Thousands Cheer

This 1943 Classic film clearly showed how Hollywood supported our Armed Forces during World War II and there are so many talented actors appearing in this film who all gave great performances with their talented gifts.

Always enjoyed the great singing talent of Lena Horne who appeared in many Musicals during the 1940's and one of her famous songs was "Stormy Weather". I use to live in St. Albans, Queens, New York and she was a neighbor. Lena was the pioneer of Black entertainers who started to break into the Hollywood scene and finally it was accomplished.

Naturally, the War was going on and this was a picture that was created to cheer our Fighting Men and it also was a propaganda film to cheer up the American Citizens with a cast of hundreds of famous actors. Enjoyed seeing a very little known actress who is now 91 years of age, Marsha Hunt who was very young and attractive in the film, she was only 26 years of age.

Don't miss this film, it is really a gem of a gem. Enjoy

Gene Kelly plays the "King of the Trapeze turned buck army private" magnificently, supplemented with the chirping of Kathryn Grayson. It shows how, even in his early years, (This is only the second year of Gene in Hollywood pictures) he was a great dancer/actor. (His dance with the mop was the best part of the movie for me) This great movie is supplemented by the great bands of Jose Iturbi and Bob Crosby, and with the great talents of silver screen greats like Red Skelton, Lucille Ball, Gloria DeHaven, June Allyson, and the spectacular Judy Garland. This movie is a must for all classic musical buffs!!!

Tonight was the first time I'd seen this one. I thought I had seen most of Kathryn Grayson's work.It was enjoyable. Of course there's not much plot as I believe it was made to take the civilian's mind off the tension of WWII.

I'm a big Kathryn Grayson fan (along with Jane Powell and Deanna Durbin), and take umbrage to Dreamer36's reference to her singing as "chirping". While I realize that not everyone likes coloraturas, you have to give credit for the sheer talent alone. After all, where is that kind of talent in the movies they put out today? It gets tiring seeing a flick where's there's an obligatory scene where someone or something get blown to h*** and back and every other word is f***.

Gene Kelly's dancing was fantastic as usual, especially the scene with the broom and it's always a pleasure to see what classical treats José Iturbi has in store.

And because it clicked, MGM did what all the other major studios were doing--hiring their big stars to do cameos in a picture obviously aimed at entertaining the troops overseas. Paramount did it with STAR SPANGLED RHYTHM, Warners with THANK YOUR LUCKY STARS, Universal with FOLLOW THE BOYS, so it was only a matter of time before MGM came up with THOUSANDS CHEER.

If nothing else, it serves as a good showcase for the talents of KATHRYN GRAYSON (their newest singing bird) and GENE KELLY (although his dancing is limited here). For good measure they gave them MARY ASTOR and JOHN BOLES for parents, a story about a girl who wants to get her mom and dad back together again (where have we heard that one before?), and a whole bunch of MGM's brightest stars or character players in a "let's put on a show for the boys" routine.

Too bad the only thing missing is a good script. Otherwise, just sit back and enjoy the gorgeous Technicolor, the dreamy close-ups of Kathryn Grayson at her musical best, and guest stars like LUCILLE BALL, JUDY GARLAND, LENA HORNE, FRANK MORGAN, VIRGINIA O'BRIEN, RED SKELTON and MICKEY ROONEY to perk up interest in a sagging script for the second half of the movie.

Summing up: Could have been a lot better. If this is your kind of ticket, check out THANK YOUR LUCKY STARS for a better star-filled time.

Thousands Cheer had a lot going for it from the get go, the biggest selling point being the amount of talent involved. While it is not a great film there is still plenty to enjoy and on the most part the cast are well-used.

Thousands Cheers' story is very thin and very contrived with the lead in to the film's second half feeling rather abrupt and the script is even thinner with a lot of hokey dialogue and too many moments where it sags in energy. A vast majority of the cast are great and are well-utilised, but Mary Astor is wasted with not very much to do and Red Skelton is more irritating than funny.

It is on the other hand very well-made with lavish sets and gorgeous photography while the Oscar nomination for the music score was deserved, it's very characterful and lush. The songs are not exactly memorable, apart from Honeysuckle Rose, but they are very pleasant and don't bog the film down at all, they are also very well-choreographed. Of all the show segments the highlights were Gene Kelly's dance with the mop, Eleanor Powell's tap dance, Lena Horne's beautiful rendition of Honeysuckle Rose and Judy Garland's uproarious The Joint Is Really Jumpin' in Carnegie Hall. You do wish that Gene Kelly had more dancing to do but he is dashing and very watchable and Kathryn Grayson is charm personified and sings beautifully.

All in all, not a great film but I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy it. 6/10 Bethany Cox