning himself (a la Bob Hope) and playing the nebbish cabbie (a la Woody Allen). While many of his Broadway contemporaries never quite made it in films (Sophie Tucker, Fannie Brice, George Jessell, Al Jolson, Marilyn Miller), Cantor's starring film career lasted almost 20 years, dating from the smash hit Whoopie! in 1930; his radio career lasted 30 years. Cantor is sadly forgotten now, but he was such a big star he won a special Oscar for his film work and his humanitarian efforts.

The unforgettable Eddie Cantor is the glue which holds this wartime extravaganza together. He was one of the few great singers who could double as a first rate comedian.

Other reviewers have pretty much covered all angles but for me the high point is the appearance of Spike Jones and his City Slickers, performing one of their hilarious numbers. Once you've experienced Spike, you just can't get enough of his unique style, if that's the right word.

Bogart's appearance is amusing while Miss Davis provides a memorable performance. None of the other Warners stars really stand out. For me, 'Starlift' is a better star vehicle, though it would come almost a decade later.

There's enough bounce and energy in this Warner's showcase to light up a whole city. What great light entertainment for the boys overseas and folks on the homefront (after all, it's 1943). Eddie Cantor really comes through with the plot spark, racing around like the Energizer bunny, and playing dual roles (did they pay him double). Then there's handsome Dennis Morgan and all-American Joan Leslie making an attractive pair to hang the romantic hat on. And get a load of Bogart dropping his tough guy act if for just a moment, plus an off-key Garfield warbling, of all things.

No, the music is nothing to write home about, but the performers are an enthusiastic bunch, so who cares. There's drama queens Lupino and de Haviland as jive-talking hepcats (note they only dance "in place"), and, of course, Warner's reigning drama queen Bette Davis doing something or other in her inimitable style. But I especially like the Hattie McDaniel free-for-all that really does light up the screen. Apparently, however, someone decided to slow things down with Ann Sheridan's static number where the girls sit around like prom princesses. But at least we boys get to ogle them.

Too bad this rouser wasn't sent to Hitler and Tojo. They would have tossed in the towel immediately. Because it's obvious that no country with this kind of energy and dynamism could possibly lose a war. And, yes, it's still great unpolished entertainment, with what looks like a lot of people having a lot of fun.