Graças à Minha Boa Estrela

Thin plot but nice songs and an assortment of WB stars make for an imperfect but enjoyable musical comedy. Acquired taste Eddie Cantor plays two roles so grit your teeth for that. He's very corny and vaudevillian. I'm not typically a fan of his but this is one of his more tolerable movies. In addition to regular singers Dinah Shore, Dennis Morgan, and Ann Sheridan, there are rare musical numbers by Bette Davis, Errol Flynn, John Garfield, and Ida Lupino. Garfield can't sing to save his life but the others are good. Aside from these, my favorite number in the movie is probably the all-black "Ice Cold Katie" number with Hattie McDaniel. Also an amusing non-musical cameo from Humphrey Bogart. Despite its flaws and overlength, it's hard to dislike. An enjoyable bit of fluff that will especially please fans of classic movie stars.

Before I comment on the film, I just have to say that Dinah Shore's songs in this film are as bad as the "bad" song Joan Leslie is supposed to have written. I think she called it "Moondust" or some such thing.

While the stars occasionally shine in this Warner Bros. musical tribute, it's Eddie Cantor who deserves the most praise for providing most of the laughs. Cantor's dual role as a taxicab driver and an Eddie Cantor lookalike gives him some hilarious moments as he helps Joan Leslie and Dennis Morgan crash the studio gates with his Cantor impersonation. The Warner stock company (including S.Z. Sakall, Edward Everett Horton and many others) is on hand in supporting roles while the stars are given some amusing skits to appear in.

Errol Flynn is amusing in a cockney song-and-dance routine in a pub, Bette Davis talk-sings her way through 'They're Either Too Young Or Too Old', Ida Lupino and Olivia de Havilland do a jive number, mugging outrageously while chewing gum and mouthing words to a song called 'The Dreamer', Dinah Shore warbles an undistinguished song or two, Alexis Smith dances with style and grace, Ann Sheridan does a rather tiresome song number and Jack Carson and Alan Hale struggle through a less than witty routine that defeats both of them.

Humphrey Bogart, John Garfield (obviously tone deaf when he renders "Blues in the Night") and Sydney Greenstreet make fleeting appearances. Hattie McDaniel appears in an unusual novelty number. As one reviewer pointed out, "It's more like amateur night at the studio." But thanks to Cantor, the perky charm of Joan Leslie despite some awful songs and the appealing Dennis Morgan, it all comes together--silly, but lots of fun. Must have been a big hit with the servicemen during the war years, but just don't expect Grade A entertainment.

There's enough bounce and energy in this Warner's showcase to light up a whole city. What great light entertainment for the boys overseas and folks on the homefront (after all, it's 1943). Eddie Cantor really comes through with the plot spark, racing around like the Energizer bunny, and playing dual roles (did they pay him double). Then there's handsome Dennis Morgan and all-American Joan Leslie making an attractive pair to hang the romantic hat on. And get a load of Bogart dropping his tough guy act if for just a moment, plus an off-key Garfield warbling, of all things.

No, the music is nothing to write home about, but the performers are an enthusiastic bunch, so who cares. There's drama queens Lupino and de Haviland as jive-talking hepcats (note they only dance "in place"), and, of course, Warner's reigning drama queen Bette Davis doing something or other in her inimitable style. But I especially like the Hattie McDaniel free-for-all that really does light up the screen. Apparently, however, someone decided to slow things down with Ann Sheridan's static number where the girls sit around like prom princesses. But at least we boys get to ogle them.

Too bad this rouser wasn't sent to Hitler and Tojo. They would have tossed in the towel immediately. Because it's obvious that no country with this kind of energy and dynamism could possibly lose a war. And, yes, it's still great unpolished entertainment, with what looks like a lot of people having a lot of fun.

The unforgettable Eddie Cantor is the glue which holds this wartime extravaganza together. He was one of the few great singers who could double as a first rate comedian.

Other reviewers have pretty much covered all angles but for me the high point is the appearance of Spike Jones and his City Slickers, performing one of their hilarious numbers. Once you've experienced Spike, you just can't get enough of his unique style, if that's the right word.

Bogart's appearance is amusing while Miss Davis provides a memorable performance. None of the other Warners stars really stand out. For me, 'Starlift' is a better star vehicle, though it would come almost a decade later.

This is the second of the "war musicals" I'm reviewing for the next few days, the first having been Something for the Boys. This was Warner Bros. initial contribution of an all-star extravaganza to the war effort. I mean, seeing non-singing stars like Errol Flynn and Bette Davis warble entertaining tunes and having fun doing them are special treats to watch even today. And seeing Humphrey Bogart get shouted down by S. Z. Sakall is hilarious. In fact, the screenplay by Melvin Frank and Norman Panama (both of whom were natives of my birthtown of Chicago, Ill.) provided non-stop laughs for most of the time especially when the plot was focused on Joan Leslie, Dennis Morgan, and especially on Eddie Cantor who plays both himself as an egotistical jerk and a down-on-his-luck actor-turned-bus driver named Joe. And Sakall and Edward Everett Horton make a wonderful team when they have to deal with Cantor. The songs, by Frank Loesser and Arthur Schwartz, are highly entertaining especially Davis' "They're Either Too Young or Too Old" and Cantor protégé Dinah Shore sings a couple of their ballads wonderfully. Also a treat was a performance by Spike Jones and the City Slickers doing their funny stylings on a classical piece. Okay, not everything clicked and the movie, at a little more than two hours, may have been a little long. But I was so entertained, I mostly didn't care. So of course, Thank Your Lucky Stars gets a high recommendation from me. P.S. I found out that three players from my favorite movie, It's a Wonderful Life, appeared though I only noticed one, Mary Treen as an Eddie Cantor fan who encounters Joe, while watching. Perhaps Frank Faylen, as a sailor, and Virginia Patton, as one of the girls in Ann Sheridan's number, didn't appear long enough for me to recognize them.