Duffy's Tavern

The previous two reviewers do a very good job of detailing this film. It has greater historical value now than entertainment value because the type of humor --- radio and vaudeville--- are long gone and the stars like Ladd and Hutton and Lake and Crosby don't mean that much now. Leonard Maltin labeled it a Bomb. It's no masterpiece, but that's a gross injustice. Wonder which intern came up with that? Leonard needs to look at it himself. My guess is that it appealed to older viewers even at the time of its release 1945, the end of WWII. And it has a certain ethnic charm as well that will puzzle today's audiences. But a bomb? We are producing more bombs per season now than we were in 1945 with far less historic value. I shutter to think what Maltin's intern of 2075 will have to say about The Lone Ranger and Hangover 3. Worth a peek if you like old movies.

To me, this is a classic movie for the end of war era. The first few reviewers cited the cavalcade type ones already. They need to be viewed and reviewed in the context of the time or the viewer misses the point. It is appropriate to note this, possibly, for people who do not realize there had been an all out world war for the past 4 to 6 yrs, depending on where one lived. mysterymoviegoer hit the nail on the head as far as I am concerned. I like to see the kinds of humor, the environments and attitudes that the movie portrays- not to mention the parade of stars and luminaries from the time. I did not see Maltin's review, gave up on it as a resource many yrs ago and hadn't even considered the intern angle. Nice to see another person take the time to record a most appropriate comment on this special kind of movie theme from a special time in history.

Ed Gardiner, creator and star of popular radio show Duffy's Tavern took the act to the silver screen at the end of World War II and Paramount provided him with an all star cast in support. Every studio had those all star cast variety shows at some point during the World War II years, some studios made more than one. I must admit I'm a sucker for them, so there's no way I could give this a bad review. Especially with the

guest stars headed by America's number one star at the time, Bing Crosby.

The plots of these extravaganzas were always paper thin. In this case Victor Moore owns a record factory and World War II, material and price controls have left him without shellac needed to produce those 78 rpms. Also the war has stripped him of his labor force. But the guys are

back from the war, but Moore has no money to open the factory and no shellac. His recently discharged from the service employees are eating and drinking on credit at Duffy's Tavern, managed by inimitable and resourceful Archie played by Ed Gardiner.

Taverns have always been a great source for comedy and drama of all kinds throughout the centuries. You could go all the way back to Shakespeare with Sir John Falstaff and Prince Hal and their boon drinking companions. Or for drama, what better than Eugene O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh. Or in a lighter vein, William Saroyan's The Time of Your Life.

But Duffy's ain't that kind of a joint. Archie is part bartender, philosopher, with a touch of reprobate in him. We never see Mr. Duffy, but Archie reported in to him by phone several times during a given radio show. The bar is populated with a usual crew of characters who Archie comiserates with once a week. Archie's command of the English language is only equaled by Leo Gorcey's. I'm sure Gorcey must have studied under him.

So Ed Gardiner and Victor Moore set about to get the factory running and the men back to work. They have a master recording of Bing Crosby which should do the trick. A whole bunch of stars including Crosby, are staying at a hotel in New York where Moore's daughter Marjorie Reynolds is a switchboard operator.

If you can't figure the rest of this out, you ain't seen too many films from the forties.

Duffy's Tavern ran for years on radio. Ed Gardiner tried to take it to television, but it didn't succeed there. Strange because so many TV shows like Archie Bunker's Place, Jackie Gleason's Joe the Bartender sketches and George Carlin's show from a few years ago owe the format to what Gardiner did on radio.

A great place Duffy's Tavern, a place where Archie liked to say, "where the elite meet to eat."

There were a number of movies made in the 30s and 40s to take advantage of the popularity of top rated radio programs like Duffy's Tavern.

I am a fan of old time radio particularly just before during an after the Second World War and have watched a number of these type of movies like, the great Gildersleeve, fibber McGee and Molly and Lum n Abner lol... be warned these movies are usually not that good... Short on plot and are really just created for the fan base to see the faces behind the voices they've come to know over the years. And for today'sold Time radio fans it's just as fun as it was in the late 30s and 40s.

Through most of the 1940s, "Duffy's Tavern" was a popular radio program. It was set in a bar and the show featured lots of famous guest stars stopping by the joint. Well, considering its success, it's not surprising that they'd make this film version as well as a 1950s television series.

It's pretty obvious that Paramount pulled out the stops to make this film, as the story called for many, many cameos from stars under contract with the studio. Bing Crosby (and his young sons), Alan Ladd, Dorothy Lamour, Veronica Lake, Betty Hutton, Paulette Goddard, Sonny Tufts, Eddie Bracken and several other stars appear in the film along side with the usual radio characters from the show.

The plot is scant and instead of getting into explaining it, suffice to say the bartender needs to raise money fast or he'll go to jail So he somehow convinces some stars in New York (all, oddly enough who are under contract with Paramount!) to put on a benefit show. Most of the acts are poor, but the singing of Betty Hutton and Cass Daley are something to hear....once! They both sing with as much subtlety as a stripper doing her act at a Baptist picnic!! Neither one so much sings as screams and somehow Daley managed to out-scream the queen of sing-screaming, Hutton! Unpleasant doesn't even begin to explain it!! Overall, a very slight film with some horrifyingly bad cameos.