Those Redheads from Seattle

I started watching this movie with high hopes with it being the first 'Western' in 3D and a plot which sounded not half bad. Sadly I was a bit disappointed as the storyline never quite took off as I imagined and seemed to run out half way through the film. All in all, not much really happens in this film, or nothing memorable at least, and probably could have been condensed into an hour. In addition I wouldn't really call this a Western or a Musical, it is sort of a mix of both but at the same time it isn't, therefore it doesn't satisfy the musical lover or western lover. The few songs which are in the film aren't memorable either except for perhaps Guy Mitchell's "Chick-a-Boom". The positives of this film is the lovely Technicolor photography, even though the majority of the film is studio bound, the Technicolor is still lovely. Sadly more couldn't be done to feature the acting talents of Agnes Morehead or the songs of Guy Mitchell. I give it 5/10 for those reasons

Paramount's Dollar Bills, William Pine and William Thomas continued putting out films in the Fifties as they did in the Forties for Paramount's B picture unit. Only they were given a bit more bucks to play with and some bigger stars in the Fifties. For Those Redheads From Seattle they got not only color, but also 3-D making it the first musical released in 3-D.

With some elements of The Harvey Girls as part of the story, Pine-Thomas could have used some better songs for the score. I noted that several different writers contributed to this one. Usually you have only one team, maybe an interpolation from another writer for the score. But in Those Redheads From Seattle it was all original material. It was like some various songwriting teams just opened the trunk for some unused material and sold it to Paramount.

As one of those redheads is Rhonda Fleming who is the oldest of Agnes Moorehead's four daughters who have come to the city of Dawson in the Klondike Gold Rush you certainly have the redhead covered. Agnes is a redhead her and so are Teresa Brewer and the Bell Sisters except one of them is a blond and wonders how she got in this family. No exceptions were allowed in the Day Family in Life With Father.

They got a last letter from their husband and father who ran the newspaper in Dawson and is leading a fight to clean up the bad elements in Dawson. Then one of those bad elements plugs Frank Wilcox, but not before his family has pulled up from Seattle to join him.

Another of those bad elements is the owner of the largest gambling palace in Dawson Gene Barry. He's thought of as the one responsible for Wilcox no longer being among the living. He has the whole film to prove himself innocent and gain one of the daughters as a bride.

Taking care of the musical chores are Guy Mitchell who sings in Barry's establishment and Teresa Brewer who would like to. Nothing here that stands out in the score.

3-D was also used by MGM for Kiss Me Kate. If you can see that in 3-D I'd recommend it before Those Redheads From Seattle.

With its catchy title, an exotic location, some peppy tunes, and a good cast, THOSE REDHEADS FROM SEATTLE could have been a passably good musical had screenwriters Lewis R. Foster (who also directed it) and Daniel Mainwaring paid more attention to the plot instead of letting the intended 3-D effects carry the burden. As it is, we have an uninspired programmer masquerading as a musical whose only real merit is the introduction of then-current radio chart-busters Teresa Brewer and Guy Mitchell to the movie going public.

All proceedings are undermined by a confused plot which takes place during the late 1800s in a Klondike where the journey from Skagway to Dawson is as easy as a Sunday afternoon constitutional with no White Horse Pass to pose any peril, where the weather is so balmy that the characters need not wear ear muffs or mitts for protection from frostbite or even see their own breath, and where snowstorms are non-existent. There is not even a hint of a single gold strike nor of fortunes won and lost overnight.

The movie just can't make up its mind whether its plot is one of revenge for the murder of the eponymous redheads' father or to showcase the young women's determination to adapt to the "harsh" life in the remote northern reaches of Canada on their own. The requisite villain, a one-dimensional cipher, appears only twice: the first time at the beginning to kill the father and the second time at the end to be dispatched by the hero (Gene Barry) so that the latter can win the admiration and eternal gratitude of the heroine, lovely Rhonda Fleming.

Still, the musical numbers, "Chick-A-Boom," "Baby, Baby, Baby," and the beautiful ballad "I Guess It was You all the Time," performed with verve and gusto by Mr. Mitchell and Miss Brewer, are entertaining in their own right, even if they don't fit the situations or advance the plot in any way.

But there is one good reason for watching this movie and that reason is Teresa Brewer. "Tessie," as she was known to her fellow musicians, simply illuminates the screen with her bubbly effervescence every time she enters a scene. She grabs your attention and holds it. This is no mean feat given that she often has to share the screen with gorgeous Rhonda Fleming but she does just that. Watch her face as she eagerly anticipates greetings from her estranged family as they approach her from church, only to be snubbed by them as a show of disapproval of her chosen vocation as a dance hall singer. Tessie was a natural on-screen performer and it's a shame she didn't pursue a career in movies. Paramount had apparently offered her a contract but she turned it down so that she could have time to raise a family. Had she not done so, she might have gone on to rival the popularity of Warner's Doris Day. She certainly had the personality and talent.

When I saw this movie in first run, 1953, everyone in the theater laughed out loud. As the film progressed people started to make random comments aloud, increasing the laughter. In 1953 it was the worst movie I had ever seen and, even though a child, I had seen a lot of movies. It still is though The Sicilian ranks close. Rhonda Fleming was beyond awful. Teresa Brewer, a top of the charts pop singer of the day, not only couldn't act, she looked terrible. Many of the scenes were shot against backdrops to show the vast Artic region, and those shots were also terrible. Gene Barry was miscast. The plot was inane. The acting was painful to watch. The only reason I went to see this movie was because they were having a sneak preview that night and, WHAT LUCK!, the preview was "Singin' in the Rain."

I really like this movie. It is a good story & has a great cast.

Theresa Brewer has a wonderful voice and I have always liked Agnes Moorehead. All the girls & the mother have red hair except the youngest & she is a blond. The husband/father was killed & they went to Alaska to settle his affairs. He ran the local newspaper & he wrote an item about the local saloon. One of his men killed the father. They find that there is no money. They are in Alaska, totally broke so they all find ways to earn money. Even the youngest sells kittens to help. It is a wonderful musical.

There's the bad guys & the good guys. And each of the girls end up with someone. But Gene Barry plays a bad/good guy.