Remerciez votre bonne étoile

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.

I am the world's biggest sucker for All Star Films and the genre was never better than during the World War II era, when all the major studios made at least one of them as a morale booster. They all involve getting the stars at the various studios to put on a show for the troops which they do, but with a few problems.

Producers of this show Edward Everett Horton and S.Z. Sakall would like to get Dinah Shore for their show. But she's under contract to Eddie Cantor. Today's moviegoers would not be aware of the fact that at the time Thank Your Lucky Stars was filmed, Dinah Shore was a regular on Eddie Cantor's radio show. And in fact he did have her under contract.

Cantor was also a man known to have a big ego and known for interfering with every aspect of production in film, stage, and radio. His character though in film was the meek little schnook who somehow triumphs over adversity.

Cantor may have had the ego, but he was also a big enough man to allow this public lampooning of his image. He plays two roles in this, as himself and as tour bus driver Joe Simpson who can't get a break because he looks like Eddie Cantor. In between all the musical numbers the plot is simply to have Cantor kidnapped and Joe Simpson to take his place so that Dennis Morgan can get some exposure. Of course there's a young love subplot involving hopefuls Morgan and Joan Leslie, but it doesn't interfere with a plot that's taken from The Man In the Iron Mask.

Arthur Schwartz and Frank Loesser wrote a nice score for this film and the big hit was a number talk/sung by Bette Davis, They're Either Too Young Or Too Old. This number was later done in the Jane Froman bio-film With A Song in My Heart with Susan Hayward lipsynching Jane Froman's record.

I also liked another number where a major Warner Brothers Star lampooned his image and had a jolly good time, singing That's What You Jolly Well Get. Errol Flynn was reported to have enjoyed himself immensely doing that very funny song.

Thank Your Lucky Stars is one of the most pleasant nostalgia trips to a bygone era of the studio system. You couldn't afford to pay all the stars in this film today if they were all free lance independent contractors today. It's why films like this can't be made again.

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.

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.

Cantor was one of the biggest stars of his time. And this WW-II extravaganza showcases his comedy talents playing himself and a look-alike cab driver. Dennis Morgan and Joan Leslie are the lovers, Dinah Shore gets a big buildup but her songs are drippy and awful. Edward Everett Horton and S.Z. Sakall are fun as the guys running the Cavalcade that Cantor forces himself into. Humphrey Bogart does a limp cameo, and big Warners stars appear in a series of funny stage numbers. Bette Davis, Ann Sheridan, and Errol Flynn sing; Olivia de Havilland and Ida Lupino do a jive number; Hattie McDaniel sings in a Harlem number; Jack Carson and Alan Hale do an old-time Vaudeville number; Alexis Smith dances; Spike Jones does a novelty number; John Garfield sings on Cantor's radio show, etc. But aside from seeing these big stars, it's Eddie Cantor who makes this worthwhile. A HUGE stage, movie, and radio star, Cantor is wonderful lampooning himself (a la Bob Hope) and playing the nebbish cabbie (a la Woody Allen). While many of his Broadway contemporaries never quite made it in films (Sophie Tucker, Fannie Brice, George Jessell, Al Jolson, Marilyn Miller), Cantor's starring film career lasted almost 20 years, dating from the smash hit Whoopie! in 1930; his radio career lasted 30 years. Cantor is sadly forgotten now, but he was such a big star he won a special Oscar for his film work and his humanitarian efforts.