Ma soeur est du tonnerre

"My Sister Eileen" has two great stars -- Bob Fosse and Betty Garrett -- stealing the show from two who turned out to be bigger stars -- Jack Lemmon and Janet Leigh. The story is pretty elementary and certainly predictable, but that doesn't matter. What makes this movie special is Garrett's incredible comic delivery (with and without the Brazilian navy!) and Fosse's fabulous choreography. When he and Tommy Rall challenge each other while waiting outside Eileen's "audition," you'll feel like you're in heaven.

This is one of the most entertaining musicals to ever come out of Hollywood. Light and witty, sweet and subtle, it's almost as if Lubitsch made it. The songs are a joy, the dancing a treat and the story deliciously simple. Janet Leigh and Jack Lemmon shine, but the true star is the glorious Betty Garret, who should have been much bigger than she was. Please check this out, it's a charmer

The first time Fosse was given the job of choreography for an entire movie, he came up with "The Competition Dance", a terrific number for himself and Tommy Rall. But the movie should have made a star out of Betty Garrett. Who knows, if MGM had made the film it probably would have. The score, by the way, is far better than that of "Wonderful Town", the stage version that Columbia wanted to film until the producers asked too much for it. Rent it, buy it, enjoy it. By the way, there is a soundtrack recording, but you'll have to spend weeks tracking it down. It may be worth it just to hear Jack Lemmon's take on "It's Bigger Than Both of Us".

I'm not sure what the story was with Harry Cohn and this film. Back in the early Forties My Sister Eileen was a big comedy hit for Columbia Pictures starring Rosalind Russell and Janet Blair about the two sisters from Ohio moving to Greenwich Village. So Cohn in fact did own the screen rights.

My Sister Eileen moved to Broadway in the early Fifties with Rosalind Russell repeating her role on stage in a musical adaption renamed Wonderful Town. Leonard Bernstein and Betty Comden and Adolph Green wrote a fine musical score.

So what does Harry Cohn do, he decides to remake My Sister Eileen, but does he shell out any money to Bernstein, Comden and Green for their songs. He does not and pays Jule Styne and Leo Robin to write yet another score. It was one of the weakest scores these two worthy song writers were ever associated. In fact it keeps this version of My Sister Eileen from being a great film.

Still it's not a bad one with Betty Garrett and Janet Leigh stepping nicely into the roles created by Russell and Blair. As before and as on stage the film is about the Sherwood sisters from Ohio, sensible and witty older sister Garrett and pretty Janet Leigh with a nice pair of weapons of mass destruction. Men just fall over themselves trying to do for her, two of them in this film are dueling dancers Tommy Rall and Bob Fosse.

Jack Lemmon has one of his early roles in My Sister Eileen as a publisher who is interested in both Betty Garrett who is an aspiring writer and the one story that he's interested in is the one she's written about her sister Eileen.

Garrett retains all the witty bite of Rosalind Russell and Leigh is guaranteed to get the hormones racing of the male population. My Sister Eileen misses being a great film because of the mediocre songs, but fans of the players shouldn't miss it. Look also for a great performance by Kurt Kaszner as the Sherwood sisters Bohemian landlord.

Betty Garrett and Janet Leigh star in "My Sister Eileen," a 1955 musical also starring Jack Lemmon, Bob Fosse, Tommy Rall and Kurt Kasznar. This is not the musical "Wonderful Town" but it has delightful music by Jule Style. It's the story of the Sherwood Girls, Ruth and Eileen, who come to Greenwich Village from Ohio to "make it" -Eileen as a performer and Ruth as a writer. The two are conned by a landlord (Kasznar) into renting (for a whopping $65 a month) a basement apartment that shakes like crazy during subway construction. Not to mention, with their window placed the way it is, they may as well be living in the street.

The Ruth character is based on the writer of the original story, Ruth McKenney. Eileen is the freshly beautiful blonde who always has men swarming around her; in comparison, the pretty, funny and stylish Ruth feels like a plain Jane. She sublimates by being dedicated to her career until she meets a publisher (Jack Lemmon) and falls for him. He's interested in her story, "My Sister Eileen," and she's so insecure, she tells him that she is the sought after Eileen - it's another aspect of her personality, she says.

The Greenwich Village aspect makes the film as the movie captures its atmosphere perfectly and gives a real feel for the New York of the 1950s. Betty Garrett is great as Ruth. Her singing and acting are both wonderful. Surprisingly, though it's the title role, the part of Eileen really isn't much. (Sadly, the real Eileen died very young. She married writer Nathanael West and died with him 8 months later in a 1940 car accident.) Janet Leigh is pretty and sweet, putting over the necessary naiveté as Eileen, plus she gets to show off her singing and dancing. Fosse, who also choreographed, and Tommy Rall are suitors of Eileen and do some fabulous dancing. Dick York has a small but showy role as a young man in Ruth's and Eileen's building. Jack Lemmon, in an early role, is slightly miscast as the sophisticated publisher but is very likable.

Well-directed by Richard Quine, it's a shame that "My Sister Eileen" hasn't gotten more attention. It's pretty to look at and to listen to with wonderful, vibrant performances. Check it out.