Down to Earth

I suppose that Technicolour was a big selling point when this film came out (1946). The colour is beautiful to look at, but much of the rest of the film is rather slim. In this film, Rita Hayworth is a muse who becomes upset when she learns that a Broadway musical is going to portray her as a jive crazy love machine. She heads to earth to correct matters and the audience settles in for 101 minutes of unmemorable musical numbers and several poorly choreographed dance scenes.

Allow me to guess what happened here. Columbia was looking for a musical vehicle for Hayworth, then at the top of her career. They had script for a B musical ready to roll, but they needed to beef it up a bit. So what they did was steal a few of the characters from a past hit, HERE COME MR. JORDAN, added Technicolour, and hoped that it would prove enough of a draw. If you do watch this film, note how poorly the JORDAN characters are worked in - especially Max Corkle.

Elements of the Broadway musical DOWN TO EARTH also appear in Fred Astaire's THE BAND WAGON, which came out in 1953 - but the numbers in the later film were far more memorable. I had enjoyed HERE COMES MR. JORDAN, and was curious as to what the sequal would be like. My curiosity has been satisfied - yet another half-baked movie sequel.

There were many beautiful women during Hollywood's golden years, but only a small percentage would qualify as goddesses. Rita Hayworth was definitely one of that elite group, possibly never more stunningly beautiful as she appeared in "Down To Earth." As Terpsichore, goddess of music and dance, she comes to earth to star -- and correct -- a Broadway show about Terpsichore. Several characters from "Here Comes Mr. Jordan" appear, with Roland Culver taking the Claude Rains' role of Mr. Jordan. Larry Parks plays the producer-director-star, Danny Miller, who has to pay off a gambling debt with this show or die.

Though the music isn't that memorable, the story is charming, and the film contains a lovely performance and great dancing by Hayworth (whose voice is dubbed by Anita Ellis), and she's given excellent support by James Gleason, Culver, and Edward Everett Horton.

Larry Parks, fresh from his star-making role in "The Jolson Story" does a good job but one wonders, had he not been blacklisted, what would have happened to his career. He wasn't a particularly strong leading man. But we'll never know, because a few years later, he was finished.

As for Hayworth, it's a shame that someone so incredibly beautiful and vivacious, who brought so much happiness through her work, could have had such a miserable life - abuse by her father, a string of bad marriages, and finally Alzheimer's. It was her Alzheimer's that helped to bring the disease to national attention. Princess Yasmin Khan, Hayworth's daughter, has become an internationally known spokeswoman and active fund-raiser to increase awareness and finance research to find a cure for Alzheimer's disease. Besides her glorious presence, Rita had one more gift for the world.

Alexander Hall, the director of "Here Comes Mr. Jordan", tried to give his old movie a new look by changing it into a musical. It must have sounded like a good idea at the times. The only problem was that this is not as charming as the model in which "Down to Earth" is based on. While the model picture seemed light and inspired, this one doesn't fare as well.

In theory, Larry Parks and Rita Hayworth, would have been a match made in heaven. Both were at the top of their fame. Larry Parks was a good actor who could act and sing as well and Rita Hayworth was a joy to watch, no matter in what vehicle. Somehow, the sparks both actors should have given their fans don't materialize, perhaps because of the way it unfolds on the screen.

There are some unexpected pleasures in the film, although not the unremarkable music. On the other hand, Rita Hayworth is quite good as the Muse who decides to take matters on her own and comes back to show Danny Miller how to stage his musical for the theater. Ms. Hayworth is at her most ravishing self dressed by Jean Louis and looking like the goddess she was! Larry Parks tries to be the suave musical theater man that falls in love with his Terpsichore.

The supporting cast is excellent. James Gleason, who played in the original film, here is seen as a theatrical agent. Roland Culver is the Mr. Jordan, who arranges the trip down to earth. The incomparable Edward Everett Horton is seen as the guardian angel, or Messenger 7013, who is made to follow Terpsichore/Kitty provoking some funny situations. William Frawley plays a small part.

This is a film to watch to see the gorgeous Rita Hayworth as the top of her profession.

There is a lot wrong with this movie, but none of it is Rita Hayworth. She plays the part of a goddess briefly visiting earth and not exactly fitting in, which indeed she was. In this movie she comes from a heaven which strangely is managed as both the place of the human afterlife and the abode of the Greek gods. Trailing after her is Edward Everett Horton, providing comic relief, but at a certain point he drops out as the movie becomes more serious and unsettling. There are songs, and they sound all right but nothing is catchy about them. There are dances, and people complaining about the dances, and you can't quite tell whether you're being ribbed for enjoying the dances or ribbed for not enjoying them. Rita Hayworth never gets a romantic dance with a partner, although Marc Platt-- as the friend becoming alienated from the male lead-- gets a few moments to show off his own energetic moves as he and Hayworth, being part of a threesome, dance to a song about how happy they are that is set in a gloomily deserted twilight playground. And how could they be happy? Everyone in the story is angry, jealous, fearful, or violent, and there is no place on earth for love. The movie is dated 1947 and for no obvious reason, men are shown more than once in military uniform. Perhaps the confusion, the uncomfortable jostling of the earthly and the otherworldly, and the threat to the solidarity of the male buddies have something to do with the atmosphere of war's end.

Danny Miller is producing a musical on Broadway, Swinging the Muses, about two war pilots who end up in the days of Greek mythology romanced by a man hungry Terpsichore, the Greek Goddess of song and dance. This portrayal upsets the real Terpsichore who decides to go down to earth and make the musical accurate. Enter once again Mr. Jordan and messenger 7013, to help her come to the land of mortals and into the play, where she gets the lead role easily (using the name of Kitty Pendleton). Terpsichore/Kitty and Danny have constant arguments over the way the musical is being presented, but Danny becomes so infatuated with Kitty that the musical, in a preview, is presented accurately, which when produced becomes an artistic and symphonic production, but bores the audience to sleep or an early exit. When Danny decides to do the musical the way it was intended to be, Kitty storms off the set and asks Mr. Jordan to return to heaven, but Mr. Jordan informs Kitty that Danny needs this play to succeed, since its being backed by a racketeer, Manion, who Danny owes $20,000 to in gambling losses, and if the show flops, Danny will be "rubbed out". Kitty then decides to return and make the show a success, even though she realizes she will have to return to heaven and lose Danny. The movie is good, but really lacks much of the charm of its predecessor, Here Comes Mr. Jordan. The film is a star vehicle for Hayworth, but she is very enchanting in the role. Parks wasn't romantic leading material, but has the talent to get by (still has his singing voice lip-synced). Culver's Mr. Jordan is less charming and a more serious version than Claude Rains' version, but his performance is still admirable. Horton and Gleason are the only ones reprising their roles from the original. The film's setback is that the musical numbers aren't that good and seem to last forever (the last one from the film is OK, but the two versions of the ancient Greek setting musical drag on for an eternity). Still a good film, but you may be lost or disinterested if you didn't watch Here Comes Mr. Jordan. Rating, 7.