Appuntamento a Miami

This movie is fun because there's Betty Grable,And Robert Cummings, and Don Ameche. What's amazing is that this big party goes non-stop, with music in the background non-stop, reflecting how esteemed a place Miami was back in 1940, for the idle rich or the psuedo-rich!This is nostalgia at it's zenith. It makes you want to party non-stop around the pool, and not have to work for a living like the rest of these people(so it would seem), until Don Ameche announces that he'll sell refigerators!

Fox believed in remakes and this one was used again in THREE LITTLE GIRLS IN BLUE and HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE--three girls in search of a millionaire husband. While the plot is a flimsy one, it does give Betty Grable fans a chance to glimpse her in a fluffy technicolor musical (with location photography in Florida), engaged in romantic shenanigans with two leading men (Don Ameche and Robert Cummings), and supported by pros like Jack Haley, Charlotte Greenwood, Carole Landis and Minor Watson.

It's a typical Fox musical made to order for Grable fans and photographed in some scenic Florida locales serving as Miami. Robert Cummings and Don Ameche are impeccably clad and flashing the kind of smiles that belong in a toothpaste ad--thus serving as perfect foils for Betty's curvaceous blonde charms.

Some of the specialty numbers are good--especially those by the Condo Brothers--and Betty herself gets to do a couple of sprightly tap dance routines. None of the music is memorable but it's easy to see why Grable was so popular at the box-office in escapist films of this nature at a time when war weary audiences craved this kind of entertainment at the start of World War II. Her modest talents are on full display here--and Ameche and Cummings show that they had a definite flair for this kind of romantic comedy--especially Cummings who was always better in lighter assignments as opposed to dramatic roles--contrary to what another commentator says.

Carole Landis can do little with her role as Betty's sister (posing as her maid). She is very prettily photographed but walks through the role in an aloof manner that makes her almost invisible.

This movie is the pure essence of the idea 'movies the way they used to be made'. I honestly can't find any fault with this movie.......the plot, music, scenery, acting......all perfect! I'm so glad that it finally came out on DVD. Thank goodness we have great movies like this to watch instead of the incredible garbage that is out there today. This is Hollywood at its finest......and the vivid technicolor photography makes you feel like you're in 1940 Miami. Don Ameche gives a fabulous performance and Betty Grable's dance numbers are wonderful. This is a must-have DVD.....for anyone who enjoys class, style, great acting and wonderful music! This is absolutely among my favorite musicals along with Easter Parade and Holiday Inn.

One of my favorite Betty Grable films! Beautiful scenery, beautiful songs and excellent choreography! Betty's costumes were really stunning and I wonder if the studio used a different designer for this film. It's all about losing out on an inheritance for the two Latimer sisters and their Aunt Susan because of taxes, so the three take off for Miami so Betty can find a millionaire husband. As usual, Betty doesn't have any trouble finding a man and that is when all the fun starts. They have a great time and so will you when you watch this film.

Betty Grable, Carole Landis, and Charlotte Greenwood, two sisters and their aunt work as carhops in a drive-up Texas diner and they get a letter from a lawyer. Another relative has up and died and left the family fortune to them. But after the court and Uncle Sam have taken their share, it's only several thousand apiece.

Betty has her sights set on landing a millionaire husband as any bright girl in that era would. Landis and Greenwood don't need much convincing to pool their resources and go to Miami and hang out where the millionaires do. Betty pretends to be a millionaire heiress herself with Landis as a secretary and Greenwood her maid.

I shouldn't say too much more, but as this was a film of pure escapism with happy endings required, you should be able to figure out the rest. The men sure liked looking at Grable and Landis and the women dreamed of being in their place, courted by the likes of Don Ameche and Bob Cummings.

Songwriting team of Ralph Rainger and Leo Robin contributed a good score that showcases the considerable musical talents of Ameche, Grable, Greenwood and Jack Haley who plays a suspicious waiter at the resort the girls are staying at. What I don't understand is that the title of the film is the title of a very big hit song from the Thirties and it is only used under the title credits and as background. Of course it wasn't written by Robin and Rainger, and maybe that was the reason, they didn't want their music competing with an established tune.

Even with world war once again breaking out in Europe, Africa, and Asia, audiences still loved this escapist stuff. Films like this are what made Betty Grable the GIs number one pin-up girl. This is what the GIs loved as Robert Strauss from Stalag 17 would so testify. After all, Animal did say he saw all her films on multiple occasions.

If he did, he was well pleased with Moon Over Miami.