Hit Parade of 1943

This "Hit Parade" movie made a huge impression on me when i saw it on television back in the 1980s under the title "Change of Heart." Two things about it gave me reason to search it out for a repeat playing -- the wonderful art deco sets in the second half of the film and the spectacularly eccentric dancing of the team of Pops and Louie. It is well worth looking for, and i am glad i finally located it again, but i sure had to look for a long time, as there is another film with the title "Change of Heart" that -- until the advent of the IMDb -- folks always seemed to get confused with this one. Susan Hayward and John Carroll are quite good, the music is fine, but, really, for me this movie is all about Pops and Louie and that wild Art Deco set decoration.

Minor programmer has a silly plot but Susan Hayward, looking beautiful, is saucy in the lead and was actually engaged briefly in real life to costar and Clark Gable lookalike John Carroll. Eve Arden is thankfully aboard to offer her peerless wisecracks and look glamorous. Gail Patrick is on hand as well playing a silky villainess adding a nice touch to the proceedings. They are all better than the nothing script deserves. On top of that you get Count Basie and Dorothy Dandridge in a wonderful specialty number. Originally called Change of Heart this is as good an example as any of the low budget films studios used to pump out on a weekly basis to keep their theatre chains supplied with product but it's also how they built stars. With all the superior talent involved it's worth catching once but that will probably be enough.

It's kind of hard to separate Hit Parade Of 1943 from its time of origin. Only people my age might barely remember the Hit Parade on television and radio and for those of the World War II generation they would remember it best. If it were not for the presence of Susan Hayward in the cast Hit Parade Of 1943 would be totally forgotten even with two Oscar nominations to its credit.

It's also a Republic Pictures product so it won't have the production values that something from one of the major studios would give us. That being said it's still a nice snapshot of the wartime home front topped off by the radio broadcast of a war bond drive.

Susan Hayward plays an aspiring song writer who sends a song to publishers John Carroll and Walter Catlett who make some cosmetic changes and it becomes a hit. Of course she and pal Eve Arden plan some sweet revenge, but of course you know it all works out in the end.

The song Change Of Heart was Oscar nominated for Best Song and the film was nominated also for best Musical Scoring. John Carroll had a nice lusty baritone and did a few musical films of the B variety mostly. He's best know musically for being Kathryn Grayson's leading man in Rio Rita. He also did some straight dramatic roles and most notably there as the second lead to John Wayne in The Flying Tigers. Hayward whom we know sang in I'll Cry Tomorrow as the screen Lillian Roth might well have done her own brief vocals here, but there's no information either way.

Hit Parade Of 1943 is best viewed as first history and then entertainment. All four of the leading players I mentioned fill out the roles you would expect of them. And the musical acts consist of big bands Count Basie, Ray McKinley and Freddie Martin. The groups the Music Maids and the Golden Gate trio are here and as a real treat the vocalist with Count Basie is Dorothy Dandridge. That's enough reason to see Hit Parade Of 1943.

The plot is so tiny it almost falls off the screen. Of course it's just an excuse for Hayward to look gorgeous and for the performance of a number of wartime hits. But what is remarkable here are the black performers, including Count Basie and Dorothy Dandridge and a pair of amazing male dancers. The central Sandman of Harlem number is outstanding.

The rest is pretty dull with John Carroll trying to be Clark Gable - but Eve Arden provides a few laughs and she works very well with Hayward.

Although this was a dull film, the 20 year old Dorothy Dandridge was outstanding in this token production for marginalised performers. It was good to get Dandridge alongside of Susan Hayward, but as a self contained film it was diabolical.