Maman était new-look

In what turned out to be his first film since his discharge from the Navy after World War II, Dan Dailey gets to co-star with Betty Grable in the first of four films they did together. Lucky break for Dailey as Grable was at the top of her pinup girl popularity.

Mother Wore Tights is based on a book my Miriam Young whose character is the youngest of the two sisters of this vaudeville family and played at her oldest in the film by Connie Marshall. The story is her family memoir and takes us back to Grable and Dailey as young high school graduate and young vaudevillian song and dance man.

It takes a while, but Grable manages to make the act a double on stage and in life. Grable's not terribly convincing as a teenager, she was a little long in the tooth, but really I don't think the audience cared.

Dan Dailey is always been a marvel to me, a fine dramatic actor as well as a great song and dance man. I did love those spiffy and goofy costumes he wore when in stage character.

Mother Wore Tights earned three Academy Award nominations, color cinematography, musical scoring, and for Best Song, You Do one of the original songs written by Josef Myrow and Mack Gordon. You can get bootleg recordings off the soundtrack of Mother Wore Tights and most of Grable's films as she never made too many trips to the recording studios as per Darryl Zanuck's edict to his musical stars.

Mother Wore Tights is a fine piece of nostalgic cinema, so typical of the color musicals 20th Century Fox did with their players. Very charming and exhibits the talents of its leads very well.

I was a youngster when I first saw this and sadly it is never reshown on the cable networks, yhis was made when hollywood was at it;s best. warm,family musicals that you left the theatre feeling good. how un fortunate my grandchildren with all the cgi films of today never get to see the simple realistic and romantic movies of that era..everything seems served up on this imaginary sterile techno story that your imagination never gets utilised,

A little "Meet Me in St. Louis," a little "I Remember Mama," and a little bit of razzmatazz are rolled up into one big family saga showcasing the considerable comedic and dancing talents of Betty Grable and Dan Daily as married hoofers who make it to the big time while trying to raise two girls to be refined young ladies. This film was very popular in its day probably because it combines nostalgia for the vaudeville stage with post-World War II sentimentality. It works for me, and this seldom screened gem uses the musical numbers to advance the story seamlessly. The Christmas scenes alone make this a great family film, and ventriloquist Señor Wences steals the show with his hand puppet-literally made by applying lipstick and a wig to his hand. The mixture of pure 1940s tunes like "Kokomo, Indiana" with old familiar songs like "Silent Night" is what must have made this movie such a hit. Ignore the mocking of various ethnic accents and try to ignore the fact that Mona Freeman as the eldest daughter is clearly dubbed by Imogene Lynn.

I saw this movie when it was "first run" in 1947. Betty Grable was at the height of her popularity and "Mother Wore Tights" helped her to remain as the highest paid woman of that year. The back-stage story, a cliché and, perhaps, quite trite in 2005, was fresh, especially because of the family element: two Vaudevilians raising their two daughters, one of whom provides the voice-over narration (done by Anne Baxter). Visually, the film is spectacularly Technicolorful. The songs and dancing are typical of the era and delightfully entertaining. While "You Do" was nominated for Best Song, I think that "Kokomo, Indiana" is a better candidate. This is one of the best of Betty Grable's films, and for the first time she has a male partner in Dan Dailey who is more than just a dancing extra. After almost fifty years, the film is still fun to watch. It's too bad that a similarly appealing film, the 1948 "When My Baby Smiles At Me" with Grable and Dailey, is not available.

This beautiful treatment of a show business family has become for me THE movie musical memory of my formative years. All cast members provide excellent performances, especially Dan Dailey and Betty Grable, with an unforgettable score that still resonates in my memory. Would love to purchase a copy of this classic for my home film library.